If you have the Ignite package or higher on Xero, you can use it to raise invoices to your clients. It is a quick and easy process and will likely save you a lot of time, especially if you were are currently creating your invoices manually.
The first thing to do is to ensure that you have the client set up in your contacts. You can check this in the Contacts menu in the blue bar at the top and if you need to add them, use the green “New Contact” button to add them.
For invoicing, the key things to ensure that are added to the contact records are the Primary Person’s name - as this will appear on the email when the invoice is sent - and their email address.
There are two ways to send an invoice. You can either select Sales from the blue bar and then Invoices, or you can click the plus sign on the Blue Bar and then select Invoice.
Note that if you want to create a repeating invoice, you need to go through the first route. The second way will take you directly to the invoice screen, so is very slightly quicker.
If you use the first option and then select New Invoice you will get to the same place, which can be seen in the screen below.
To create an invoice, you will need to enter the To, Description, Quantity and Price. You will also need to select the account that the sales income will be coded to. Often this will be the generic Sales code, however you may have set up itemised coding to help you track various income streams.
When you start typing in the To box, Xero will search you contacts for someone with a matching name.
You can then just enter the other required fields and select Approve & email which will then bring up a view of the email which will be sent to your customer as can be seen below. If you are happy with this, you can click send and the invoice will be e-mailed to them immediately.
If you have multiple lines that you want on the invoice, you can select "Add row" to itemise the invoice.
If you have items that you sell repeatedly, or a set hourly rate, you can add Items. If you click in the items box, you will be able to follow through to add these as appropriate. This will allow you to easily select the sales item and it can populate a price and also the account that it will be coded.
Before you create an invoice, you will probably want to set up your invoice template. This is sometimes done when you create your Xero account, but you can also access the page by clicking on your organisation name in the top left and then Settings followed by Invoice Settings.
