Invoices

Overview

Invoices are how you bill your clients in Beeswax. Each invoice belongs to a project and is allocated to a client business. Invoices track money owed to you — the amounts your clients need to pay for work completed.

Every invoice has a unique sequential number generated automatically by the system. You can customise the number if needed.

Invoices follow a workflow from creation through to payment:

1. Create the invoice and add line items
2. Finalise to lock it for sending
3. Send the PDF to your client via email or mark as sent
4. Track payments until the invoice is fully paid

Invoices can also be created from templates, duplicated from existing invoices, generated from completed time entries, or converted from approved quotes.

---

Creating an Invoice

Open a project, select the Money tab, open Invoices, then click New Invoice. Beeswax immediately creates a Draft invoice and opens the invoice page so you can edit it inline.

Fields

Field	Required	Description
Invoice #	Yes	Auto-generated sequential number. Can be edited while the invoice is in Draft.
To	Yes	The client business or person this invoice is for. Start typing to autocomplete from your contacts.
Date	Yes	The invoice date (defaults to today)
Title	Yes	A short description of what the invoice is for. The field placeholder is Enter a Title.
Lines Include Tax	No	Toggle whether line item amounts already include tax or are tax-exclusive
Group Name	No	The section name for a group of line items. The first group is created automatically.
Notes	No	Additional notes that appear on exported and emailed PDFs
Footnote	No	Fine print displayed at the bottom of exported and emailed PDFs
Account	No	The income account category for a line item, shown when the line item details are expanded
Tax:	No	The tax rate for a line item, shown when the line item details are expanded

Creation Options

• From Time Entries — When creating a new invoice, you can import completed time entries from the project as line items
• From Template — Use the invoice menu and select Templates > Import Template to pre-populate the invoice with predefined line items and settings
• From Quote — Approved quotes can be converted to invoices (see Converting from Quote)

---

Line Items & Transaction Groups

Invoices use a two-level structure for line items: Transaction Groups contain one or more Transactions (individual line items).

Transaction Groups

A transaction group is a section heading that organises related line items. For example, you might have groups called "Design Services", "Development", and "Hosting".

• Each group has a name and a position (display order)
• Groups can be reordered via drag-and-drop
• Each group shows a subtotal of its line items

Individual Line Items (Transactions)

Each line item within a group has:

Field	Description
Product / Service	The item selected from your Products & Services list
Description	What the line item is for
Quantity	Number of units (defaults to 1)
Amount	Unit price
Adjustment %	Optional discount or markup applied to the line
Final Amount	Amount after any adjustment
Total	Quantity multiplied by the final amount
Account	The income account category for this line item, visible in the expanded details
Tax:	Tax rate to apply, visible in the expanded details

Use Adjustment % for line-level discounts or markups. A negative value creates a discount and a positive value creates a markup.

For example, a $100.00 line item with a -10% adjustment has a final amount of $90.00. If Show Discounts & Markups is turned on in Account Settings, exported invoices and quotes show the original $100.00 amount, the -10% adjustment, and the final $90.00 amount. If it is turned off, the export only shows the final $90.00 amount.

Tax Calculation

Beeswax supports two tax modes:

• Tax Exclusive — Line item amounts do not include tax. Tax is calculated on top and added to the total.
• Lines Include Tax on — Line item amounts already include tax. Tax is calculated as a portion of the amount.

Toggle Lines Include Tax on the invoice to switch modes. This affects all line items.

System Transactions

When an invoice is saved, the system automatically creates accounting entries:

• Trade Debtors — An asset entry recording the amount owed to you
• Tax Collected — A liability entry for tax collected on the invoice

These system transactions are hidden from the invoice display but appear in your accounting ledger.

---

Invoice States & Workflow

Invoices move through a series of states as they progress from creation to payment.

State	Description
Draft	New invoice. Fully editable. Not yet in the accounting ledger.
Finalised	Assigned an invoice number and entered into the accounting ledger. Sending and payment options become available.
PDF Sent	PDF has been emailed to the client.
Marked Sent	Manually marked as sent (without emailing).
First Notice	First payment reminder has been sent.
Second Notice	Second payment reminder has been sent.
Final Notice	Final payment reminder has been sent.
Partial Paid	One or more payments received, but balance remains.
Paid	Fully paid. Invoice is complete.

Key Rules

• Line items become non-editable once a payment has been recorded (Partial Paid or Paid state)
• Users with the Manager role cannot change the Account or Tax: fields on line items — these are set by the transaction template and can only be modified by Owner, Super Admin, or Accountant roles
• Payment states (Partial Paid, Paid) are automatically set when payments are recorded
• The notice states (First, Second, Final) are set when you send follow-up emails

---

Finalising an Invoice

Finalising locks an invoice and prepares it for sending and payment.

What Happens When You Finalise

• The invoice is assigned a sequential invoice number (if not already set)
• The invoice date is set (defaults to today if not provided)
• The invoice enters your accounting ledger (system transactions for Trade Debtors and Tax Collected are created)
• Sending and payment options become available

Requirements

• The invoice total must be zero or positive (non-negative)
• The project must not be locked
• The invoice must be in Draft state

---

Sending & Emailing

Once finalised, you can send the invoice PDF to your client.

Email PDF

1. From the menu select Send and then click on the Email PDF
   

2. Enter recipient email addresses (TO field)

3. Optionally add CC recipients

4. Write a custom message to include in the email

5. Preview the PDF before sending

6. Click Send

The system attaches the invoice PDF and delivers it to all recipients. Any contacts who are flagged as accounts will have their email address already populated in the email field.

Mark as Sent

If you deliver the invoice outside of Beeswax (e.g. printed or sent via another tool), you can manually mark it as sent:

• Click Mark as Sent from the Send menu
• This updates the state without sending an email
• You can remove the sent status later if needed

Payment Reminder Notices

Invoices support First Notice, Second Notice, and Final Notice states for tracking payment follow-ups:

• First Notice — First payment reminder
• Second Notice — Second reminder
• Final Notice — Final demand for payment

Re-sending the PDF from a notice state advances the invoice to the next notice level.

PDF Layout Options

When downloading or emailing the PDF, you can choose from several layouts:

Layout	Description
Everything	Full detail — all line items, quantities, amounts, and tax
No Line Item Details	Hides individual transaction descriptions
No Line Qty or Amounts	Shows line items but hides quantity and unit price columns
Total with Details	Shows the total with supporting detail
Total without Details	Shows only the invoice total

---

Payments & Remittances

Payments against invoices are tracked through remittances.

Recording a Payment

Each payment (remittance) records:

Field	Required	Description
Amount	Yes	The payment amount
Date	Yes	When the payment was received
Bank Account	Yes	Which bank account received the payment

How Payments Work

• When you record a payment, the system creates an IncomePayment journal entry for accounting
• The invoice's payable amount decreases by the payment amount
• The invoice's paid amount increases accordingly

Payment States

• If the payment equals the remaining balance → invoice moves to Paid
• If the payment is less than the remaining balance → invoice moves to Partial Paid
• If a payment is deleted and no payments remain → invoice reverts to Finalised

Important Notes

• You cannot delete an invoice that has payments recorded against it
• Payments can be linked to bank statement line items for reconciliation
• Users with the Manager role cannot approve payments — only Owner, Super Admin, and Accountant can

---

Recurring Invoices

Recurring invoices allow you to automatically generate invoices on a monthly schedule.

Setting Up a Recurring Invoice

1. Create and finalise the template invoice with your standard line items
2. Click Schedule from the invoice menu
3. Configure the recurring settings:

Setting	Description
Start Date	When to begin generating invoices
End Date	When to stop (leave empty for indefinite)
Recipients	Select contacts to receive the auto-generated invoice via email

How It Works

• The system generates a new invoice on the same day each month (based on the template invoice's date)
• The generated invoice title includes the billing period (e.g. "Invoice [13 Jan - 12 Feb 2026]" or "Invoice [Feb 2026]")
• Each generated invoice is automatically finalised
• If recipients are configured, the PDF is emailed automatically
• Generated invoices are flagged as auto-generated and linked back to the source template

Month Boundary Handling

If the template invoice date is the 29th, 30th, or 31st, the system adjusts for shorter months (e.g. February uses the 28th).

Managing Recurring Invoices

• You can view all active recurring invoices from the Recurring Invoices page
• Edit the start/end dates or recipients at any time
• Deactivate a recurring invoice to stop future generation
• The system automatically deactivates when the end date is reached and sends a notification

Important Notes

• Recurring invoices are monthly only — no weekly or quarterly option
• Only available for invoices (not expenses or quotes)
• Users with the Manager role cannot manage recurring invoices — only Owner, Super Admin, and Accountant can

---

Templates & Duplication

Save as Template

Any invoice can be saved as a template for reuse:

1. Open the invoice menu and select Templates > Save as Template
2. The invoice is copied to your account's template library
3. Templates preserve line items, tax settings, and account defaults

Import from Template

After creating a draft invoice:

1. Open the invoice menu and select Templates > Import Template
2. The new invoice is pre-populated with the template's line items and settings
3. You can then modify any fields before saving

Duplicate

To create a copy of an existing invoice:

1. Click the invoice menu and select Duplicate
2. A new draft invoice is created with all the same details
3. The duplicate gets a new sequential number and today's date

---

Converting from Quote

Quotes can be converted into invoices.

How to Convert

1. Open the quote
2. Click Make Invoice from the quote menu
3. Confirm the conversion

What Happens

• A new invoice is created as a deep copy of the quote
• All transaction groups and line items are copied
• The company, project, and content are preserved
• The new invoice gets a fresh invoice number and today's date
• The invoice starts in Draft state
• The original quote remains unchanged

Important Notes

• Quotes can be converted from any state — finalisation is not required
• You can convert the same quote to an invoice multiple times
• Each conversion creates a separate, independent invoice
• An activity log entry records the conversion

---

Import & Export

Importing Invoices

You can bulk-import invoices from a CSV file:

1. Click Import from the invoices list
2. Upload a CSV file
3. The system recognises "Sale Order" and "Tax Invoice" rows as invoices
4. Imported invoices include the invoice number, line items, and amounts

PDF Export

Download any finalised invoice as a PDF:

1. Open the invoice menu and select Download PDF
2. Select a layout option such as Everything, No Line Item Details, No Line Qty or Amounts, Total with Details, or Total without Details
3. The PDF is generated and downloaded

Xero Integration

If your account is connected to Xero:

• Invoices can be synced to Xero automatically
• The system tracks sync status and prevents duplicate syncing
• Payment updates from Xero webhooks are detected to avoid sync loops

---

How-to Guides

Create an Invoice

1. Open the project you want to invoice.
2. Select the Money tab, then open Invoices.
3. Click New Invoice.
4. Beeswax creates a Draft invoice and opens it.
5. Confirm the To, Date, and Enter a Title fields.
6. Use Lines Include Tax if your line item amounts already include GST/VAT.
7. Use the existing Group Name field, or click New Group to add another section.
8. Click Add Line Item inside the group.
9. Choose the product/service, then enter the description, quantity, amount, and any adjustment.
10. Open the line item arrow when you need to check Account or Tax:.
11. Review totals, then click Finalise when the invoice is ready to lock for sending and payment.

Note: Groups organise invoice sections and show subtotals. They do not create milestones.

Edit an Invoice

1. Open the invoice from the invoice list, Money Search, or the project
2. Click fields to modify — changes save automatically
3. Use the arrow at the end of a line item to expand Account, Tax:, and line item notes
4. Open the invoice menu and select Preview when you want to check the PDF

Delete an Invoice

1. Locate the Invoice
2. Open the invoice menu and select Delete
3. Confirm deletion

Note: Invoices with payments applied cannot be deleted. Remove the payment first (you may need to unreconcile the payment before removing it).

Preview an Invoice

1. Find the invoice
2. Open the invoice menu and select Preview
3. Choose a display option such as Everything, No Line Item Details, No Line Qty or Amounts, Total with Details, or Total without Details

Schedule an Invoice

1. Open an existing finalised invoice, or create and Finalise a new one
2. Open the invoice menu and select Schedule
3. Set scheduling preferences and save

Note: The stop-after date is a future cutoff. The scheduled range displays in the invoice title.

Duplicate an Invoice

1. Locate the Invoice (via Global Search, Money Search, or Project)
2. Open the invoice menu and select Duplicate

Create an Invoice from a Quote

1. Navigate to the Project with the Quote
2. Open the quote
3. Open the quote menu and select Make Invoice
4. The system transfers all Quote information into a new Invoice (Draft status)
5. Make adjustments and finalise

Apply a Payment

1. In Who Owes Me, select the invoice checkbox
2. Click Apply Payment — the full amount auto-populates (adjust for partial payments)
3. Click Save

Invoice Creation Methods

Invoices can be created in several ways:

• Manual — Create from scratch within a project
• From Time Entries — Import completed time entries as line items
• From Template — Create a draft invoice, then use Templates > Import Template to pre-populate line items
• Duplicated — Clone an existing invoice
• From Quote — Convert a quote into an invoice

Invoice States

State	Description
Draft	Editable, not yet in the accounting ledger
Finalised	Gets an invoice ID, payment is allowed, enters the accrual ledger
PDF Sent	PDF has been emailed to the client
Marked Sent	Manually marked as sent without emailing
First Notice	First payment reminder has been sent
Second Notice	Second payment reminder has been sent
Final Notice	Final payment reminder has been sent
Partial Paid	One or more payments received, balance remains
Paid	Fully paid, invoice is complete

---

Permissions by Role

Different roles have different levels of access to invoice features.

Action	Owner	Super Admin	Manager	Accountant	Basic	Client
View invoices	All	All	All	All	No	No
Create invoices	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Edit invoices	All	All	All	All	No	No
Edit line item account/tax	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Finalise invoices	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Send/Email PDF	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Record payments	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Manage recurring	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Delete invoices	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Import invoices	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
View own statements	—	—	—	—	No	Yes

Key Notes

• Owner and Super Admin have full access to all invoice operations.
• Manager can manage invoices but cannot approve payments, manage recurring invoices, or change line item account/tax fields (these are set by the transaction template).
• Accountant has full access to financial features but cannot approve payments or manage account settings.
• Basic users cannot view or manage invoices. They do not have access to financial documents.
• Clients cannot view individual invoices. They can only see outstanding statements for their own business via the Statements feature.
• Contractors have limited access focused on task management rather than financial documents.
• Invoices in a locked project cannot be created or modified.