Using Ambrook's invoicing features allows you to create custom invoices to send to your customers while completing your bookkeeping at the same time.
Tip: Want to scope our work and get customer sign-off before you invoice? You can send an Estimate, Quote, Bid, or Proposal first and convert it to an invoice in one click once accepted. Learn how →
Creating an Invoice
Navigate to Invoices. This page contains all of the invoices you have created, organized within the tabs based on their status.
Click + New Invoice. This will pop up the invoice editor, as you can see below.
The Invoice ID will auto-increment - if you'd like to change the starting ID, or add a prefix (letters that reflect your business), you can do that in Settings --> Preferences. The Due Date can also be set with a default under your preferences.
Add Items. You can either add items one by one, or create preset items to fill in the price and category for you at Settings → Items. You can search for the item you're looking for in the dropdown
For products where price per unit doesn’t make sense, you can skip the Price and Quantity fields and simply fill in the Amount field with the total.
Tip: Click the three dots next to any line item when you create an invoice and select Edit line-item to include extra details. You can also save an Item you've created to your catalog for future use by clicking Add to catalog.
Tag the invoice with the correct Category and Enterprise or any other relevant smart tags. The tags underneath the line items apply to every line item. To tag or edit a single line item, click the three dots next to it and select Tag line item.
Tip: To tag a line item to a balance sheet account, select Tag line item
Fill in the informational fields on the right hand panel.
You can also attach relevant files to send to customers, like a more detailed invoice from another system.
Tip: If you created the invoice outside of Ambrook, you can select or drag-and-drop the file into the “Scan File” box, and the software will attempt to read in the details.
Grouping line items into sections
Group line items into named sections so your customers can see what they're paying for. For example, split a restaurant order into "Meat" and "Vegetables," or a remodel into "Kitchen" and "Bathroom."
In the invoice editor, check the boxes next to the line items you want to group.
Click Group in the bar at the top of the screen.
Type a name for the group in the header row that appears.
Repeat for any other groups.
To change a group:
Rename it: Click the group name and type a new one.
Remove one item: Click the three dots next to the line item and select Remove from group.
Remove the whole group: Click the three dots on the group header and select Ungroup. The line items stay on the invoice.
Groups appear on the invoice PDF and on the page your customer uses to pay. Groups organize line items but don't show a subtotal per group.
Line item groups also work on estimates.
Saving Invoices
There are several different ways to save invoices that impacts how they show up under your accounts receivable.
Save as Draft
At any point in the process, you can click “Save as Draft” under the “Save As” dropdown. Your invoice will be saved as a draft and you can pick up where you left off later on. Draft invoices are never included in your Accounts Receivable totals.
Save as Open
At any point in the process, you can click “Save as Open” under the “Save As” dropdown. Your invoice will be saved and you can pick up where you left off later on. Open invoices are included in your Accounts Receivable totals, even though they haven’t been sent to customers.
Create More
If your workflow includes creating many invoices in one sitting, we recommend marking the "Create More" checkbox before saving to shave off a few clicks per invoice. It will bring you directly back to this invoice creation screen rather than the Invoices tab homepage.
Finalizing an Invoice
Now that your invoice is created, it’s time to get it into your customer’s hands and get paid.
Send the Invoice Digitally
You will save the most time by sending invoices through Ambrook, especially if the customer chooses to pay digitally. To do so, click the dark green “Send Online” button in the top right corner to open up the “Send Invoice” panel.
Confirm the recipient's details, especially the business name and email address.
Add anyone else who should get a copy in the CC field.
Contacts marked Always CC on invoices are added automatically. See "Setting default CC recipients" below.
Your business email is CC'd automatically if Auto-CC Business Email is turned on in Settings → Preferences → Invoicing.
To also text the payment link, check Send SMS notification to your customer's phone number. This option only appears if the contact's primary contact has a phone number.
Choose which attachments to include.
Click Send Invoice. Your customer receives an email with the invoice PDF and a link to pay. See Paying an Ambrook Invoice for what they see.
Setting default CC recipients
If the same people at a customer's business should get every invoice, like their bookkeeper, add them to the contact once.
Go to Contacts and open the customer.
Under Sub-Contacts, add or open an additional contact with an email address.
Check Always CC on invoices.
Click Save.
That person is added to the CC field whenever you send this customer an invoice. You can still remove them from a single invoice before sending.
Always CC is available for additional contacts only. The primary contact already receives the invoice.
Save as Sent
Once you are finished entering the invoice details, you can also choose “Save as Sent” under the “Save As” dropdown to finalize the invoice without sending it directly to your customer. This will manually indicate to our system that you consider the invoice to be in the hands of your customer, and that you are no longer intending to modify its contents.
Send the Invoice Outside of Ambrook
If you prefer to print and hand your customer a hard copy of the invoice, or otherwise manage the invoice outside of Ambrook, you can proceed to save it as a Draft, Open, or Sent depending on how you’d like it represented. Skip the “Send Online” button if you don’t want an email generated.
Select the invoice in question to open up the invoice details.
Check the invoice details for any errors or necessary edits, and then choose the print or download icon in the upper right corner.
The print option allows you to print out the invoice PDF and hand a hard copy to your customer, or use it as a packing sheet for delivery.
The download option enables you to attach the PDF in a separate email to your customer. Note that the payment link cannot be accessed until the invoice is finalized in our system.
Canceling an Invoice
Cancel an unpaid invoice
Navigate to the Invoices tab
Click the 3 dots to the right of the invoice
Click Cancel Invoice
Cancel an invoice that has been marked as paid
If an invoice is marked as paid because it’s matched to a payment, you’ll need to unmatch the payment first.
Click into the invoice
Scroll down to the Payment section
Click the 3 dots next to the payment
Click Unmatch
Click the 3 dots at the top right of the invoice
Click Cancel Invoices
Note: If you recorded a check on the invoice and then cleared it, you’ll need to unclear the check and then void the recorded check before you can cancel the invoice. You can unclear a check by following the same steps used to unmatch a payment above.
Other Invoicing Tips
Check out the “Timeline” section on any invoice details to see who has touched the invoice at every step of the way.
You can resend invoices to customers who need a nudge, or who lost the original email. Simply click into the invoice details.
You can print or download invoice PDFs without finalizing them. After saving the invoice as a draft or as open, click into the invoice details and select the print or download button.
You can edit finalized invoices, and the system will create a new version of the invoice. You can reference the “Timeline” section to see when edits have been made.
If your customer didn’t receive their invoice via email, ask them to check their spam folder and mark the message as “Not Spam,” then add the sending email address to their safe/known senders list.
Your customer will have to pay the full amount of their invoice if it is sent digitally. If you would like to apply partial payments, either create a new invoice for the partial amount, or collect the payment by check/cash and match the partial payment to the full invoice.
FAQ
Does Ambrook support recurring invoices?
Yes, Ambrook supports recurring invoices. You can set any invoice to repeat and choose whether it sends automatically or waits for your review. Learn how to set up recurring invoices.