Create and Send Invoices
Build an accurate invoice, verify its customer experience, and choose whether to finalize, email, or schedule it.
Canvas separates editing from delivery so you can review the invoice before it becomes an active receivable. The form autosaves draft work, while the final delivery action decides whether the invoice is finalized without email, finalized and emailed, or scheduled for later delivery.
Before You Start
- Sign in and select the team that will issue the invoice.
- Review Settings → Invoices for numbering, payment terms, tax strategy, reminders, PDF attachment, currency, memo, and footer defaults.
- Have the customer's name and billing email ready. You can select an existing customer or create one from the invoice form.
- Create reusable items under Invoices → Products if product usage and revenue attribution matter.
- Confirm the payment instructions, tax treatment, and legal details your business requires.
Choose a Creation Experience
- Open Invoices → Invoices.
- Choose one of the create controls:
- Quick create invoice opens the invoice form in a sheet without leaving the list.
- Create invoice with preview opens the full-page form with a side-by-side preview on larger screens.
Use quick create for routine invoices. Use the full-page form when you need to compare the document and email presentation while editing.
1. Select or Create the Customer
- In Customer, select Select customer.
- Search for the customer and select the correct record.
- If the customer does not exist, select Create customer, complete the customer record, then select it in the invoice.
- Verify the customer name, billing address, and email shown in the invoice.
A customer is required before the invoice can autosave and finalize. Create & send also requires a usable customer email for successful delivery.
2. Confirm Invoice Identity and Dates
Review the invoice header fields:
- template
- invoice number
- issue date
- due date
- sender details
- logo
Invoice numbers must be unique within the team. If you use a custom number that already exists, the form shows Invoice number already exists and disables final submission until it is corrected.
Choose Payment Terms from Due on receipt, Net 15, Net 30, or Net 60. The due date recalculates from the issue date.
3. Set Currency Before Adding Items
- Select the invoice currency.
- Confirm that it matches the customer's agreement and any catalog products you plan to use.
- Add items only after the currency is final.
Changing the currency clears every line item. This prevents values from one currency being silently reused in another, but it also means unsaved line-item edits must be re-entered.
4. Add Line Items
For each item:
- Focus the description field.
- Select an active catalog product, or type a custom line-item name.
- Enter the quantity.
- Confirm the price and unit.
- Enter line-item tax when that column is enabled by the template.
- Select Add item for another line.
- Reorder or remove rows as needed.
Selecting a product suggestion fills its saved name, price, and unit and links the line to product reporting. Suggestions are limited to active products that match the invoice currency. A custom typed line remains valid but is not guaranteed to contribute to product usage, MRR, ARR, or revenue reporting.
5. Review Totals and Payment Details
Confirm the displayed subtotal, discount, tax, VAT, and total. Then review:
- Payment collection choice
- payment instructions
- customer-facing notes
- footer
- custom fields such as a purchase order or project code
- tax ID and VAT presentation
- QR code and PDF attachment options
- PDF page size
The form shows Request payment and Autocharge customer choices, but the final Delivery action is the authoritative control for creation and email behavior. Do not treat the Autocharge choice alone as proof that a saved payment method was charged; verify the resulting payment or provider record after submission.
6. Verify the Preview
In the full-page form on a large screen:
- Open Invoice PDF and inspect the document.
- Open Email and verify the customer-facing message.
- Review the Payment page tab as a description of the payment experience.
- Use Preview invoice after the draft has produced a shareable token to open the customer-facing invoice.
The PDF and email views update as you edit. The Payment page tab is currently an informational placeholder rather than a live rendered checkout. On smaller screens, the side preview is hidden. If you select Hide preview, the current full-page form does not show a visible restore control; reopen or refresh the form to bring it back.
7. Confirm Draft Saving
After you modify the form and select a customer, watch the footer for:
- Saving... while the draft is being stored
- Edited ... ago after a successful draft save
- Preview invoice when a public token is available
Draft saving waits briefly after edits and requires a selected customer plus a valid invoice number. Do not close the page while Saving... is visible.
8. Choose the Delivery Action
Open Choose invoice delivery action, then choose:
| Delivery action | Result |
|---|---|
| Create invoice | Finalizes the draft as Unpaid without intentionally emailing the customer |
| Create & send | Finalizes the draft as Unpaid and queues document generation and customer email |
| Schedule | Keeps a future delivery job and records the invoice as Scheduled |
For Schedule:
- Select a future date.
- Enter a future Send time.
- Resolve Schedule time must be in the future if it appears.
- Select the scheduled submit button.
Pressing Enter inside the form does not submit the invoice. Use the primary action button after the form is valid.
9. Verify the Result
After submission, Canvas opens the invoice record. Check:
- invoice number, customer, currency, and total
- the expected Unpaid or Scheduled status
- issue, due, sent, or scheduled dates
- invoice link
- line items and payment instructions
- activity and communication history
- PDF availability for a finalized invoice
For Create & send, generation and email happen after the invoice is finalized. The invoice can show Unpaid before its sent date or activity appears. Wait for the delivery event instead of repeatedly submitting the form.
For Schedule, confirm Scheduled at and return to Invoices → Invoices → Scheduled to verify the record is in the scheduled queue.
Statuses and Important Edge Cases
- Autosave can create a Draft before you select the final delivery action.
- Create invoice does not leave the record in draft; it moves it to Unpaid without email.
- Create & send also moves the invoice to Unpaid while delivery is processed.
- Schedule requires a future date and time and moves the invoice to Scheduled.
- Canceling a scheduled send later returns the invoice to Draft.
- Changing from a scheduled delivery to an immediate action replaces the pending schedule.
- The form can remain disabled when the customer, invoice number, line-item name, or schedule is invalid.
- Product suggestions can disappear when the invoice currency and product currency differ.
- A shareable invoice link is sensitive customer billing information. Send it only to intended recipients.
Troubleshooting
The submit button is disabled
Check the required customer, unique invoice number, at least one named line item, valid dates, and any visible field errors. For scheduled delivery, make sure the date and time are still in the future.
The draft does not show Saving or Preview invoice
Make a change, select a customer, and correct any invoice-number error. Draft saving starts only after the required context is valid and pauses briefly while you type.
Changing currency removed my items
This is expected. Set currency first, then re-add the items in the new currency and recalculate the totals.
A catalog product is missing
Open Invoices → Products and confirm the product is active and uses the same currency as the invoice. Then return to the item field and search again.
The customer was not emailed
Confirm that you selected Create & send, the customer record has the correct email, and the invoice activity shows a send event. If the invoice was created without sending, use a supported send or reminder action only after reviewing the current status.
The invoice number already exists
Use a different number or allow the team's numbering strategy to provide the next number. Do not reuse an existing number for another invoice in the same team.
The scheduled invoice did not send
Open Invoices → Invoices → Scheduled and verify that the invoice still has a future Scheduled at value. If it has returned to draft, the schedule was canceled. If the scheduled time has passed without delivery activity, review the invoice record before rescheduling to avoid duplicate delivery.
The customer payment page preview is not interactive
The form's Payment page tab is currently a placeholder. Use Preview invoice or the saved invoice link to inspect the actual customer-facing invoice, then verify the payment method separately.