QuickBooks Online feature · Invoices
QuickBooks Online invoices: how invoicing works.
QuickBooks Online invoicing lets you create and send branded invoices, set payment terms, send recurring invoices, accept online payments through QuickBooks Payments, and track every invoice from sent to viewed to paid — while the books record the receivable automatically. This explainer covers what the feature does, how to set it up and use it well, and when invoicing setup or accounts-receivable cleanup is a ProAdvisor call. Independent firm, not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
QuickBooks Online invoicing is how you bill customers and track what they owe: you create a branded invoice from your products and services, set payment terms, and send it — and QuickBooks Online records the revenue and the accounts-receivable balance automatically. From there you can send recurring invoices for retainers, enable online payment through QuickBooks Payments (Intuit’s processing service, with Intuit-set fees), send reminders on overdue invoices, and track each one as sent, viewed, or paid. The invoice stays open until you record the customer’s payment and apply it to that invoice — and applying payments correctly is what keeps the AR aging report honest.
Reference maintained by the Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor team at TechBrot Inc., an independent firm — not Intuit, and not Intuit’s official software support. Not affiliated with Intuit Inc.
QuickBooks Online invoicing, in five questions.
What does QuickBooks Online invoicing do?
It lets you create and send branded invoices to customers, set payment terms, and track each invoice through its status — sent, viewed, and paid. When you create an invoice, QuickBooks Online records the receivable automatically (it’s sales on account, not cash yet), and when payment comes in you apply it against that invoice. You can also send recurring invoices and overdue reminders.
Can customers pay a QuickBooks Online invoice online?
Yes — if you turn on QuickBooks Payments, invoices can include a Pay Now option so customers pay by card or bank transfer directly from the invoice. QuickBooks Payments is Intuit’s processing service, and its availability, approval, and processing fees are set by Intuit, not by us. What an independent ProAdvisor firm does is configure the books side so those payments record and match cleanly.
How do recurring invoices work in QuickBooks Online?
You can set an invoice to repeat on a schedule — useful for retainers, subscriptions, or any fixed monthly billing — so QuickBooks Online creates and (optionally) sends it automatically each period. Recurring invoices cut manual entry and keep billing consistent, but they still need clean products/services and accurate customer records behind them to post correctly.
How does an invoice affect my books?
Creating an invoice records revenue and increases accounts receivable — the money a customer owes you for work delivered but not yet paid. The invoice sits open until you record the customer’s payment and apply it to that specific invoice, which clears the receivable. If payments aren’t applied correctly, the AR aging report stops telling the truth.
When should a ProAdvisor set up invoicing?
When you’re standing up products/services and an accounts-receivable workflow from scratch; when payments are doubling up, sitting unapplied, or piling up in Undeposited Funds; or when AR aging is full of stale or already-paid invoices. That’s books work an independent Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor firm does — configuring it correctly or cleaning up what drifted.
QuickBooks Online invoicing, plainly.
An invoice is a bill you send a customer for work delivered, and in QuickBooks Online it does two jobs at once. On the surface, it’s a branded document — built from your products and services, addressed to a customer, carrying payment terms and a due date — that you email or share as a link, optionally with a Pay Now button so the customer can pay online. Underneath, the moment you create it, QuickBooks Online records the revenue and books the amount as accounts receivable: money owed to you but not yet collected.
That invoice stays open until you record the customer’s payment and apply it to that specific invoice, which clears the receivable. Get that loop right — clean products and services behind every invoice, payments applied to the invoices they pay, deposits matched to the bank — and the AR aging report tells you exactly who owes what. Get it loose — payments unapplied, recorded twice, or stranded in Undeposited Funds — and both the reconciliation and the receivable stop telling the truth. The setup and that ongoing discipline are where an independent ProAdvisor firm works; an Intuit account, login, billing, or QuickBooks Payments fee question stays with Intuit.
What QuickBooks Online invoicing does.
Six things the feature does — from the branded document your customer sees to the receivable it books behind the scenes.
Does 01 · Create & send branded invoices
You build an invoice from your products and services, add the customer, and send it by email or shareable link. You can customize the template — logo, colors, fields, and the message — so the invoice carries your branding. Each invoice is numbered and tied to the customer record.
Does 02 · Set terms & due dates
Each invoice carries payment terms — due on receipt, Net 15, Net 30, and so on — which set the due date QuickBooks Online uses to age the receivable and flag it when it’s overdue. Terms can default per customer so you’re not setting them by hand every time.
Does 03 · Accept online payments (via QuickBooks Payments)
If you enable QuickBooks Payments — Intuit’s processing service — invoices can include a Pay Now button so customers pay by card or bank transfer. Approval, availability, and processing fees are Intuit’s, not ours. We configure how those payments record so they match to the right invoice and deposit.
Does 04 · Send recurring invoices
Set an invoice to repeat on a schedule for retainers, subscriptions, or fixed monthly work, and QuickBooks Online creates — and optionally emails — it automatically each period. This removes repetitive manual entry and keeps recurring billing consistent.
Does 05 · Track status: sent, viewed, paid
QuickBooks Online shows where each invoice stands — sent, viewed by the customer, partially paid, paid, or overdue — so you can see at a glance what’s outstanding and chase the right ones. Reminders can be sent for invoices that pass their due date.
Does 06 · Record the receivable & apply payments
Creating an invoice automatically books the revenue and the receivable; recording the customer’s payment and applying it to that invoice clears it. Done correctly, this keeps the AR aging report accurate. Done loosely — payments unapplied or stranded in Undeposited Funds — is where the books drift.
How to set up and use invoicing well.
Seven steps, in order. The foundation comes first — products, services, and customers — because invoicing is only as accurate as what sits behind it.
Set up your products/services and customers first
Invoicing is only as accurate as what sits behind it. Build your products and services list (mapped to the right income accounts) and your customer records before you invoice — this is what makes each invoice post to the correct account and tie to the right customer.
Customize the invoice template & terms
Set your logo, colors, and the fields that show, and define default payment terms (due on receipt, Net 15, Net 30). Clean defaults mean every invoice goes out branded and with the right due date without rework each time.
Turn on online payments if you want them
If you want customers to pay from the invoice, enable QuickBooks Payments — Intuit’s service, with Intuit-set approval and fees — and decide which payment methods to offer. Then make sure the books side is set so those payments record and deposit cleanly.
Use recurring invoices for retainers
For retainers, subscriptions, or any fixed repeating billing, set the invoice to recur on a schedule so QuickBooks Online generates and (optionally) sends it automatically. Confirm the products/services and customer on the template are right before it starts repeating.
Send reminders for overdue invoices
Use the status view to find invoices past their due date and send reminders — manual or automatic — so overdue balances get chased consistently instead of slipping. Consistent follow-up is what keeps AR from aging out.
Record and match payments correctly
When payment arrives, record it against the specific invoice it pays — not as a stray deposit. Watch Undeposited Funds: payments parked there and never grouped into a deposit are a classic pileup that makes the bank reconciliation and AR both wrong.
Keep the AR aging report clean
Review the AR aging regularly — current, 1–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+ — and make sure open invoices are genuinely unpaid, not already-paid ones whose payment was never applied. A clean aging report is the payoff of doing the steps above correctly.
Setting up invoicing, or AR no longer ties?
A Certified ProAdvisor reviews the file free, then sets up invoicing and the AR workflow — or cleans up duplicated and mis-applied payments. A focused setup or AR scope is typically $1,200–$3,000 fixed-fee; cleanup runs $1,500–$15,000+ if the books are behind. Independent firm.
When a ProAdvisor should help.
Setting up products/services & AR workflow
Standing up invoicing from scratch — a products and services list mapped to the right income accounts, customer records, terms, and a payment-recording workflow — is where a ProAdvisor saves you months of drift. Get the foundation right and the AR aging report stays honest from day one.
Duplicated or mis-applied payments
Payments recorded twice, applied to the wrong invoice, left unapplied, or stranded in Undeposited Funds make both the bank reconciliation and the AR aging lie. Untangling that — without deleting real transactions — is operational books work, not a setting you flip.
Accounts-receivable cleanup
An AR aging full of stale invoices, customers who already paid, or balances that should have been written off means the receivable on your books overstates what you’re actually owed. A ProAdvisor reconciles AR back to reality so the number you’re managing is the real one.
A Certified ProAdvisor sets up invoicing and keeps AR accurate.
Sending an invoice is the easy part. The work that keeps the numbers trustworthy is everything around it: a products and services list mapped to the right income accounts, customer records and terms set up cleanly, payments recorded against the invoices they actually pay, deposits grouped to match the bank, and an accounts-receivable aging report that reflects what you’re genuinely owed. A Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor with active Online and Desktop certifications does that against a written scope — and untangles duplicated or mis-applied payments and Undeposited-Funds pileups when invoicing has already drifted. Independent firm — not Intuit, and not Intuit’s software support; QuickBooks Payments fees and any Intuit account or billing matter stay with Intuit.
Free
file review first — we look before we scope
$1,200–$3,000
typical fixed-fee setup or focused AR-workflow scope
Independent
Certified ProAdvisor firm — not Intuit, not Intuit’s software support
What people ask about QuickBooks Online invoicing.
Is this Intuit’s official QuickBooks support?
What does QuickBooks Online invoicing actually do?
Can customers pay a QuickBooks Online invoice online, and what are the fees?
How do recurring invoices work?
How does an invoice affect accounts receivable?
Why are my payments piling up in Undeposited Funds?
Can a ProAdvisor set up invoicing for me?
Can you change my QuickBooks Payments rates or fix my Intuit account?
Setting up invoicing, or AR no longer ties?
Get invoicing set up right — or the receivables cleaned up.
If you’re standing up products/services and an AR workflow from scratch, or payments are doubling up, sitting unapplied, or piling up in Undeposited Funds, the fix is in the books. Start with a free file review; a focused setup or AR-workflow scope is typically a $1,200–$3,000 fixed-fee engagement, and a full cleanup runs $1,500–$15,000+ when the books are behind. Independent ProAdvisor firm, written scope before any work begins.