Creating and Managing Invoices

Overview

Invoicing is the foundation of getting paid. Invoices help you track earned income, manage what clients owe you, and keep your Accounts Receivable up to date.

Invoices aren’t just bills — they’re an essential part of your financial workflow. Creating and sending an invoice officially records income you’ve earned, even if you haven’t been paid yet. Keeping your invoice records accurate ensures you know:

What’s been paid
What’s still outstanding
What needs follow-up or correction

🔍 What’s your Situation?

Here are some common invoice-related situations and the actions you can take for each:

1️⃣ You’ve completed work for a client and need to send an invoice
→ Use: Create and send a new invoice

2️⃣ You need to update an existing invoice due to a change or correction
→ Use: Edit or update the invoice

3️⃣ You want to check which invoices are unpaid or overdue
→ Use: Review open and past-due invoices

4️⃣ You made a mistake or created a duplicate invoice
→ Use: Delete the invoice

📌 Before you begin

Before you can create an invoice, make sure your business information and client details are set up in Quicken Business & Personal. Once that’s done, you’ll be ready to create and send invoices in just a few clicks.

🛠 How Each Method Works

1️⃣ Create and Send an Invoice

When to use it: You’ve provided a product or service and want to request payment.

To create and send an invoice:

Hover over the left panel and select Invoices.
Click + Invoice .
Select the Client & Project dropdown and choose a project under the correct client.
Enter the Invoice #, Issue Date, and Due Date.
Click + Add Item and select an item from the dropdown or choose New Item to create one.

Use the trash can icon to remove items.
Reorder items by dragging the dots to the left of each line.

If an item is taxable, check the Taxable box. Select or enter the appropriate tax rate in the Tax dropdown (only one rate per invoice is allowed).
Apply a discount if necessary (by dollar or percentage).
Click the Preview tab to review the final invoice.
Click Send to... and confirm the email address, subject, and message.

To skip email and just save/print, choose Mark as Sent (No Email).

10. Click Send to deliver the invoice.

2️⃣ Edit or Update an Invoice

When to use it: You need to correct or update an invoice that was already created.

📝 Note: If the invoice has already been sent, you'll need to resend it after editing.

To edit or update an invoice:

Hover over the left panel and select Invoices.
Click the Drafts tab if the invoice hasn’t been sent.
Find the invoice and click the three-dot icon to the right.
Select View Invoice.
If the invoice was sent, click Edit at the top, make changes.
Click Save or Send to... to send the updated invoice.

3️⃣ Review Past Due Invoices

When to use it: You want to see which invoices are overdue or unpaid so you can follow up.

To review past due invoices:

Hover over the left panel and select Invoices.
Click Unpaid to view past-due invoices and status.
Follow up with clients directly or resend the invoice.

4️⃣ Deleting an Invoice

When to use it: You need to remove an invoice that was created by mistake or duplicated.

To delete an invoice:

Hover over the left panel and select Invoices.
Locate the invoice and click the three-dot icon.
Click Delete Invoice.
Confirm deletion in the pop-up by selecting Delete Invoice.

📌 Best Practices

Invoice promptly after delivering work
Always record payments against invoices to keep Accounts Receivable accurate (shown in the Client Invoices account)
Review open invoices regularly to follow up and improve cash flow
Before writing off unpaid invoices as bad debt, check with your accountant