Using Ambrook's invoicing features allows you to create custom invoices to send to your customers while completing your bookkeeping at the same time.
Creating an Invoice
Start by navigating to the Invoices tab. This page contains all of the invoices you have created, organized within the tabs based on their status.
Click the “+ New Invoice” button on the upper right. That will open up the invoice creation page.
Tip: If for some reason, you have already 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.
Fill out the line items on the left hand side of the page with what you are invoicing the customer for.
For products that are sold at a certain price per unit, you can enter the Quantity being purchased and Price per unit, and the Amount field will multiply the two figures automatically.
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.
If you have a list of preset items that you’d like to add and select from a dropdown (rather than entering Description and Price repeatedly), you may do so in Settings – or reach out to us for help!
Tag the invoice with the correct Category and Enterprise. Using the tags underneath the line items will bulk tag all line items. If you wish to tag them one at a time, or edit just a single line item, you can select the “Tag Each Item” option.
Fill in the informational fields on the right hand panel. See the table below for guidance on each field.
Informational Fields
Field Name | Description |
Customer | This is a required field, and your customer must have a valid email address in order to create an invoice for them. Click into the field to search existing contacts or create a new one. |
Invoice ID | If you leave this field blank, Ambrook will automatically generate a unique Invoice ID for you. You may also override the preset ID if you’d like.
Edit your Invoice ID prefix and starting number by going to Organization (under Settings). |
Description | Write a description for you to reference back to. This will also be visible to the customer. |
Invoice Date | This defaults to today’s date, but you can change it to whatever date you’d like. |
Net Terms | Ambrook uses this information to alert you when an invoice is coming overdue. Set Net Terms to “0” if payment is due upon receipt of the invoice. |
Due Date | This date is calculated based on the Invoice Date and Net Terms fields, but you can also set it directly. |
Payment Options | Check which payment options you’d like to offer your customer on the invoice. The amounts in parentheses represent the fees passed onto you. |
Make Checks Payable To | If you are expecting to be paid by check, change this field to the business name you want written on the check. This defaults to your business name under Organization (under Settings). |
Files | Use the Attachments section to upload any other documents you want to be associated with the invoice for recordkeeping. These attachments are internal only, and will not be sent to the customer. |
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 Another
If your workflow includes creating many invoices in one sitting, we recommend marking this 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. You can CC additional recipients (including yourself or teammates) if you’d like.
Go to Organization (under Settings) to add or edit the “Organization Email.” This will be CC’d by default in all invoices.
When you’re ready, click “Send Invoice.” Your recipient will receive it to the specified email address, and can pay you in a few clicks using the link provided.
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.
Match a Payment to the Invoice
Once you’ve sent out your invoice, you are just waiting for it to get paid. Once it has been paid, you’ll complete one final step to close the loop – match the invoice to the payment that pays for it. Note: If a customer pays their invoice digitally on Ambrook, this step is automatically completed! It’s a major benefit of using Ambrook for invoicing.
You can complete matching from your Ledger or the Invoices tab.
From the Invoices tab: For unmatched invoices, you’ll see a “Match” button. Clicking this will open up a panel called “Match Payment,” where you can search a condensed version of your Ledger for the right payment or payments.
From the Ledger: Click the three dots on the right hand side of the transaction that you want to match to an invoice. You’ll see a “Match to Invoice” option. Clicking this will open up a panel called “Match Payment,” where you can search a condensed list of your invoices for the right one.
Tip: In both cases, the Filter button to more easily find what you’re looking for!
Sometimes an invoice is paid off by multiple payments, so check off all the relevant payments until the progress bar at the top shows 100%.
When you are done matching, click “Done.” The line items and tags from your invoice will have been copied over to the payment on your Ledger, so there’s no bookkeeping left to do.
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.