When your customer has accepted the terms of your estimate, it's time to create an invoice from that estimate.
In the last article of our onboarding series, we created a new estimate for our lead. In this article, we will create an invoice from that example estimate.
Create Invoice from Estimate
1. While still viewing the last estimate, scroll to the bottom and expand the [∨] on the More Actions button.
2. Click Mark as Accepted. This will set the status of the Estimate to Accepted. An invoice cannot be created from an estimate unless it has been accepted. When an estimate is accepted, you cannot edit it anymore, although you can unmark it as accepted to edit it again.
3. Once marked as accepted, expand the [∨] on the Create button and click Create Invoice.
4. This will create an Invoice in a Draft state with all the appropriate data from the estimate.
5. Note that "Wait for sync approval" is still checked. If you uncheck this and hit save, this invoice will save to Xero and your lead will convert to a customer! For now, we will keep it checked so it won't sync to Xero.
6. At the bottom, click Save to save your invoice and update the totals.
Note the buttons also have a down arrow [∨] for more options:
More Actions [∨] -
Clear / New: Clear the form and create a new estimate
Delete: Delete the estimate
Make a Copy: Copy the estimate
Submit for Approval: When in Draft, sets the status to Submitted.
Approve: When Submitted, sets the status to Authorised.
Print: Create a PDF document which can be printed. (Do not block pop-ups).
Email: Send an email with a link to a personalized portal for the customer. This portal will contain this invoice as well as other transactions they have.
Save [∨] -
Save & New: Save the invoice and create a new one.
Save & Back: Save the invoice and go back a screen.
Congratulations! You've created your first Invoice! This concludes creating an invoice for your customer lead!
Note that we did not sync this invoice with Xero. You can, if you wish, uncheck Wait for sync approval, and this invoice will sync to Xero. Furthermore, the lead will be converted into a customer and also sync to Xero.
If you do sync the invoice and approve it, the next step in the work flow is to