Introduction to Invoicing

An invoice is a document that represents a financial obligation to your client stating that they owe you money for services or products rendered. In practiceQ, invoices are typically associated with an appointment or a package of appointments, but they can also be used for products or other stand-alone charges that are not related to appointments.

practiceQ's invoicing module enables you to keep a record of all client payments, and allows you to get paid by sending invoices to clients or processing payments manually, provided that you are connected with one of our supported payment providers.

Getting Started

Before are start creating invoices, make sure to go over the invoice settings so you can set up your invoice template and preferences. To open the Invoice Settings, navigate to "Lists > Invoices > Invoice Settings".

Invoice Template: The first tab in this page allows you to enter information applicable to the invoice layout. This is where you will enter the business information and logo. You can also add any custom formatted text to the bottom of your invoice, like alternative payment instructions, contact information, etc.
Invoice Defaults: The "Defaults" tab allows you to set default behaviors that will be applied to every invoice that is created. The most notable settings relate to the preferred delivery method (Email, Secure Portal, No Delivery), and default Due Date, which is pre-defined number of days after the invoice has been issued. These default settings can be overridden when creating an invoice manually, but when invoices are created automatically, they will determine the invoice behavior. This leads us to an important topic, which is how invoices are created.

How Invoices Are Created

There are multiple ways in which invoices are created in practiceQ. Let's cover them one by one.

A) Creating Invoices Manually in the Client Profile Page

The "Invoices" tab under the Client Profile page, allows you to see all invoices tied a particular client.

It also allows you to create new invoices for that client. To create a new invoice, click on "Create Invoice". This will open a fly-out window with the invoice information.

As seen in the image above, when you place the cursor in the "Add Item" field, a dropdown list will display any uninvoiced appointments for that client. This allows you to quickly add one or multiple appointments to the same invoice.

You can also ignore the list of appointments and just type the invoice item. This can be used for charging other items, like products or extra fees.

Once the invoice is saved, you will have the option to issue it. This means that the invoice will become active and ready to be delivered to your client. When clicking on "Issue Invoice", a confirmation popup will come up.

practiceQ will choose the default delivery method based on your default settings, but you can change how this invoice will be delivered by clicking on "Delivery Options". This allows you to not only change the delivery method, but also make changes to your default email template.

Besides Email, we can send invoices via the Secure Messaging Portal (recommended) or not send the invoice at all. After the invoiced is issued, you can also share it with a client using a secret URL.

The video below shows the whole process.

B) Creating Invoices Manually in the Appointment Details Dialog

A quicker way to create an invoice for an appointment is to do it via the Appointment Details dialog. When you open an uninvoiced appointment, you will notice a dropdown menu in the "Invoice" field.

Here you have the "Create Draft" option, which allows you to make changes to the invoice before it is issued, and 2 other convenience options. The "Create and Send to Client" option will create the invoice and go straight to the Issue popup, giving you a change to change the delivery method and message before confirming. The "Issue and Enter Payment" option will issue the invoice and open a popup that allows you to enter the invoice payment information, whether by processing a credit card or registering cash payments.

C) Creating Invoices Manually in the Appointment List Page

The "Appointment List" page allows you to create and manage invoices for appointments, all in a single page. If you are creating invoices for all uninvoiced appointments, this is the best place to do it.

For bulk invoice creation for appointments, see the following article: Bulk Invoice Creation

D) Creating Invoices Manually in the Packages Page

When managing appointment packages, the "Packages" page allows you to create invoices and track their payment status.

As you can see in the image above, a single package can generate multiple invoices. This allows the scenario where a client pays for a package in multiple installments.

E) Invoices Created When Appointments Are Auto-Charged

When a client uses your booking widget and pays upfront, or you have appointment auto-charge enabled, practiceQ will automatically create an invoice for those payments.

F) Invoices Created When a Deposit Is Paid

If a service or package requires that a client places an upfront deposit when booking an appointment, that deposit will create an invoice automatically. The total amount of this invoice will be the full amount of the service or package, and the deposit will be registered as a payment, leaving the remaining balance as the amount due.

Managing Invoices

Invoices can be tracked and managed in different places, depending on your preferred workflow.

Invoices List: This page provides a list of all invoices and gives you the opportunity to use several filters (date, due date, client, status). This page can be accessed by clicking on "Lists > Invoices".
Client Profile: The "Invoices" tab under a client's profile will show you all the invoices for that particular client, allow you to create new invoices for that client and see their total balance.
Appointments List: This page allows you to manage invoices based on appointments. You can search for appointments that have not been paid or invoiced using appointment filters, like date, service, location, practitioner, etc. To access this page, click on "Lists > Appointments".
Packages List: Similar to the above, you can manage invoices based on packages. To access the Packages page, click on "Bookings > Packages".

Client's Point of View

The video below shows the client's view when they receive an invoice from you. Notice how they can make a payment in less than one minute.