Skip to main content

Send Your First Invoice

An invoice in Autessa Payments is emailed to your customer with a PDF and a secure link to pay. They pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or bank account, and the money goes to your balance. You can draft invoices before your business is verified and send them the moment it is.

What it's for​

Bill a customer for work you've done or something you've sold, without a separate invoicing tool. Each invoice gets the next number in your sequence (INV-0001, INV-0002, and so on), sales tax for the places you collect in, and your branding.

Payments → Invoices → New invoice. The last checklist step, Send your first invoice, has a New invoice button that opens the same page.

Create an invoice →

Key concepts​

  • Drafts. A new invoice is a draft. Drafts can change until you send them, and your customer sees nothing until then.
  • Sending needs verification. You can save a draft any time after your account is open. Sending turns on as soon as verification finishes.
  • Tax is locked at send. The form shows estimated tax while you edit. When you send, the tax is calculated for the customer's address and fixed on the invoice.
  • Due date. Payment terms such as Net 30 count from the day you send, not the day you created the draft.

How to create an invoice​

  1. Under Customer, start typing a name or email and pick an existing customer, or type a new name, email, and address. The address decides the sales tax.
  2. Under Line items, add what you're billing for: a description, quantity, and price for each line.
  3. Under Payment terms, choose when it's due: Due on receipt, Net 7, Net 15, Net 30, Net 45, Net 60, or Custom date. Add an optional note for your customer.
  4. Leave Email automatic reminders on to have Autessa remind your customer 3 days before the due date, on the due date, and 7 days after. See Automatic reminders.
  5. Check the Summary: subtotal, estimated tax, and total.
  6. Click Save draft to keep it as a draft, or Save and send to send it right away (available once your business is verified).

To reuse the same lines next time, open the invoice and choose Save as template. See Invoice templates.

How to send it​

  1. Open the draft and click Send invoice, or click Save and send on the form.
  2. Confirm. Your customer gets an email from your business with the invoice PDF attached and a Pay invoice button.

The first time you send an invoice, Apple Pay and Google Pay turn on for your pay page automatically.

What your customer sees​

The email links to a secure pay page with your logo, accent color, and terms. It shows the invoice in full and lets them pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay (when their device supports it), or US bank account. After they pay, they get a receipt by email and the invoice shows Paid. You get an email too.

How to follow up​

From the invoice page:

  • Send reminder emails the invoice again with the same pay link.
  • Copy pay link copies the link so you can send it by text or chat.
  • PDF downloads the invoice.
  • Record a payment marks the invoice paid when your customer paid another way, like cash or check. Pick the date, optionally note how they paid, and choose whether to email a receipt. No money moves through Autessa Payments, and the pay link stops working.
  • Void cancels an invoice you sent by mistake. The pay link stops working. Add an optional reason that only you see. Voided invoices keep their number, so your sequence has no gaps.

The Activity list on the invoice shows when it was sent, viewed, reminded, paid, or refunded.

How to have the guide draft it​

Ask the Payments guide, for example: "Invoice jane@example.com $1,250 for the March website work, due in 14 days." The guide asks only for what's missing, then shows a card with the customer, items, subtotal, estimated tax, total, and due date. Click Do it to create the draft. It then offers to send it, which needs a second Do it.

Invoice statuses​

StatusWhat it means
DraftSaved, not sent. You can still edit it.
SentEmailed to your customer and waiting for payment.
ViewedYour customer opened the pay page.
ProcessingYour customer paid by bank account and the payment is clearing. This can take a few business days.
PaidPaid online or recorded as paid.
Payment failedA payment attempt didn't go through. The pay link still works, so your customer can try again.
VoidCanceled. It can't be paid.

The invoice list shows Overdue next to sent invoices past their due date. Filter the list by Drafts, Outstanding, Paid, or Void.