Creating an Invoice

Overview

Invoices are how you get paid. When work is complete, you create an invoice that documents what was done and how much is owed. BlueClerk invoices are professional, can accept online payments, integrate with accounting software, and can include photos from your completed work. You can now attach purchase orders to invoices, linking supplier orders to customer billing for complete job cost tracking.

IMPORTANT: Improved draft invoice loading - The invoice detail page now handles missing invoices more gracefully. If you try to view an invoice that doesn't exist in the database (wrong ID, deleted invoice, etc.), you'll see a clean "Invoice not found" error message instead of a generic database error. This applies to both DRAFT and non-draft invoices.

NEW: Invoice Review Link Picker - When sending invoices via email, you can now select which review link to include in the message footer. Choose from your saved review pages (Google, Facebook, etc.) or use the legacy Google Review URL from your company settings. The picker lets you customize which review platform customers see after paying, helping you gather feedback on the platform that matters most to your business. If you don't select a review link, no review request is included.

NEW: Shared Payment Link - Invoice emails now include a shared payment link (/invoice/[id]) instead of customer-specific links. This allows anyone with the link to view the invoice and make payments - perfect for forwarding to property managers, accountants, or multiple decision-makers without requiring them to log in or have a BlueClerk account.

NEW: Automatic Property Selection - When creating an invoice for a customer with only one address, BlueClerk automatically selects that property for you. This eliminates an extra click and speeds up your workflow - especially helpful when most of your customers only have one service location. You can still change the property if needed.

NEW: Prefill from Completed Jobs - When creating an invoice from a completed job (via URL parameter ?jobId=...), BlueClerk automatically prefills the customer, property, and line items from the job's associated ticket. This saves time and ensures billing accuracy by pulling work details directly from the completed job instead of requiring manual entry.

NEW: Create Invoices Without Jobs or Reports - You can now create invoices directly for completed jobs even if no job report was created. When creating an invoice from the Completed Jobs Billing Section or via the ?jobId= URL parameter, BlueClerk allows you to invoice the work without requiring a job report. This is useful for simple jobs where detailed reporting wasn't necessary, but you still want to bill the customer and track the completed work.

When you create an invoice that doesn't have a linked job or ticket, BlueClerk prompts you to create one - ensuring you maintain complete work records and can schedule follow-up visits if needed.

IMPORTANT: Draft invoices stay DRAFT when saved - When you click "Save" on a DRAFT invoice, it remains as DRAFT and does NOT auto-promote to SENT anymore. This gives you full control over when your invoice becomes visible in accounting software. To mark an invoice as sent, use the "Mark Sent" button in the invoice header after saving.

CRITICAL: Line Item Edits Flush Before Save - When you type a price or quantity into a line item and immediately click Save, BlueClerk now waits for in-flight line item writes to complete before recalculating totals and syncing to QuickBooks. This prevents the "type 300, click Save, it syncs as $0" race condition that caused stale $0 invoices to appear in QuickBooks. The system tracks pending line item mutations using a ref counter and blocks the save operation until all pending writes finish.

NEW: Email Failure Protection - When you click "Send" on an invoice or purchase order and the email send fails, BlueClerk no longer marks the document as SENT. The status stays at DRAFT (for new documents) or remains unchanged (for existing documents), preventing invoices from being marked sent when customers never received them. This ensures your sent status accurately reflects whether customers have actually been notified.

NEW: Editable Email Subject Lines - When sending an invoice via email, you can now customize the subject line before sending. The default subject "Invoice [INV-1234] from [Your Company]" can be edited to match your preferred wording or add customer-specific context. This helps your emails stand out in customer inboxes and supports workflows like progress billing where you want to reference specific milestones.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Creating a New Invoice

1. Click "Finance" in the sidebar
2. Select "New Invoice" from the flyout menu
3. Fill in the invoice details

Required Fields

Customer: Choose from your customer list

• Start typing to search by name
• Click to select

Property: Select the service address

• If the customer has only one address, it's automatically selected
• For multiple addresses, choose from the dropdown
• Required to track work history by location

Invoice Date: When the work was completed

• Defaults to today
• Change if needed

Due Date: When payment is expected

• Defaults based on your payment terms
• NET 30 = 30 days from invoice date

Adding Line Items

From Your Catalog:

1. Click "Add Item"
2. Search your catalog - Type item name or SKU
3. Select the item - Price and description populate automatically
4. Adjust quantity if needed
5. Modify price if this job is different from your standard rate

Custom Line Items:

1. Click "Add Item"
2. Type a description manually
3. Enter quantity and price
4. BlueClerk will prompt you to add it to your catalog for future use

Invoice Metadata

Job Number (optional): Link to a job if applicable

• BlueClerk prompts you to create a job if one doesn't exist
• Useful for scheduling follow-up visits

PO Number (optional): Customer's purchase order reference

• Attach a purchase order file to link supplier costs to customer billing

Notes (internal): Notes for your team

• Not visible to customers
• Useful for tracking special circumstances

Customer Notes: Message visible to customer

• Shows on invoice PDF and email
• Use for payment instructions or thank you messages

Attaching Files

Purchase Orders:

1. Click "Attach PO" in the invoice form
2. Select a purchase order from the dropdown
3. The PO filename appears in the attachments list
4. Linked POs help track job costs vs customer billing

Other PDFs:

1. Click "Add Attachment"
2. Upload PDF files (contracts, specifications, permits, etc.)
3. Multiple PDFs supported - Add as many as needed
4. Attachments are included in invoice emails to customers

Photos and Thumbnails

Adding Product Photos:

1. Click the photo icon next to a line item
2. Upload a product image from your device
3. Thumbnail appears next to the line item name
4. Photos display in invoice PDFs so customers see exactly what they're paying for

Photo Best Practices:

• Use product photos for equipment or fixtures
• Include before/after photos for repair work
• Show material samples for customer selection
• Photos build trust and justify pricing

Tax and Totals

Tax Rate: Applied automatically based on your company settings

• Adjust if this customer is tax-exempt
• Tax applies to taxable items only

Subtotal: Calculated automatically

• Sum of all line items before tax

Total: Final amount due

• Subtotal + tax

Profit Tracking

BlueClerk automatically calculates profit for each invoice:

Cost: Sum of item costs from your catalog Revenue: Invoice total Profit: Revenue minus cost Margin: Profit divided by revenue (as percentage)

Why it matters:

• See which jobs are most profitable
• Identify underpriced services
• Track