Creating and sending invoices

Invoices are how your firm bills clients for the time and expenses recorded against a matter. Esqase turns billable activities into invoice line items, walks each invoice through a draft, review, and approval lifecycle, then lets you send it to the client by email with a built-in payment link. This page covers the whole flow, from finding an existing invoice to collecting and recording the payment.

Before you begin

• Access. Invoices follow your role's permissions for the Invoices area. If your role includes View access, you can open the Invoices page and read invoices. Create access lets you make new invoices, Update access lets you edit, submit, approve, decline, record payments, archive, cancel, and restore, and Delete access lets you permanently delete archived invoices. Firm owners have full access. If a button described here is missing, your role most likely does not include the matching permission.
• A matter with billable activities. An invoice is always tied to one client and one matter, and its line items come from that matter's billable, un-invoiced time entries and expenses. To learn how those are recorded, see Time and expense tracking.
• Payment setup (for collecting online). To generate a payment link or email a client a way to pay, your firm needs at least one payment method enabled and a default deposit account set. See Payment settings.

View and filter the invoice list

The Invoices page lists every invoice across your firm, with totals, balances, statuses, and quick actions.

1. In the sidebar, open Invoices.
2. Use the status tabs across the top to narrow the list: All, Draft, In review, Pending, Partial paid, Paid, and Archive. The Archive tab gathers archived, canceled, and declined invoices together.
3. Type in the Search invoices box to find an invoice by number, client, or matter.
4. Click the date range control to limit the list to invoices within a span of dates.
5. To clear everything at once, click Clear filters.

The table shows, for each invoice, its Due date, Invoice no., Total, Balance (total minus what has been paid), Status, Client, Matter, Issue date, Last sent, Updated by, and Last updated. Click any column header to sort, and use the view options control on the right to show or hide columns or refresh the list.

A totals summary above the table rolls up the invoices currently in view.

Each row has a View button (opening the invoice) and a More actions menu. The actions you see in that menu depend on the invoice's status and your permissions; they mirror the actions on the invoice's own page, described later on this page.

Acting on several invoices at once

Tick the checkbox at the start of one or more rows to select them, then use the batch actions control to Archive, Restore, Cancel, or Delete the selected invoices together. Each batch action only applies to invoices it is valid for (for example, Delete only affects archived invoices), and destructive actions ask you to confirm first.

Bill several matters at once

If unbilled work is spread across many matters, you do not have to invoice them one by one. Click Batch invoices at the top of the Invoices page to open a screen that gathers every matter with unbilled billable work, so you can review it all and generate the invoices together. See Batch invoicing.

Create an invoice from a matter's billable activities

You create an invoice by picking a client and one of their matters. Esqase then pulls in that matter's billable, un-invoiced activities as line items.

1. On the Invoices page, click New invoice. (You can also start from a matter; see The matter Invoices tab below, which pre-selects the matter for you.)
2. The invoice editor opens with an Invoice details form on the left and a live Preview on the right.
3. In Client, search for and select the client you are billing. This is required.
4. In Matter, choose one of that client's matters. This field stays disabled until you pick a client, and it only lists matters that client is a customer on. This is required.
5. Once a matter is selected, Esqase automatically loads that matter's billable, un-invoiced time entries and expenses into the Items table.
6. Set the Issue date (defaults to today). This is required.
7. To put a payment deadline on the invoice, tick Include due date and pick a Due date. If you leave Include due date unticked, the invoice shows no due date.
8. In Invoice template, choose the layout used to render the invoice (for example on the PDF and the client's payment page). Your firm's default template is selected for you if one is set. Templates are managed separately; see Invoice templates and the builder.

Add and remove line items

The Items table lists the billable activities that will appear on the invoice. You can add more or remove ones you do not want to bill yet. At least one line item is required before you can submit an invoice (a draft may have none).

Each item shows its Activity category, Qty / Hours, Rate, and Total.

Add existing activities

1. Above the Items table, click Time entry to add billable time, or Expense to add a billable expense. (Both buttons stay disabled until you have selected a matter.)
2. A dialog opens listing the matter's unbilled activities of that type that are not already on the invoice. Use the checkboxes to pick the ones you want.
3. Click Add to put the selected activities on the invoice. The button shows how many you have selected.

Create a new activity while building the invoice

If the work you want to bill has not been recorded yet, you do not have to leave the invoice.

1. In the add-items dialog, click New time entry or New expense.
2. Fill in and save the activity. It appears in the list so you can select and add it.

Edit or remove a line item

1. In the Items table, click the menu at the end of a row.
2. Choose Edit to open and update the underlying activity (the line item refreshes after you save), or Remove to take the item off this invoice.

Edit a draft or in-review invoice

You can keep editing an invoice while it is a Draft or In review. Once it has been approved (or otherwise finalized), it can no longer be edited.

1. Open the invoice from the Invoices list (or its row's More actions menu) and click Edit, or use Edit in the More actions menu.
2. The same editor opens. Change the client, matter, dates, template, or line items as needed.
3. Save your changes (see below).

Save as a draft

A draft lets you set an invoice aside and come back to it. Drafts can have zero line items and are never sent to anyone.

1. In the invoice editor, click Save draft in the top bar.
2. The invoice is saved with Draft status and you stay in the editor so you can keep working.

Submit an invoice for approval, then approve or decline it

When the invoice is ready, you finalize it. What happens next depends on your role.

1. In the invoice editor, click Save in the top bar. (At least one line item is required.)
2. Esqase finalizes the invoice and opens its read-only page:
   • If you are a firm owner, the invoice is approved automatically and becomes Pending (ready to send and collect).
   • If you are not an owner, the invoice becomes In review and waits in the approval queue.

Approve or decline an invoice in review

Anyone with Update access for invoices (including the person who submitted it) can approve or decline an invoice that is In review.

1. Open the In review invoice, or find it in the In review tab on the Invoices list.
2. Click Approve to approve it. The invoice moves to Pending and can now be sent and paid.
3. Click Decline to reject it. The invoice moves to Declined. A declined invoice can be restored later if you change your mind.

You can also approve or decline from the invoice editor (after saving any edits) and from the More actions menu on the invoice's page or its row in the list.

Understand invoice statuses and the lifecycle

Every invoice carries a status that tells you where it is in its life. You can see it on the invoice's page (in the sidebar) and as a badge in the Invoices list.

• Draft. A work-in-progress that has not been finalized. Editable; not sent or billed.
• In review. Submitted by a non-owner and waiting for approval. Editable until approved.
• Declined. An in-review invoice that was rejected. Can be restored.
• Pending. Approved and ready to send and collect payment on. Nothing has been paid yet.
• Partial paid. Some, but not all, of the balance has been paid.
• Paid. The full balance has been paid.
• Refunded. A refund has been issued against the invoice.
• Canceled. The invoice was canceled. Can be restored.
• Archived. The invoice was archived (hidden from the active list). Can be restored, or permanently deleted.

A typical path is Draft to In review (or straight to Pending for an owner) to Pending, then Partial paid and Paid as money comes in.

The invoice page header shows the invoice number, and the Summary section shows four figures:

• Total bill (with the subtotal and tax beneath it),
• Paid so far,
• Outstanding (what is still owed),
• Overdue (the outstanding amount if the due date has passed, shown in red).

Record a manual payment against an invoice

When a client pays you outside of Esqase (for example by check or a bank transfer you reconcile yourself), record that payment so the invoice reflects it. This is available while an invoice is Pending or Partial paid.

1. Open the invoice (or use the More actions menu on its row in the list).
2. Click Record payment.
3. The Record payment dialog opens, showing the invoice number, the client, and the Outstanding balance.
4. Enter the payment details (such as the amount and the account it goes into) and save with Record payment.

The invoice's Paid and Outstanding figures update, and its status moves to Partial paid or Paid depending on how much was paid. Recorded payments appear in the Payments section on the invoice's page.

For the full payment form and the account/trust rules, see Recording and managing payments and Accounts, trust, and transactions.

Generate a payment link

A payment link is a secure web page where your client can pay the invoice online. It is available once the invoice is Pending, Partial paid, Paid, or Refunded.

1. Open the invoice and click Payment link.
2. The Generate payment link dialog opens. Under Payment methods, tick the options to offer the client: Card (Stripe), PayPal, Manual bank transfer link, and QR code. Only the methods your firm has enabled can be turned on here.
3. Under Payment terms, choose how much the client may pay:
   • Full balance only requires paying the whole outstanding balance.
   • Client chooses an amount lets the client pay a partial amount.
   • Firm-defined installments is coming soon.
4. Click Generate link.
5. On the Payment link ready screen, use the copy button next to the Link field to copy the URL, then share it however you like. The client verifies their identity by email when they open the link.
6. To email the link straight away, click Send email to client (see the next section), or click Done to finish.

To learn what your client sees and how they pay, see How clients pay invoices.

Send an invoice to a client by email

You can email the client a payment link and notice directly from the invoice. Sending uses your firm's email connection; see Connecting Google (Gmail, Calendar, Meet).

1. Open the invoice and click Payment link.
2. Generate the link as described above, then on the Payment link ready screen click Send email to client.
3. The email composer opens, pre-filled with your firm's invoice payment notice template and addressed to the invoice's client. The generated payment link is woven into the message so the client can click through and pay.
4. Review and edit the subject and message, then send.

The invoice records the moment it was last sent, which appears in the Last sent column on the Invoices list. The email is also logged on the Communications tab of the invoice's matter as a read-only Email row, so your team can see that the payment notice went out and when. See Logging communications.

Download or render the invoice PDF

You can download a PDF of the invoice once it is Pending, Partial paid, Paid, or Refunded.

1. Open the invoice (or use the More actions menu on its row in the list).
2. Click Download PDF.
3. Esqase generates the PDF using the invoice's template and downloads it to your device.

Cancel an invoice

Canceling marks an invoice as no longer payable while keeping it on record. It is available for any invoice that is not already canceled or archived.

1. Open the invoice list, select the invoice (or invoices), and choose Cancel from the batch actions, confirming when prompted. You can also cancel a single invoice from its More actions menu where offered.
2. The invoice moves to Canceled. You can Restore it later if needed.

Archive, restore, and delete

These actions help you clean up and, when necessary, permanently remove invoices.

Archive

Archiving moves an invoice out of your active list without losing it. It is available from the More actions menu on the invoice page or its row, and as a batch action.

1. Choose Archive and confirm.
2. The invoice moves to Archived and appears under the Archive tab.

Restore

Restoring brings a canceled, archived, or declined invoice back.

1. Find the invoice (usually under the Archive tab) and choose Restore from its More actions menu, or select it and use the Restore batch action.
2. The invoice returns to an active status.

Delete

Deleting permanently removes an invoice and cannot be undone. To protect your records, you can only delete an invoice that is Archived, and only if your role includes Delete access for invoices.

1. Archive the invoice first if it is not already archived.
2. From the archived invoice's More actions menu choose Delete, or select it and use the Delete batch action.
3. Confirm in the Delete invoice? dialog. The invoice is permanently removed.

View an invoice's activity timeline

Each invoice keeps a running history of what happened to it, so you can see who did what and when.

1. Open the invoice.
2. Scroll to the Recent activities section beneath the Payments section.
3. The timeline lists events such as the invoice being created, updated, submitted, approved or declined, sent, a payment recorded, and the invoice archived, restored, canceled, or deleted.

To reduce noise, simple "viewed" events are hidden by default. Click the filter control next to Recent activities and turn on Show view activity to include them. Use the refresh control to reload the timeline, and the page controls to move through older events.

For more on history across the app, see Activity timelines and audit logs.

The matter Invoices tab

You can work with a matter's invoices without leaving the matter.

1. Open a matter and select the Invoices tab.
2. You see the same invoice table, filtered to that matter (the Matter column is hidden since they are all the same matter).
3. Click New invoice here to start an invoice with this matter, and its client, already filled in for you.

All the same actions (view, edit, record payment, payment link, download, approve, decline, archive, restore, cancel, delete) work from this tab, subject to your permissions. To learn more about the matter workspace, see The matter workspace.

Common questions

Why can't I edit this invoice? Only Draft and In review invoices can be edited. Once an invoice has been approved (or is otherwise past review), it is locked. You will still see actions like Record payment, Payment link, and Download PDF where they apply.

Why is the Payment link button asking me to finish setup? A payment link needs at least one enabled payment method and a default deposit account. Visit Payment settings to complete both.

I submitted an invoice but it didn't ask anyone to approve it. Why? If you are a firm owner, your submitted invoices are approved automatically and go straight to Pending. Invoices submitted by non-owners go to In review for approval.

Can I bill the same activity twice? No. Once an invoice that includes an activity is finalized, that activity is marked as billed and is no longer offered when you add line items to another invoice.

Related

• Time and expense tracking
• Batch invoicing
• Invoice templates and the builder
• Recording and managing payments
• Payment settings
• The billing overview dashboard
• How clients pay invoices