Edit and send an invoice

Overview

A draft invoice is the place to review and adjust everything that will land in the client’s inbox — line items, materials, labour, totals, payment terms, due date, and the email itself. Once it is ready you send it. This article covers reviewing the draft, editing what needs to change, and sending the invoice.

Who This Workflow Is For

This workflow applies to Admin and Business Owner.

Before You Start

The invoice draft must exist — see Create an invoice. Decide on the delivery channel: with the Client Portal enabled, clients receive an email link to view the invoice in the portal; with the portal disabled, they receive a PDF attachment.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Open Invoices (or Quotes and Invoices) from the sidebar.
2. Find the draft invoice — filter by Draft or search by invoice number, client, or job.
3. Open the draft invoice.
4. Review the invoice details:
   • Client details — name, email, phone, job address, and description.
   • Issue Date and Due Date.
   • PO reference, Account code, Tax output (where used).
   • Payment terms — defaults from Business Settings; update if this invoice has different terms.
   • Line items, materials, and labour — confirm the totals reflect the work delivered.
   • Subtotal, GST, and total.
   • Payment details — bank details and, when Stripe is connected and online payments are enabled, the card Pay Now option that appears on the sent invoice. See Connecting Stripe for Online Payments for how payment options behave across Stripe, Xero, and the Client Portal.
5. Make edits where needed — change line items, adjust quantities, update labour hours, change payment terms or due date. Save any inline changes.
6. Generate a PDF preview if you want to see the customer-facing document. The invoice PDF includes selected payment details where they have been configured in Business Settings.
7. Select Email (or Email Invoice). The invoice email send flow opens.
8. Review or edit the email recipient, subject, and body. (Optional: have AI draft the email body — set a tone, then review and edit. The AI writes the prose only, not the Pay Now button, signature, or amounts; each draft uses 1 AI call. See Using AI in MyApprentice.)
9. Select Send Email (or Send). The invoice is delivered:
   • Client Portal enabled — client receives an email with a portal link. They view the invoice in the portal.
   • Client Portal disabled — client receives an email with the invoice PDF attached. When online payments are set up, the email also carries a Pay Now link. When Stripe and Xero are both connected, the client always receives the PDF (plus the portal link if the portal is on).
10. The invoice status updates to Sent. If Xero is connected, sending also authorises the invoice in Xero so the client can pay it.

What Happens Next

The sent invoice is tracked in the Invoices list and surfaces in Needs Your Attention until payment is recorded. From here:

• Mark an invoice as paid when payment lands.
• Push an invoice to Xero if Xero is connected.
• Reminders for outstanding amounts go out automatically based on the cadence you configured in Set quote validity and reminder defaults.

Common Issues

• Wrong details on a sent invoice. Open the invoice, edit the relevant field, and resend. Some edits may be limited once the invoice is paid or synced to Xero — the rules for cancelling, voiding, or deleting an invoice (especially after sending or sync) are still being confirmed.
• Client did not receive the invoice email. Confirm the email address is correct on the invoice (and the client record). Ask the client to check spam.
• Payment details missing on the PDF. Configure payment methods on the Sales tab of Business Settings — see Set payment methods and terms. The invoice PDF only shows the payment details where a payment method has been set up.
• Want to edit a draft after sending. When Xero is connected, sending authorises the invoice in Xero, so edits made after sending may need re-syncing — see Review Xero sync and resolve errors. Resolve sync errors before further edits.

Related Guides

• Create an invoice
• Mark an invoice as paid
• Push an invoice to Xero
• Set payment methods and terms
• Set quote validity and reminder defaults