Creating invoices used to be such a pain! Luckily Payment Bear has designed a system that helps you generate invoices in just a matter of minutes. Here's how to create your first invoice on the Payment Bear platform.
Getting Started
There are multiple ways to create an invoice within the Payment Bear platform. You can create a new invoice from scratch, have some of the information pre-populated or duplicate an existing invoice depending on your personal preference.
Creating your first invoice
When signing into Payment Bear for the first time your Invoice Dashboard and Customer Dashboard will be empty. You'll be presented with options to create your first invoice and a supporting guide if you need it. From the Invoice Dashboard, you have three ways to start creating your first invoice:
- Press the plus icon on the Invoices tab on the platform navigation pane.
- Press the 'Start new invoice' button on the empty dashboard.
- Press the '+ New invoice' button in the top-right of the page heading.
All of these options will take you to the invoice generator.
Creating an invoice from the Invoice Dashboard page
If you've already started invoicing using our platform, you'll probably already be comfortable with how to start a new invoice. You'll still be able to use the button in the platform navigation and in the page heading, but you will no longer have the button in the centre of the Dashboard - this will be replaced by a table of your existing invoices.
Creating an invoice from the Customer Profile page
If you already have customers in the platform, you may wish to create a new invoice for an existing customer. You can swiftly do this on their Customer Profile page, which will pre-fill your customer information and allow you to add all relevant invoice information.
Let's get invoicing.
1. Selecting a customer
All invoices you create will be associated to a customer. This allows us to collate all of your invoices in the Customer Profile page and allow your customer to view their invoices in one place in their Customer Account page.
Creating a new customer
If you're creating an invoice for a new customer, you can add their information in the first stage of the invoice creation process. Simply press the '+ new customer' button and proceed to add their details. Once you've added their information, your customer will appear in your existing customer list and be pre-selected, ready for you to proceed to the next stage.
Selecting an existing customer
If you're creating an invoice for an existing customer, you'll be able to select them from the 'existing customer' list. Simply select the customer and proceed to the next step.
If you realise you need to update their information, you can press the right arrow. This will update the data for all draft and future invoices for this customer. You can always add a new customer if you'd like the information to change for this specific invoice.
2. Adding invoice items
Now we can start building your invoice by adding your invoice items. This is a list of the products and services you will be supplying. Our platform will automatically calculate and add any totals, discounts and VAT you may be charging for all your items.
Add a new invoice item
In a new invoice, your invoice item list will be empty. Start by pressing the 'new invoice item' button. Don't worry, you will be able to come back and edit or delete any items from this screen if you make any mistakes.
From the new item screen you'll be able to add the following information.
Name
This is a short text field that lets your customer quickly see what the product or service is. Think of it as a short summary.
Description
The item description lets you provide a greater level of detail for the item. You can add as much information as you see fit here, with a general rule of thumb being the more detail the better to prevent any queries in future.
Quantity
This is a number field to indicate how many units you will be charging for.
Unit Type
This is a dropdown selection that lets you articulate the type of units (e.g. hours, days, units)
Unit Price
This is the price of each unit. The sub-total for the line item is calculated as the unit price x unit quantity.
VAT Rate
Here you can specify any VAT you may charge as part of your service. This is a dropdown selection. Tax will be added to your sub-total, forming the total for the invoice.
Applying a Discount
Optionally, you can add a discount to a specific line item. You can follow our guide on adding a discount for more information.
Repeat
You can continue to add as many invoice items as you need. Once you're happy, you can continue to the next phase.
3. Adding invoice details
Our invoice is now starting to take shape. Next, we can change some of the important details such as references, dates and terms.
Invoice references
On the invoice details page, select the 'Invoice reference' button. This will take you to the screen where you can change your references.
Invoice identifier
This is often abbreviated to invoice ID. It is a unique identifier that allows you to distinguish individual invoices for your customers. Our system automatically increments this code so no invoice has the same identifier. If you already have a unique convention, you can manually update the invoice ID to fit your system.
Description
Clarity is important when it comes to invoicing - you want your customer to be able to easily recognise what each invoice is. A clear invoice description is a good place to start. Our system automatically populates this field with 'New invoice' plus the reference number, but we suggest you change this to something that describes the work completed.
PO number
Sometimes your customer will have a PO system to help them group invoices for a project. You can add a PO number to your invoices here too.
Date completed and issued
On the invoice details page, select the 'Date completed and issued' button. This will take you to the screen where you can change your key dates.
Date of work completed
It's good practice to include a date of work completed with your invoice, even if this is the same as your invoicing date. It provides a clear record for future reference. By default this is set to today's date, however you can change this to any date by pressing the 'Custom date' button and selecting a date from the calendar.
Date invoice issued
You must include an invoice issue date. It indicates when you have sent the invoice to the customer and dictates the payment date based on the payment terms you set. By default this is set to today's date, however you can change this to any date by pressing the 'Custom date' button and selecting a date from the calendar.
Payment terms
Finally, we can set out payment terms. On the invoice details page, select the 'Payment terms' button. This will take you to the screen where you can modify the terms you want to set (i.e. when the invoice needs to be paid by).
We have preselected some common payment terms to allow you to quickly select a timeframe, however you can easily create a custom date by pressing the 'Custom date' button and using the calendar. You'll notice that each option shows you the due date of the invoice - this is calculated by adding the number of days you have selected to the issue date.
Once you have finished adding your payment terms, you can move on to the next stage of the invoice creation journey: get paid faster.
4. Get paid fast
Payment Bear has been designed to help businesses get paid faster. We have created unique ways to streamline the entire invoicing process and empower you to promote faster payment. On the 'Get paid faster' section you have the ability to customise settings for some of our features that do just that.
Automations
Automated Reminders
Sometimes your customer may simply forget to pay your invoice. Thankfully, our automated reminder system allows you to send friendly reminders on a frequency you decide. To change these settings, press the 'Automated reminders' button.
You can see our full guide on automated reminders for details. This is a feature for our Pro users.
Recurrence
Is this a piece of work you will do often for your customer? You can easily generate new invoices on a set frequency with the same information with our recurring invoices. To change these settings, press the 'Recurrence' button.
You can see our full guide on recurring invoices for details. This is a feature for our Pro users.
Incentives
Discounts Late
Offering your customer a discount can be a great way to incentivise faster payment. Our system offers two options; a fixed discount (where the invoice applies continuously) and a time-based discount (where the discount only applies for a set period of time). To change these settings, press the 'Discounts' button.
You can see our full guide on discounts for details.
Late payment fees
Late fees deter your customer from paying late and compensate you for any costs incurred for a late payment. Our system offers two options; an administrative fee and an annual rate of interest (which is added on daily basis). Our late fees are unique as they are automatically applied to the invoice once past the due date. To change these settings, press the 'Late payment fees' button.
You can see our full guide on late payments for details.
5. Your information
Once you have completed your get paid faster settings, you can move on to 'Your info'. If you completed the Payment Bear onboarding process, most of this information will already be complete, however you may wish to change some of the settings here. This page broadly covers two important sections; your business information and details of payment.
Business Information
Business info
You can modify your business profile at this stage by clicking on the 'Business info' button. Making changes here will update your overall settings impacting all other draft and new invoices.
Brand
Similarly, you can update your brand settings by clicking on the 'Business info' button. Making changes here will update all of your invoices to fit your new branding.
Payment Information
Bank account
You can either add or update your bank account details by clicking on the 'Bank account' button. Making changes here will update your overall settings impacting all other draft and new invoices.
Payment options
Our system allows you to choose whether you would like to offer some alternative options for payment. You can select which you would like to include or deselect them if you don't want them as an option for this invoice.
Partial payments
If you want to allow your customer to pay the invoice in smaller increments that they decide, you can select this option.
You can see our full guide on partial payments for details.
Payment methods
We offer three ways to accept payment through our platform.
Pay-by-bank transfer
This is our Open Banking powered payment platform that allows your customer to make secure, instant transfers from their bank account without having to enter any information themselves (they just authorise a payment). We highly recommend this as your primary payment method to help you get paid fast.
Manual transfer
We will include your bank details in the invoice so that your customer can make a manual transfer themselves. You will need to confirm the receipt of these payments (easily done on the invoice manager).
Cash
You may also accept cash as a form of payment. We recommend that you add this payment information to the system to keep your records up to date.
6. Review
Finally, you have a chance to review all the information you have added before you publish. As an invoice is a legal document, it's important that information doesn't change once it's been created. This is your chance to ensure everything is right. Don't worry, if you notice a mistake with a published invoice, you can easily duplicate it and make changes.
If you're not ready to publish the invoice, you can save as a draft.
Once you have published your invoice it's time to send it to your customer. View our guide on how to send an invoice for more help.
That's it! You're an invoicing legend. We look forward to helping you get paid fast again.
