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# Create, send, and get paid on an invoice

An invoice is a bill you send a customer for work you have done or goods you have sold. When you finalize it, BooksGPT records the sale as income and the amount as money the customer owes you, called accounts receivable. When the customer pays, you record the payment: what they owe goes down and your bank balance goes up.

${youtube}[Watch: How to create and send an invoice in BooksGPT](Ft1P8v3on24)

## Create and send an invoice

| Pick the customer first. The **Due date** fills from their payment terms, and you can still change it.

1. Open **All pages** in the left sidebar, then click **Sales** and [**Invoices**](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/invoices), then **New invoice**.
2. Pick the customer in **Bill to**. Start typing to search. To add someone, search first, then choose **New customer**.
3. Set the **Issue date**. The **Due date** fills from **Payment terms**. Change the terms, or pick **Choose due date…** and set the date yourself.
4. Add the lines: a description, **Qty**, **Unit price**, and **Tax**. Totals update as you type. **Add line item** adds a row.
5. Click **Save & send**. Check **To**, **Subject**, and **Body**, look at the preview, then click **Send invoice**.

![An invoice draft with Bill to, Invoice number, Payment terms, dates, line items with a subtotal and a Travel Expenses heading, Add text, Add subtotal, Ship to, and totals](https://booksgpt.ai/help/invoices/invoice-editor-layout-v3.png)

Your customer gets a branded email with a link to view and download the invoice. The subject names your business, the amount still owed, and the due date. You can edit it before you send.

### Save draft, Save as final, or Save & send

- **Save draft** keeps the invoice to finish later. Nothing goes into your books yet.
- **Save as final** records the sale without emailing anyone. Use it when you deliver the invoice another way. Click **Send invoice** on it later if you change your mind.
- **Save & send** records the sale and emails it.

### On the same form

- Focus a description to pick a saved item from **Products & services**. It fills the name, details, and price. Type something new and choose to use it once or save it as a new product or service.
- **Add details** puts a note under a line. **+ Add P.O. number** sits beside the dates. **+ Add note** under **Notes / Terms** prints at the bottom.
- Leave **Invoice #** blank and the next number is used when you save. To change the prefix or starting number, see [Invoice settings: numbering, logo, and wording](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/invoice-settings-numbering-logo-and-wording-64gfaz/).
- A product that tracks stock comes off **On hand** when you finalize or send the invoice, not when you save a draft. See [Sell inventory and post cost of goods sold](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/sell-inventory-and-post-cost-of-goods-sold-19kvll5/).

To add a bank payment link to your invoices, see [Get paid by bank on your invoices](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/get-paid-by-bank-on-your-invoices-15tes7e/).

## Record a payment

|| Customers cannot pay by card through BooksGPT. Record each payment yourself when the money arrives, unless they paid from a bank payment link: those are recorded for you.

1. Open the invoice and click **Record payment**.
2. Choose how the money came in:
   - **Record payment** for a check, cash, or anything not yet in your bank feed.
   - **Match a bank transaction** when the deposit is already in your bank feed. Pick it from the list, so the money is counted once, and go to step 5.
3. Set **Payment date**, **Payment method**, and **Reference no.** if you have one (a check number, for example).
4. Choose **Deposit to**. It starts on your first bank account.
5. Under **Outstanding transactions**, the invoice you opened is already ticked with its balance. Tick other open invoices if one payment covers several, or type a smaller amount for a partial payment.
6. Click **Record payment**, or **Match and record** when you matched a bank transaction.

![The Record payment window for Harbor Janitorial: Record payment selected beside Match a bank transaction, a check dated Oct 15, 2026 with reference 1042, Deposit to 1000 Business Checking, and invoice 1058 ticked for $1,800.00 above an unticked invoice 1059](https://booksgpt.ai/help/create-an-invoice/record-payment.png)

### Bank account or Undeposited Funds?

Pick the bank account when the money went straight in. Pick **Undeposited Funds** when you will take several checks to the bank together: the payments wait there until you record one bank deposit that matches the single line on your bank statement. See [Group payments into one bank deposit](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/group-payments-into-one-bank-deposit-15x1g81/).

If the customer paid more than they owe, type the full amount in **Amount received**. The extra becomes a credit for that customer. See [Customer credits: what customers have overpaid](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/customer-credits-what-customers-have-overpaid-17lu40k/).

## What your books now say

- **Finalizing** invoice 1058 for $1,800: income goes up $1,800, and accounts receivable (what customers owe you) goes up $1,800. If the invoice charges sales tax, accounts receivable takes the full total, income takes the amount before tax, and the tax is set aside as owed to the tax agency.
- **Recording the payment** to Business Checking: accounts receivable goes down $1,800, and Business Checking goes up $1,800. The invoice shows **Paid**.
- A partial payment leaves the rest owed, and the invoice shows **Partial** until it is paid.
- On **Cash** basis reports, the income counts when the payment arrives, not when you finalize the invoice.

An invoice counts as overdue from the day after its due date while anything is still owed.

## Shortcuts on the invoice list

On the Invoices list, point at a row to see its shortcuts beside **Total**: **Send invoice**, **Record payment**, **Copy payment link**, **Download PDF**, and **View activity**. A shortcut only appears when it applies, so a paid invoice has no **Record payment**.

![An invoice row with Send invoice, Record payment, Copy payment link, Download PDF, and View activity](https://booksgpt.ai/help/invoices/row-shortcuts-v2.png)

## If something goes wrong

- **Send invoice will not send.** The customer has no email address. Type it in **To**, or add it to the customer.
- **The payment shows twice.** It was recorded by hand and the deposit also came in from the bank feed. Open **Transactions**, click the deposit, choose **Match to existing entry**, and pick the payment you recorded. The deposit then confirms that payment instead of counting the money again.
- **You are moving over from QuickBooks.** Record each payment in one system only, where it happened. A payment entered in both is counted in both.

## More on invoices

- [Attach receipts and files to an invoice](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/attach-receipts-and-files-to-an-invoice-y1oe4d/)
- [Add headings, subtotals, and a shipping address to an invoice](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/add-headings-subtotals-and-a-shipping-address-to-an-invoice-2a544x/)
- [See whether an invoice was delivered or opened](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/see-whether-an-invoice-was-delivered-or-opened-17ja5ea/)
- [Change, void, or delete an invoice](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/change-void-or-delete-an-invoice-116u8s7/)
- [Payment terms: set them once per customer or vendor](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/payment-terms-set-them-once-per-customer-or-vendor-1tgglxl/)
- [Recurring invoices and payment reminders](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/recurring-invoices-and-payment-reminders-12vy77q/)
- [Upload a spreadsheet of invoices](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/upload-a-spreadsheet-of-invoices-mcid4r/), [create a draft from a PDF or photo](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/create-an-invoice-draft-from-a-pdf-or-photo-1ajjxel/), or [email invoices into BooksGPT](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/email-invoices-into-booksgpt-xw46fs/)
- [Create or send an invoice from chat](https://help.booksgpt.ai/en/article/create-or-send-an-invoice-from-chat-4hy7ny/)