In this article, you will learn how to create invoices within a project and send it directly to your clients through your DesignFiles Account; as well as by a shareable link you can email to your client directly. This built-in functionality enables you to be more efficient as it simplifies the invoicing process. It also eliminates the need for additional platforms or tools when managing client invoices.
1. On the Menu click Projects and select the project that you want to send the invoice from.
2. Click INVOICES to open the Invoice Overview page.
3. For new projects, click the Create Invoice button.
Note: for existing projects, previous invoices may be available for updating.
4. Specify the invoice details using the following fields:
Client: By default, this field will automatically select the client for the selected project. If you want to change the client, click the Drop-Down arrow and select the preferred client. You can also add client email addresses, using by selecting +Add Additional Client.
Invoice ID: By default, this field will automatically generate the Invoice ID. You can also update this field’s value by entering the preferred invoice ID.
Description: Here you can title your invoice by a specific room or details eg, Living Room or Plumbing to better organize your invoices for you and your clients.
Issue Date: By default, this field will automatically generate the invoice creation date. If you want to change the Issue Date to an advance date, simply click the field to enable the Calendar and use it to specify the date.
Tax: Click the Drop-Down arrow to select the appropriate tax to apply to this invoice or add a new sales tax by selecting the +Add Sales Tax.
Note: the displayed taxes are based on the specified State or Province.
Add Client Shipping Info: Enter the client’s shipping information.
Configure: This option allows you to add additional fields to your line items for each product; such as SKU, Material/Finish, Description, Estimated Lead Time, Category
5. Add products or line items to your invoice. In this example, we use the +Add Product from Project button.
6. In the Select Products to Add to the Invoice window, choose the product to add to the invoice. Use the following filters to narrow your search:
Product Selection: Click the Drop-Down arrow to select the products to display. You can choose from the following:
- All Products in Project: selecting this option will display all products under this project.
- Approved Products: selecting this option will display client approved products.
Vendors: Click the Drop-Down arrow to select the product vendor. This will display products that are sold/offered by the selected vendor.
By name, tag, description: Enter a name, tag, description, or keyword(s) to display relevant products.
7. Select the products’ Checkboxes to select or click the Select All checkbox to select all displayed products.
8. Review the product selection and click the Add Product(s) to Invoice button.
Note: the number/quantity of products will also appear on the button.
9. The selected products will appear in the invoice, view/update the product details as needed under the following headers/columns:
Image
Item Name
Item Type
Notes
Unit Price
Quantity
Markup
Client Price
Tax
Shipping
Total
Note: To delete a product, click the Delete icon beside the TOTAL column. To add custom charges, click the +Add Manual Line Item button.
10. In the Notes field, enter a brief note or the payment instructions/details where they can pay the invoice (i.e. Direct Deposit details, PayPal email address, etc.).
11. You can also configure the payment method for this particular invoice:
To enable/disable credit card payment, click the Allow client to pay by credit card? toggle icon.
Note: the toggle icon only appears if Stripe Payments have already been enabled. See Design Files Payments Setup for more details.
To push Stripe payment, click the Push Stripe fee to client toggle icon.
Note: this pushes Stripe’s processing fee (2.9%) to the customer to pay instead of you having to cover the charge.
12. Select the preferred action to take after creating the invoice:
Send Invoice: Clicking this button will show a modal that allows you to add a custom message that will appear in the Invoice email to the client.
Save Draft: Clicking this button will save the invoice as a draft and will redirect you to the Invoice Overview page.
Save Draft & Preview: Clicking this button will save the invoice as a draft and will generate a Preview as Client View invoice page.
Note: exit the invoice preview by clicking the Exit Preview button.
Cancel: Clicking this button will cancel the invoice creation and will redirect you to the Invoice page.
You can now also share an invoice with a client without having them login into their account.
To do this, outside of edit mode of your invoice, click on the 3 horizontal dots and select "Share via link"
Here you can copy the link and send it in an email directly to your client to view and pay.
To learn more on Creating and Submitting Invoices, watch the video tutorial below: