The Invoices list and an invoice's own detail page
Walk the Invoices list and one invoice's own detail page: a plan backdated on purpose so it owes several months at once, the Approval Queue's Approve and Reject, the backfill picker for a month that slipped through, an invoice priced below the plan's own list price, and the Send, Push to QuickBooks, Delete and Move to client actions on the invoice itself.
What you will have
- See what happens when a plan's Billing Start Date is set in the past.
- Approve one backdated draft and reject another, and read what each does before you click it.
- Find a subscription's unbilled periods badge and open the backfill picker behind it.
- Read an invoice's own detail page: Invoice Details, Line Items and History.
- Recognize True Value Pricing when a client's own price sits below the plan's list price.
- See why Move to client is missing from a plan invoice's menu, and where it appears on a manual one.
- Read the Delete dialog's two choices for an invoice that already billed a period.
- Try Push to QuickBooks and Send on an invoice with no QuickBooks connection and no mailbox connected.
- Search and filter the Invoices list, and read what the Last Sent column means.
- Create a manual invoice from scratch and move it to a different client.
Why it works this way
A backdated plan start date is not a mistake the software silently absorbs. It is treated as an instruction: the next billing run makes one draft per month since that date, and every one of those drafts still waits in the Approval Queue for a person to approve or reject it. Nothing charges on its own just because a date sat in the past.
True Value Pricing is a display choice, not a second charge. When a client's own price is lower than the plan's own list price, the invoice shows the list price on one line and the savings as its own minus line below it, so the client sees what they saved instead of just a lower number with no story behind it. The net total is identical either way.
Move to client only offers itself when moving is actually safe. A plan invoice never offers it, because a plan invoice belongs to whichever client is subscribed to that plan. A manual invoice with no ticket work, no payment and no QuickBooks link offers it freely, because moving it changes nothing else.
Steps
Set a plan's Billing Start Date to a date in the past, then run Generate Invoices.
Backdating a client's subscription to a Core plan four months earlier and generating produced one Pending Approval draft per month since then, all for the same organization and the same plan, each with its own period and its own dollar amount. Nothing was charged by generating them.
Set a plan's Billing Start Date to a date in the past, then run Generate Invoices. Reject one of the backdated drafts and read what Reject says before confirming.
Reject opens a dialog that names the exact dollar amount, says nothing is charged, and asks for a reason before the button unlocks. Confirming it deletes that one pending invoice; the same month comes back the next time Generate Invoices runs, as long as the subscription still owes it. Approve, on the row beside it, needs no dialog at all - it goes straight from Pending Approval to Outstanding.
Reject one of the backdated drafts and read what Reject says before confirming. Open the client's Billing > Plans page and find the unbilled periods badge on the subscription row.
The rejected month never disappears. It shows up on the subscription's own row as a small orange badge reading how many periods are unbilled, right beside the plan's Active status and its Edit subscription button.
Open the client's Billing > Plans page and find the unbilled periods badge on the subscription row. Click the badge to open the backfill picker.
The picker lists every unbilled month by name and price, with a checkbox on each one. Ticking a month and clicking Generate makes a fresh draft for exactly that month, landing back in the Approval Queue like any other draft. Dismiss, beside it, closes a month for good instead - it will never be offered again.
Click the badge to open the backfill picker. Open one of the approved invoices and read its own detail page.
Invoice Details holds the invoice number, its source, the client, who created and approved it, when it was last sent, and its tax code. Line Items holds what is actually being billed, with a subtotal and total underneath. History, collapsed at the bottom, lists every change made to the invoice. This invoice's own client price sits below the plan's list price, so Line Items shows the full $200.00 list price on one line and a matching -$40.00 Discount line right under it - that is True Value Pricing, and the $160.00 total is the same either way.
Open one of the approved invoices and read its own detail page. Open the invoice's own actions menu.
The menu on this invoice reads Send, Push to QuickBooks, Print, Download PDF, Void and Delete. Move to client is not in it, because this invoice bills a plan - a plan invoice always belongs to whichever client is subscribed to that plan, so there is nowhere else it could move to.
Open the invoice's own actions menu. Click Delete and read the two choices before backing out.
Because this invoice already billed a real period, Delete cannot just remove it - it asks first. Re-bill this period next run hands the month back so the next billing run charges it again. Leave it billed closes the month for good; that money never comes back onto a future invoice. Either way the invoice itself is deleted. Cancel leaves the invoice exactly as it was.
Click Delete and read the two choices before backing out. Click Push to QuickBooks.
With no QuickBooks connection on this instance, Push to QuickBooks prints its refusal in red right above Invoice Details instead of doing nothing silently: Organization does not have a QuickBooks customer ID. The Tax Code field on the same card steers the next push and otherwise falls back to the client's, then the item's, then the instance's own default.
Click Push to QuickBooks. Click Send and read who it will reach.
Send Invoice always lists the client's billing contacts under Always Included - the client's billing email, primary contact and any additional billing contacts, managed from Clients > Billing - and offers an Add recipient box for anyone else, just for this one send.
Click Send and read who it will reach. Click Send to confirm.
This instance has no mailbox connected for billing email, so the send failed honestly with a red banner naming exactly who it could not reach. Last Sent, in Invoice Details, stayed at its dash: a failed send never stamps it. On an instance with a mailbox connected, a successful send fills in Last Sent and adds a Sent to row beside it listing who the email actually reached - staff only, never shown to the client.
Click Send to confirm. Open Billing > Invoices and use the Status filter and search box.
All statuses does not include Void - a void invoice is history, not money owed, so picking Void by name is the only way to see one. The search box matches an invoice number or a client name. This same page also carries a fleet-wide unbilled-periods notice naming every client that has one, and a Last Sent column that stays blank for any invoice never emailed from here. A row whose status changed on its own also carries a small WHY chip beside the status badge - this tenant's Overdue row reads via Invoice overdue sweep, naming the automation that flipped it rather than leaving you to guess who touched it.
Open Billing > Invoices and use the Status filter and search box. Click New Invoice and pick a customer.
New Invoice asks for a customer first. Picking one creates a blank Draft invoice for that client right away and drops straight into the same detail page every other invoice uses to add its lines - there is no separate wizard.
Click New Invoice and pick a customer. Add a line and click Save & finalize.
A line needs no product from the catalog - typing a Display Name and a Unit Price is enough, since this instance's product catalog is empty. Save & finalize turns the Draft into a real, numbered Outstanding invoice in one click; Save as draft, in the menu beside it, keeps it a draft instead.
Add a line and click Save & finalize. Open the actions menu on this manual invoice and click Move to client.
This invoice has no ticket work, no payment and no QuickBooks link, so Move to client is offered. Picking a different client shows exactly what moves before anything happens: the tickets (none here), the time and products it charges (none here), that the total stays the same, and what happens in QuickBooks. Move carries out the change; the invoice keeps its same number.
Open the actions menu on this manual invoice and click Move to client. A paid invoice locks its own lines instead of hiding the Edit button.
None of this tenant's invoices are actually Paid - that status only ever arrives from QuickBooks or an online payment, and neither is connected here - so this is described straight from the invoice detail page's own source rather than pictured. Once an invoice is Paid, it is a record of money that already moved: the page locks Line Items and says why instead of just removing Edit. The same lock applies to a Void invoice. To correct what was billed after the fact, the difference goes on the next invoice instead.
QuickBooks can also tell this instance an invoice was removed.
This also has no live example on a QuickBooks-disconnected tenant, so it is described from source. A nightly sync reads QuickBooks' own change feed; if someone deleted an invoice there, the sync voids it here too, keeping its number, lines and history rather than erasing anything, and marks it with a Removed in QuickBooks chip once the Invoices list is filtered to Void. A paid invoice is mirrored the same way without touching its payment record. Use Regenerate on the void invoice if that period should really bill again.
Other ways to do this
Elise
Ask her directly - approve a draft, create an invoice, or move one to another client - and she runs the same underlying action these steps do, not a lookalike shortcut.
If it did not work
- If Generate Invoices does not produce a draft for every month since a backdated start date, check the subscription is actually Active - a Draft subscription that was never saved bills nobody.
- If the backfill picker's Generate button stays disabled, check at least one month is ticked - Select all and Clear sit right above the list for exactly this.
- If Push to QuickBooks or a real client Send never seem to do anything, check Settings > Integrations for a connected accounting system and a connected mailbox first - both actions fail honestly with a red banner instead of doing nothing, and the banner names exactly what is missing.
- If Move to client is missing from an invoice's menu, check what it bills: a plan invoice, a paid or void invoice, and one already on its way to or from QuickBooks never offer it, for the reasons each state's own banner or this walkthrough explains.
Questions this page answers
What happens if I set a plan start date in the past?
You get one draft invoice per month since that date, and nothing is charged until you approve them. Backdate a start six months and the next run creates six drafts in Billing > Approval Queue. Each one shows its own month and price. Approve the ones you want and reject the ones you do not. The start date is treated as an instruction, so type it on purpose. The approval queue is what stands between typing it and charging anybody. If those months were already paid somewhere else, you have two ways to say so. Set the start date to the month you really want billing to begin. Or leave it and open the unbilled periods badge on the plan row, under Client > Billing > Plans. Dismiss in that picker closes those months for good in one action. A month that prices to $0 does not generate. That means a missing rate or an empty count. It reports why, and it never blocks the months around it. Each draft stands alone, so one bad month costs you that month, not the run.
What do Finalize and Approve do?
Finalize is in the menu on a draft. It turns the draft into a real bill. On an invoice you typed yourself the primary button reads Save & finalize and does both at once, and Save as draft in the menu keeps it a draft. Approve is in the menu on one waiting for approval. It gives the invoice a number, makes it payable, and pushes it to QuickBooks. Reject sits beside it and throws the draft away.
Do I still need the backfill picker for a backdated plan?
Usually not on a brand new backdated plan. The next run already makes a draft for every month since the start date, so there is nothing left to catch up. The picker is for gaps on a plan that has ALREADY billed. That means a month you rejected and now want back, a month that priced to $0 at the time, or months a run never reached. Those do not catch up by themselves. The unbilled periods badge on the plan row is what tells you they are there, and this picker is how you charge them when you choose. It only offers months with no invoice at all. It shows each month's price before you tick it. Tick January and March but not February and you bill January and March. February keeps showing as a gap until you tick it too. Nothing waits on an unticked month. A month you never want billed is Dismiss, right beside the generate button in this same picker. That closes it for good. Skip on an existing invoice is a different action, for an invoice that already exists.
What is on this page?
This is one invoice. The top row shows its status, plus the period and the plan it came from. Invoice Details holds the number, the source, the client, and the dates. Line Items holds what is being billed, with the subtotal and total under it. History at the bottom lists every change made to this invoice.
Why does my Core invoice show a plan line and a minus discount line?
That is true value pricing. When a client's own price is lower than the plan's list price, the invoice shows the list price on one line. The gap shows below it as a minus line ending in Discount. The net is the same as one line at the lower price. The client just gets to see the list price and what they saved. You can turn this off at Settings > Billing & Pricing > Invoice Settings, with the Discount True Value Pricing switch. Off, and the invoice shows only the price they pay.
Why is there no "Move to client" on this invoice?
The item only shows on an invoice that can still move. Drafts can move. So do invoices waiting for approval, unpaid, or overdue. It is hidden once any money has been paid on it. It is hidden on a void invoice. It is hidden when the invoice bills a plan, not ticket work. It is hidden when the invoice came in from QuickBooks. It is hidden when the platform holds its own copy of the bill. It is hidden while the invoice is being sent to QuickBooks. It is hidden while we wait for QuickBooks to tell us the balance. A plan invoice moves when you move the plan. A paid invoice stays with the client that paid it. If you pick a client and the box says no, it tells you why. The client may not be linked to QuickBooks yet. The client may already have a ticket charges invoice waiting for approval. The client may be turned off or deleted. Or some of the work may be billed on another invoice.
Why does Delete ask me about the billing period?
Because an approved plan invoice has already used up a month, and there is no safe default. Re-bill this period next run hands the month back. Any discount terms come back too, and the next run bills that month again. Leave it billed treats the month as used. It is never offered again, so that money is gone. Either way the invoice is deleted, in QuickBooks first if it was pushed there. Its ticket charges are freed. Cancel changes nothing. A few old invoices have nothing to rewind to. Delete is refused on those, and Void is the right action.
What does QuickBooks do on this invoice?
QuickBooks holds the books. Push to QuickBooks is in the menu on an owed invoice that has not gone over yet. Re-Push to QB is there instead once it has. If a push fails, the page prints the reason in red above Invoice Details. The Tax Code field steers the next push. Leave it on the default and the client, the item, then the instance decide the code in that order.
What do Send, Print and Download PDF do?
Send emails the invoice to the client. It opens a box first that lists who will get it, and you can add more people for that one send. Most sends go out right away. If the mail queue cannot get it out at once, this page says so instead of claiming it went out, and Logs > Email Log shows how it ends. Print opens the PDF in a new tab. Download PDF saves the same file. Send is not offered on a draft, on one waiting for approval, or on a void one.
Where do I see who an invoice was emailed to?
Open the invoice and look at the Invoice Details card. It shows Last Sent, and next to it a Sent to row. That row lists the people the last send actually reached. It counts mail that was delivered, and it appears once the invoice has been sent. Sending again updates both. This is for your team only. The client portal never shows who an invoice went to.
What does the Last Sent column show?
The day you last emailed this invoice from the app, using Send on the invoice. It updates each time you send it again. It only stamps when the email really went out. A failed send leaves it alone. A dash means the invoice was never emailed from here. That is normal. Some teams send invoices from QuickBooks, or get paid by e-transfer. For them the column stays blank, and that is not an error.
How do I search or filter the Invoices list?
The search box matches an invoice number or a client name. The Status list narrows to Draft, Outstanding, Paid, Overdue or Void. All statuses does NOT include Void, because a void invoice is history, not money owed. It shows only when you pick Void. That is also how you find invoices someone deleted in QuickBooks. Invoices waiting for approval are never in this list. They sit on the Approval Queue tab, and they land here as Outstanding once you approve them.
How do I create a new invoice?
Open the Invoices tab and click New Invoice. You can also start from a client's Billing tab. Pick the customer. That opens a new draft invoice right away. Add each line with the product search, then set the amount and the price. Save keeps it as a draft. Save & finalize turns it into a real invoice.
This invoice is on the wrong client. How do I fix it?
Open the invoice and click the three dots at the top right, then "Move to client". Pick the right client under "Bill this invoice to". The box then tells you what moves: the tickets by number, how much time and how many products, what the total does, and what happens in QuickBooks. It also tells you if this invoice was already emailed to the old client, and to whom. Click "Move" to do it, or "Cancel" to back out. The invoice keeps the same number, and the tickets it charges move to the new client with it. If the invoice is already in QuickBooks, QuickBooks is changed first. If QuickBooks says no, nothing changes here either. Sending the invoice again is up to you: moving it does not un-send the email the old client already got.
Why can I not change the lines on a paid invoice?
A paid invoice is a record of money that already moved. So the page locks its lines and says so, rather than hiding the Edit button. To correct what was billed, raise the difference on the next invoice. For the same reason a paid invoice has no Void and no Delete in its menu. A void invoice is locked too.
Why does an invoice say it was removed in QuickBooks?
Somebody deleted this invoice inside QuickBooks. The nightly sync reads the QuickBooks change feed and spots it. It voids the invoice here and keeps the number, the lines and the history. So you stop chasing a client for money the book of record no longer has. Filter the list to Void and the row shows a Removed in QuickBooks chip. The billing period stays used up. Nothing bills again on its own. Use Regenerate on the void invoice if that month really should bill again. A PAID invoice is mirrored the same way. The payment record itself is untouched. It stays on file and points at a void invoice. Only the invoice status changes. Voiding a paid invoice by hand is still refused. Only this nightly check may do it, because only it acts on QuickBooks' own word. Sometimes the portal cannot void the invoice right away. It may be in a state the Void doors refuse, such as a draft or one waiting for approval. That invoice gets an amber banner. It says the invoice was removed in QuickBooks but is not voided here yet. It still counts as a receivable. The sync retries it for up to 30 days. After that it stops retrying and says so. The banner turns red, and the QuickBooks page says the sync gave up and you must settle each one by hand. The message only disappears when the invoice actually settles. Void a live invoice. Reject or Skip one waiting for approval. Delete a draft.
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