Ready to send your first invoice? It's very easy to do.
There are a few ways of creating it, but first you have to locate the customer you wish to send it to.
Option 1. Locate the customer in the list of Customers
- On the left side of your screen, select Customers > List.
- You can use our super-search function to locate the customer’s name.
- Click on the customer's name or the pencil button in the ACTIONS column.
- Once you have the customer's information open, you're ready to create an invoice.
- Click on Add Invoice.
Option 2. Locate the customer during invoice creation
- On the left side of the screen select Invoices > Add.
- You'll be presented with a search box
- Click on the input field and you'll be presented with the list of the most recent customers added by you. Start typing your customer’s name or customer id.
- If the customer's name appears, select it. If not, you can create a new customer by selecting the “New customer” item in the dropdown.
Now that your customer has been selected, you can add invoice details. If you have an accounting system, CRM, or Broker Management System (BMS), make sure that the information in your system matches the data entered in your invoice.
Specify your invoice number. The invoice id should be unique.
Set the Invoice Date and its Due Date.
Set the billing period if required.
In the invoice description, enter the line items.
- This part of the invoice creation process allows you to set a description of your product, its quantity, price, and whether it is taxed or not.
- The total amount of a line item will be calculated automatically.
- If you wish to add multiple line items to the invoice, simply click on the last line of the list and specify a new line item.
Set taxation
- If you're sending an invoice for the first time and specified that you are collecting taxes, you will be prompted to name the tax and add the percentage.
- Note that you can adjust the calculated amounts manually in case you have to match them with your original data.
Specify who pays the transaction fees
Next you will indicate who should pay the payment processing charges. This is a very valuable feature of our platform because it allows you to assign the charges to the customer, yourself, or to split them evenly between the two of you. You can configure these settings for every payment method available in your account.
Select Credit Card
Specify who should pay SimplePin’s standard credit/debit transaction fees: the customer, the issuing company, or split 50/50. Our default fee is 2.9% of the total amount of the invoice plus $0.30 per transaction.
Select Bank Account
Specify who is paying SimplePin’s standard bank account fees: the customer, the issuing company, or split 50/50. Our default flat fee is $2.99 per transaction.
Optionally, you can add a comment in the text box below that will be visible to your customer.
That's it! If you're not quite ready to send your invoice, save it as a draft and come back to it when you're ready. It's like sending an email!
Ready to send your invoice? You have several options.
When the invoice is generated, we create a unique payment link. This can be delivered to your customer in a number of ways.
Option 1. Send the payment link via email using SimplePin.
Simply click on the send button and we'll deliver the payment link for you. After you hit send, you'll be redirected to a list of your invoices where your new invoice will appear with the status “SENT”.
Option 2. Create a payment link and send it yourself via email.
Let's say you'd like to include the invoice in a larger email (with attachments etc.) from your own email account. Follow these steps:
- Click on the link in the top right corner of the form.
- You will see several options for the link (text or different size buttons).
- Select your preferred option and click COPY.
- Go to your email message and paste it in the body of your message.
- Close the form.
Note that at this point the invoice is locked for editing. If you go back to your list of invoices, the status will show 'Link'.
Don't forget to send your email with the payment link!
Option 3. Payment link via a QR code
You also have the option to add a QR code to a paper invoice. This allows your customers to scan it from their mobile devices and pay right away. The QR code comes in handy if you send paper invoices to your customers. The process of creating the QR code is exactly the same as creating a link. You can create the QR code during link creation, or you can generate a QR code on an existing invoice.
- Click on the Link in the bottom right corner of the form.
- Several options will appear for the link, including a section for the QR code.
- Please generate the QR code if it's not done automatically.
- Copy the QR code into your document.
- Print your invoice and mail it.
Option 4. Invoice activation code for your paper invoice
Not all customers are digital. Some don't even have email! SimplePin provides an easy-to-use functionality that will help you move your customers to a digital world. It's done by providing the customer with a generic payment link (e.g. simplepin.com/pay) and a unique invoice code (DF5R-3K68) which can be printed on a paper invoice. The process of creating a payment code is exactly the same as creating a link; you can create the code during the link creation process or you can generate the code on an existing invoice.
- Click on Link at the bottom right corner of the form.
- Several options will appear for the link, including a section for the Payment code.
- Please generate a payment code if it's not done automatically.
- You can either copy the payment code to paste it into any word editor of your choice and then send it to your clients, or you can easily send a PDF version of the invoice that we've created for you. The payment code will already be there. In order to do so:
- Click on Invoices > List
- Click on the invoice number
- Download a PDF document in the top right corner of the invoice preview
- Open the PDF and you'll notice that the payment code will already be at the bottom of the page!
- Print the invoice and mail it.
Now that your payment link is out, let’s see what happens when a customer pays your invoice.
Want to know more about SimplePin? Call our toll free number: 1 800 727-4136. You can also email us at info@simplepin.com, or contact us through our website at simplepin.com/contact-us or request a demo with one of our product specialists.