> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.clinikehr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create and send an invoice

> Build an invoice from your services, choose exactly who receives the emailed PDF, and know what you can and cannot change afterwards.

export const AuditNote = ({action = 'This action'}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--info" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      {action} is written to your workspace's audit log with your name, the
      record touched and the time — a HIPAA requirement, and one you can review
      yourself under <strong>Audit Log</strong>. See{' '}
      <a href="/platform/security/audit-log">Audit log</a>.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const StillStuck = ({topic}) => <div className="ck-callout ck-callout--note" role="note">
    <p className="ck-callout__body">
      <strong>Still stuck{topic ? ` with ${topic}` : ''}?</strong>{' '}
      Check <a href="/platform/help/troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a> first —
      it covers the failures we see most often. If that does not resolve it,{' '}
      <a href="/platform/help/contact-support">contact support</a> and include
      your workspace name and the time the problem happened, so we can find the
      matching entry in your audit log.
    </p>
  </div>;

export const TaskHeader = ({before, time, after}) => <div className="ck-task">
    {before ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Before you start</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{before}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {time ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">Takes about</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{time}</p>
      </div> : null}

    {after ? <div className="ck-task__cell">
        <div className="ck-task__title">When you're done</div>
        <p className="ck-task__body">{after}</p>
      </div> : null}
  </div>;

export const Path = ({steps = []}) => <span className="ck-path">
    {steps.map((s, i) => <span key={i} className="ck-path__step">
        {i > 0 ? <span className="ck-path__sep" aria-hidden="true">
            ›
          </span> : null}
        {s}
      </span>)}
  </span>;

export const Availability = ({editions = ['all'], plans, roles, note}) => {
  const list = editions.includes('all') ? ['clinic', 'pharmacy', 'lims'] : editions;
  return <div className="ck-avail" role="note" aria-label="Feature availability">
      <span className="ck-avail__label">Available in</span>

      {list.map(e => <span key={e} className={`ck-pill ck-pill--${e}`}>
          {EDITION_LABELS[e] || e}
        </span>)}

      {plans ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Plan</span> : null}
      {plans ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--plan">{plans}</span> : null}

      {roles ? <span className="ck-avail__label">Who</span> : null}
      {roles ? <span className="ck-pill ck-pill--role">{roles}</span> : null}

      {note ? <span className="ck-avail__note">{note}</span> : null}
    </div>;
};

<Availability editions={['clinic']} plans="Solo and Team" roles="Anyone permitted to create billing documents" />

An invoice lists what a client owes you, in your practice's currency, and can be emailed as a branded PDF to the client, to whoever is actually paying, or to both. This page covers creating one, sending it, and what you can change afterwards.

<Path steps={['Sidebar', 'Billing', 'New Invoice']} />

<TaskHeader before="At least one service in your price list, and a client record to bill" time="Two minutes" after="A Pending invoice, emailed as a PDF to the recipients you chose" />

## What you're looking at

The **Invoices** tab on the **Billing Dashboard** is the working list. **New Invoice** in the header opens the form; the row menu on each invoice carries **Edit Invoice**, **Send Invoice**, **Record Payment**, **View Payments**, **Download PDF** and **Delete Invoice**.

Each row carries a status badge: **Draft** (not issued), **Pending** (issued and awaiting payment — the default), **Paid**, **Partially Paid**, **Overdue** (past its **Due Date**) or **Cancelled** (withdrawn, but still on the record).

A practice with no invoices yet sees an empty list rather than an error — and an invoice form whose service picker finds nothing, because it searches [your service list](/practice/money/services).

## Create the invoice

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the form">
    Select **New Invoice** on the **Billing Dashboard**. You can also start one from the client's record, which fills the client in for you.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose who it is for">
    **Select Client \*** is required, and its picker searches with "Search for a client...".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the dates">
    **Invoice Date \*** is required. **Due Date** is optional — "Payment expected by this date" — and it is the only thing that makes an unpaid invoice tip into **Overdue** later. Without one, nothing ever chases itself.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add the lines">
    Use the service picker — "Search services to add..." — to pull items in. Each line carries a **Description**, **Type**, **CPT/HCPCS**, **Qty**, **Unit Price**, **Disc %** and **Total**, all editable, so a one-off discount never changes the underlying service. On a phone the same fields become cards, labelled **CPT/HCPCS Code** and **Price**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the discounts, tax and notes">
    The **Notes & Discounts** card carries **Global Discount (%)** — "Applied to subtotal before tax" — **Tax Rate (%)**, and **Notes (Optional)** for anything the client needs to read.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save it">
    The invoice appears under the **Invoices** tab with its number, already **Pending**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  **There is no Status field on a new invoice.** Every new invoice is created as **Pending** — issued and awaiting payment — and **Status** only appears once you reopen the invoice with **Edit Invoice**. So if you are assembling a bill over several days, create it, then edit it to **Draft** straight away.
</Note>

Money on the invoice is in your practice's own currency, taken from **Settings** → **Billing**. If **Free Clinic Mode** is on, charges are disabled entirely.

## Send it

Select **Send Invoice** from the invoice's actions. The **Send Invoice** dialog explains itself: "A branded email with invoice \{number} attached as a PDF will be sent to the recipients you choose."

**Send to** offers three choices, each naming the client: "\{Client}'s email on file", **A different email**, or "Both — \{Client} and a different email".

The last two reveal **Other emails**, with the placeholder "[billing@employer.com](mailto:billing@employer.com), [family@example.com](mailto:family@example.com)" and the helper "Up to 3 addresses, separated by commas." Exceed it and the dialog refuses: "You can add up to 3 other email addresses."

### A worked example — employer-billed care

An employer sends staff to you for pre-employment medicals and pays centrally. Choose the **Both** option, then enter `accounts@northgate-logistics.example, hr@northgate-logistics.example` in **Other emails** and select **Send Invoice**. One email goes out per recipient with the same PDF attached: the employee keeps a record of what was done and who paid, and the accounts team gets the bill.

The same pattern covers family-billed care — an adult child paying for a parent receives it while the client still gets their copy.

## Download a copy

Select **Download PDF** from the invoice's actions for a paper bill at the desk. You get the same branded PDF the email attaches, confirmed with **Invoice PDF downloaded**. Your bank details and other offline channels appear on it only if you added them under **Settings** → **Payment Details** and switched them on — see [Payment details](/practice/settings/payment-details).

## Cancel, do not delete

<Warning>
  An invoice with a payment recorded against it **cannot be deleted**. The menu item is disabled and reads "Invoices with recorded payments can't be deleted" / "Has payments — cancel instead". **Cancel** it instead: the invoice stays on the record and the payment stays reconciled. Deleting is permanent, and only for an invoice raised entirely by mistake before anybody paid against it.
</Warning>

<AuditNote action="Opening, downloading or sending an invoice" />

## Who can do this

| Action                         | Who by default             | The permission, in the product's words |
| ------------------------------ | -------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Open the **Invoices** tab      | Owner, manager, front desk | Role — no permission of its own        |
| Create an invoice              | Front desk, billers        | **Create billing documents**           |
| Send or download the PDF       | Front desk, billers        | **Create billing documents**           |
| Record a payment against it    | Front desk, billers        | **Add client payments**                |
| Cancel an invoice              | Owner, manager             | **Create billing documents**           |
| See the totals on **Overview** | Owner, manager             | **View financial dashboard**           |

* **Enforcement is opt-in, per person.** Someone never saved in the permissions sheet is unrestricted; the sheet warns **"Saving starts enforcing"**.
* **A denied action is recorded; an allowed one is not.** Hiding **Billing** from a sidebar is a convenience, not a security boundary. A permission-gated figure shows as a dash, never as a zero.

See [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).

## Check it worked

* The invoice is under **Billing** → **Invoices** with a **Pending** badge and the number you will quote.
* After sending, a toast names who it went to, and each recipient has an email with the PDF attached.
* The download produces a PDF that opens. A tiny file that will not open means the download failed.

## Common issues

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The invoice says Pending and I expected a draft">
    That is the default, and the form has no **Status** field to change it on. **Pending** means issued and awaiting payment. Reopen it with **Edit Invoice** and set **Status** to **Draft**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The service I want is not in the picker">
    "Search services to add..." only finds active services in your price list. Add it under [Services](/practice/money/services), or type the line in with its own description and price.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The send dialog will not take another address">
    **Other emails** takes three: "You can add up to 3 other email addresses." For a wider distribution, download the PDF and forward it yourself.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The client says they never received it">
    Check the email on their record, then re-send using **A different email** with an address they confirm. Ask them to check spam — the email carries a PDF attachment, which some filters treat harshly.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Delete is greyed out">
    Money has been recorded against this invoice. Cancel it instead. If the payment itself was the mistake, deal with the payment first — see [Record and collect payments](/practice/money/payments).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I have no New Invoice button">
    Creating billing documents is granted per person. Ask an owner or manager — see [Staff permissions](/platform/team/permissions).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I edit an invoice after sending it?">
    Yes, with **Edit Invoice** — but the PDF already in someone's inbox does not change. Re-send after any edit that matters.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does sending an invoice take payment?">
    No. It delivers a PDF. To let them pay by card, send a payment link instead — see [Record and collect payments](/practice/money/payments).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="When does an invoice become Overdue?">
    When its **Due Date** passes with a balance still outstanding. An invoice with no due date never turns overdue.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I invoice somebody who is not a client?">
    No. **Select Client** is required, so create the record first — see [Manage your client list](/practice/work/clients).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does cancelling notify the client?">
    No. It withdraws the invoice on your side. Tell them yourself if they hold a copy.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<StillStuck topic="an invoice" />