Invoicing
Where do I put my VAT number?
Where do I put my client's VAT number?
Why won't background colors print on invoices?
Can I customize the look of my invoice template?
How do I remove the page numbers at the top of the
pageand the URL and date at the bottom of the page?
What Is Recurring Billing / Automated Invoicing?
Will FreshBooks send recurring invoices automatically?
Can I use FreshBooks for recurring billing with PayPal?
How do I post a payment for an invoice and mark it as paid?
Why won't invoices update when I modify a client's address?
Can I allow client's to view invoices without logging in?
Tax or shipping calculated from the subtotal plus sales tax?
How do I apply a discount to an invoice?
How do I return a paid invoice to pending status?
How do I see my invoices that I have sent?
How do I add a tax?
How do I add my ABN number?
How do I apply QST?
How do I create an invoice from my timesheet?
How do I send one bill to multiple emails?
Will my failed recurring profile transaction retry again every night?
Why did my sent invoice change to a pending status?
I've enabled a payment plugin, but my clients still can't pay online?
The best area to place your VAT number is in the area below your logo. You can customize the text under your company logo in your invoice preferences.
- Click your "Invoices" tab.
- Click your white "preferences" link.
- Enter your VAT number next to the field: "Optional Text Below Logo".
- Click on your Save button below.
This will ensure that your VAT number is available on all your invoices.
You can add your client's VAT to their company name.
Example: <Client's name> - <VAT Number>
This will also ensure that their VAT number is always visible on your invoices. Alternatively, you can add their VAT numbers on to any address field in their profile if you wish to move the position of their VAT number.
If the background colors are not printing from the printer friendly invoice format then you must enable this setting in your browser. Follow the instructions below for the browser you are using.
Internet Explorer
- Select "Tools" from the top menu
- Select "Internet Options"
- Select the "Advanced" tab
- Scroll down to "Printing" and enable "Print background colors and images"
Netscape Navigator and Firefox
- Select "File" from the top menu
- Select "Page Setup"
- On the "Format & Options" tab enable "Print Background (colors & images)
Yes you can. When you customize the colour scheme of your FreshBooks system, it changes the colours scheme of your invoice template as well. The logo which appears along the top of each invoice and at the top of FreshBooks can also be changed to your company logo. To customize the look of your FreshBooks system, follow the steps below:
Changing FreshBooks Colours
- First log into FreshBooks as the Administrator.
- Click your "Settings" link on your top right.
- Select "Colors" (Step 5).
- Enter the colours you wish FreshBooks to use (a guide is available on that page if you need help selecting colours).
- Select "Save" to apply your changes (you may have to refresh your browser to see the changes).
Customizing the FreshBooks Logo's
- Log into FreshBooks as the Administrator.
- Click your "Settings" link on your top right.
- Select "Logo Images" (Step 6).
- Select your logo by pressing the "Browse" button (FreshBooks allows you to upload 2 logos. The "System Logo" is what appears at the top of you FreshBooks system. The "Invoice Logo" is what appears at the top of each invoice).
- Select "Save" to apply your changes (you may have to refresh your browser to see the changes).
The page number and URL on the printed invoice or support ticket are added by your Internet Web browser. If you are using Internet Explorer you can adjust them with the following steps:
- Click "File" on the top left corner.
- Click on "Page Setup"
- Delete the code next to the fields marked "Header" and "Footer".
- Click your "OK" button.
Recurring billing and automated invoicing allows you to automatically create and/or send invoices at weekly, monthly or yearly intervals which automatically bill your clients using one of FreshBooks's auto-bill capable gateways (Landmark,
VeriSign,
Authorize.Net, ,
iTransact,
LinkPoint, and
PSiGate). To create and send an auto invoice with
recurring billing follow these steps:
- Click your "Invoices" tab.
- Click your white "List of Recurring" link located near the top of your page.
- Click your blue "edit" link for the recurring profile that you want to use to make automatic payments located on the right side of your page.
- Select your payment gateway in the blue box located just above your list of items.
- Enter the credit card information of the payer in the appropriate fields.
- Click your Save button located at the bottom of your page.
NOTE: Recurring invoices are generated between 5:00AM and 7:00AM EST so do not expect your invoices to appear immediately.
FreshBooks can not currently be used to auto-bill your clients but can still be used as a payment gateway for your recurring invoices. To enable
PayPal for your recurring invoices follow the steps below:
How to Enable PayPal for Recurring Invoices
- First enable your PayPal plugin by logging in as Administrator.
- Click your "Settings" link at the top right.
- Select "Payment Plugins".
- Enter your PayPal email id and check "Enabled".
- Now simply create a new recurring invoice profile and select your interval (weekly, monthly etc.).
- Then select the number of occurrences (i.e. selecting monthly with 12 occurrences will invoice your client monthly for one year).
- Select "Save" and FreshBooks will take care of the rest.
How do I post a payment for an invoice and mark it as paid? |
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To update your records when you receive payment:
- On the "Invoices" page, select the invoice(s) you want to update using the checkboxes on the left.
- Once your invoices are selected, click "ENTER PAYMENT" from the grey subnavigation. This navigates you to the Enter Payments screen where partial or full payments can be entered and saved. These payments are tracked and can be viewed by clicking "Payment history".
Why won't invoices update when I modify a client's address? |
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Any changes that are made to the client's address information through the "Users" tab will only be reflected when a new invoice is created. This is done so that any changes made to the client's information will not affect the records of the invoices already sent. If you wish to modify an address on an existing invoice follow the steps below:
- Select the edit option from the "All Invoices" view.
- Change the client's address from the address field.
- Then select "Save" to apply your changes.
Yes you can, but you must first enable this feature within the "Preferences" in "Settings" (available at the top right). Follow the steps below:
- You must first log in as an Administrator.
- Click your "Settings" link at the top right.
- Select the "Preferences" (Step 4).
- Check off "No" for the option "Clients must log in before viewing invoices".
- Select "Save" to apply the change made.
Now when you send a client an invoice, the notification email will contain a direct link to view the invoice. By default, this feature will be enabled. To disable it, use the above procedure but at step four, check off "Yes" instead of "No".
Tax or shipping calculated from the subtotal plus sales tax? |
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FreshBooks does not have a feature to add a tax on a subtotal plus another tax. The best way to get do this is to use a different calculation for your shipping and handling charge that is equal to your s/h charge + s/h charge multiplied by your tax. Follow the example below:
If you have the following invoice:
Subtotal = $35.00
Tax1 = 5%
If you have a shipping and handling charge equal to 8%,
Shipping and Handling calculation = 0.08 + 0.08 * Tax1 = 0.08 + 0.08 * 0.05 = 0.084
This gives you:
Tax1 = $35.00 * 0.05 = $1.75
Tax2 (s/h charge) = $35.00 * 0.084 = $2.94
Total = $39.69
You can apply a discount to an invoice by starting a new line and entering a negative value for the unit cost. Don't forget to enter a quantity for that line.
If you wish to track these in the future, we recommend creating an item called "discount" and again entering a negative value for unit cost. If you need more flexibility you can always edit the unit cost of the discount line item when you actually create an invoice.
You can allow invoices that have already been paid return to a "draft" status by simply selecting the blue "Edit" link to the right of the invoice, click the blue "View/Enter Payments" link in the bottom right and enter a negative amount in the payment field. This is effectively a credit and will be subtracted from the amount owed on the invoice and return it to a pending status. You will then be able to re-send the invoice.
To view the invoices that you have sent, click your "Invoices" tab, click your blue Search button located just above your list of invoices, select "sent from your drop-down menu labelled "Status", then click your Search button. All invoices in the sent status will then be listed.
You can also see sent invoices in your sent emails section. Click your "Users" tab, then your white "List of sent emails" link at the top of your page. You can sort the emails by type by clicking your white "Type" link just above your list of emails to group together the emails that are in reference to an invoice.
You can create new taxes to apply to your items in your settings; click your "Invoice" tab, then click your white "Preferences" link. Enter all details about your taxes at the bottom of the page then click your Save button at the bottom to finish. See the Invoice Preferencessection for more details.
- Click your "Invoices" tab.
- Click your white "Preferences" link located near the top of your page.
- Enter your ABN number next the field "Optional Text Below Logo".
- Click your Save button.
The answer to this question is similar to the answer above for the shipping question. Since QST is calculated from the subtotal of your invoice and since FreshBooks does not feature any way to do this, you can apply QST at a different rate that is equal to your QST rate + QST rate multiplied by your tax.
For example, you have the following invoice:
Subtotal = $50.00
Tax1 = 5%
QST = 7.5%
Your QST rate = 0.075 + (0.075 * Tax1) = 0.075 + (0.075 * 0.05) = 0.0788
This gives you:
Tax1 = $50.00 * 0.05 = $2.50
Tax2 (Your QST) = $50.00 * 0.0788 = $3.94
Total = $56.44
To create an invoice from a project in your timesheet section, click your "Timesheet" tab, click your white "List of projects" link at the top of your page, click your blue project name, then scroll on the right to find a blue box with the heading "GENERATE INVOICE".
See the Create an Invoice section in the help manual for more information.
Adding a contact to a client will allow you to send one invoice to multiple recipients.
To add a contact:
- Click your "Users" tab.
- Click on your existing client.
- Click your blue "edit" link located to the right of your client.
- Click your blue "Add Another Contact" link located just below your client's information.
After adding your new contact, you can select which recipient receives your invoice. When you create or edit an invoice, you can now select the desired recipients by clicking on the checkboxes in the blue box titled "Send this invoice to:"
See the New Contacts section in the help manual for more information.
Will my failed recurring profile transaction retry again every night? |
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No, once the auto-bill fails twice, it will enter a failed status and send an email notification to you with the cause of the error.
Draft means that there is new information on the invoice that the client has not seen yet. For example, if you have made changes to an invoice that was already sent, it will return to a pending status to encourage you to re-notify the client.
I've enabled a payment plugin, but my clients still can't pay online? |
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When creating and editing the invoice, you must also ensure that the box next to your payment gateway is checked under "Allow online payments with". Once you have enabled the payment gateway this option becomes available on the lower left side of the invoice.
Are we missing anything in our help manual? If so, please let us know by contacting us here.
You may also find additional help by visiting our support forum.
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