Create an invoice

You choose the client and the items. To Bill calculates the VAT, creates the PDF with its QR-bill, then follows the invoice until it is paid.

Before you start

• Your company. The name, address and VAT number from Settings › Company appear at the top of every invoice.
• The QR-bill. Turn it on once with your IBAN: see The QR-bill.
• Your clients and items. You can create them along the way, but it is quicker if they already exist: see Clients and Items.

The invoice list

In the menu, under Sales, open Invoices.

1. Add creates an invoice.
2. The tabs: All, Outstanding (everything still to be paid), Pending (not sent yet), Sent, Overdue, Paid, Cancelled and Imported.
3. Views offers ready-made lists: Overdue, To send, To collect, Paid this month. You can also keep your own filters under a name.

The filter bar searches for a number, a client, a title or an amount. Filter by Status, Date, Amount incl. VAT and Client; More filters adds the due date, the payment date, the currency and the sending.

The Payable before column turns red when the due date has passed. Remaining shows what the client still owes. The One-time / Recurring switch, at the top, takes you to the recurring invoices.

On the Outstanding tab, To Bill shows, to the right of the tabs, what is still to be collected on all the invoices of the filtered list, in francs. This total includes the reminder fees owed, given underneath, for example “of which reminder fees CHF 20.00”. An invoice in a foreign currency is converted at today’s rate, the invoice editor’s, as in Unpaid; an amount in a currency without an exchange rate is not counted and is shown apart, for example “+ EUR 1'200.00 not converted”. It is the same figure as on the Unpaid page and in the answers of the Copilot.

Create the invoice

The editor fits on a single page, in five parts: Client, Dates and references, Lines, Options and Total. On the right, the PDF preview follows every entry: it fits the width, zooms and shows the page count, as on the invoice page. While it updates, the previous page stays on screen.

1. Saved: the draft saves itself (see Automatic saving).
2. Preview hides or shows the PDF, to make room.
3. Download the PDF saves the invoice, then downloads its PDF.
4. Send saves, then opens sending by email; its arrow also offers By post. See Send an invoice.

1. In Invoices, click Add.

2. Client. Choose the client in Select a client... (1), or create one with New client. Their address and email address are shown; Edit chooses another one. The client’s default contact is copied into Contact person. If the client’s record has no postcode or town, To Bill says so under the client: “Payable by” will stay blank on the QR-bill, with what is missing. Add the address completes it without leaving the editor; Complete the client's record opens the record. See The QR-bill.

3. Dates and references. Check the Reference: To Bill suggests the next number. The Due date follows the client’s payment terms, shown below it (for example “Client's payment term: 30 days”), or the company’s. Give an Invoice title, for example “Bread display stand”.

4. If the service did not take place on the invoice date, enter the Date or period of the service (2). It is printed on the invoice.

   

5. Lines. Choose the VAT mode (1): Global VAT (one rate for the whole invoice), VAT per item (each item’s rate) or Excl. VAT.

6. Type an item’s name in Item name... (2): To Bill suggests your saved items. Choose one, adjust the quantity, then press Enter or click Add. You can also enter a free line: name, quantity, unit and price. The totals and the preview update.

   

   A line can have its own currency, chosen next to the price. To Bill converts it into the invoice's currency at the official daily rate published by Swiss customs (FOCBS), the rate that also applies for VAT. Hover over the original amount, under the line's name, to see the rate and its date. If today's rate could not be read, the line keeps the last known rate and says so: “Last known rate, from …”. With no rate at all, it shows “No … rate: amount not converted” and does not count in the totals. The PDF of the invoice or quote follows the same rule: such a line is marked “not converted” there and counts as zero, and a rate older than the day is shown as “last known rate, from …”. An invoice entirely in a foreign currency prints no amount in francs.

7. Options. Each option opens with one click; closed, it sums up what it contains:

   • Discounts and fees: click Add an adjustment, then choose Discount / Rebate or Rounding (deducted), or Additional fees (added), as a Fixed amount or a Percentage, with a Label;
   • Payment in installments: keep One-time payment, or choose Instalment payment to split the amount (see Payment in instalments). This option only appears if the QR-bill is turned on;
   • Notes: a message for the client; your note templates are inserted with one click.

   

8. Total: the subtotal, the VAT and the invoice total. Check the preview, then click Send.

As soon as it has a client and a line, the invoice is saved with the status Pending: it has not been sent yet and you can edit it. It is not yet in the books. You can leave the editor and find it again in the list.

The client’s previous invoice

For a new invoice to a client you have invoiced before, To Bill shows “Last invoice to this client: …” above the lines, with Reuse its lines: its lines are added, with their VAT. That last invoice’s currency is taken over too.

Sections and line numbering

Under the lines, Add a section groups lines under a heading, for example “Workshop” and “Installation”. Enable numbering numbers the lines (1.1, 1.2…) on the PDF. Drag a line to move it.

The invoice date

The editor does not offer a past date: an invoice bears the date of the day you issue it, or a future date. For a past service, enter its date in Date or period of the service.

Automatic saving

The editor has no save button: the draft saves itself a few moments after each entry, as soon as it has a client and a line. Opening an invoice without changing anything saves nothing. The top bar tells you where things stand:

What you see	What it means
Saves automatically	Nothing to save yet: choose a client and add a line.
Saving…	Saving is in progress.
Saved	Everything is saved. A click shows the time, for example “Saved at 14:32”.
Not saved	Something is missing. The reason follows, for example “Add a line to save the draft.” or “This number is already used: choose another one.” Correct it: saving starts again on its own.
Offline	No connection. Your changes stay on this device and are saved when the connection is back.
Saving failed	The server did not answer. To Bill tries again on its own; Try again retries straight away.

• ⌘ S on a Mac, Ctrl S on Windows, saves straight away.
• Invoices, at the top left, saves before leaving the editor. If that is not possible, To Bill asks Leave without saving?: Stay or Leave. What you entered is kept on this device.
• After a connection loss, a tab closed too early or a crash: when you open the invoice again (or a new invoice), To Bill says “Unsaved changes from … were found on this device.” Restore puts them back in the editor; Discard drops them.

On a phone

The editor switches to a single column. At the top, the eye (Preview) shows the PDF instead of the fields; Back to editing returns to them. At the bottom, the total and Send always stay within reach, next to the button that downloads the PDF.

Lines without VAT

A line at 0% must say why it has no VAT: export, supply abroad, excluded supply, disbursement… This VAT type decides the box of the VAT return.

1. In Lines, choose VAT per item (1).

2. Add the line. A saved item with its VAT type takes it over on its own.

3. Otherwise, click the settings icon at the end of the line, then choose the VAT type (2).

   

With Global VAT at 0% or Excl. VAT, a single VAT type of the 0% lines field applies to the whole invoice. As long as a line at 0% has no type, To Bill shows a warning under the lines, and the draft is not saved: Not saved says “Choose the VAT type of the lines at 0% (export, excluded supply…).” The list of types is explained in Items.

Each type adds its statement on the PDF, for example “VAT-exempt export (art. 23 Swiss VAT Act).”

The invoice’s page

In the list, click the invoice’s number.

1. The status of the invoice.
2. Edit reopens the editor, as long as the invoice has not been sent.
3. Send sends it by email. See Send an invoice.

On the left, you can zoom, print and download the PDF preview. On the right: the amount, the VAT, the dates, the QR reference, the client, then the Payments, Reminders and History sections. The … menu (More actions) groups the other actions.

An invoice’s statuses

Status	What it means
Pending	Draft. Not sent yet, can be edited, not yet in the books.
Sent	Issued: sent by email or by post, or marked as sent. The client has to pay it.
Overdue	The due date has passed and the invoice is not paid. To Bill classes it this way every night, or as soon as the first reminder goes out.
Partially paid	The client has paid part of it. Remaining shows what they still owe.
Paid	The amount has been received.
Overpaid	The client paid more than the invoice amount.
Credited / Partially credited	A credit note cancels all or part of the amount.
Refunded / Partially refunded	The client had paid, then a credit note paid all or part of it back.
Written off	You have given up the claim. No more reminders are sent for it.
Cancelled	The invoice is cancelled. It stays archived with its number.
Imported	Taken over from other software. It awaits payment but cannot be edited.

A sent invoice can no longer be edited

As soon as an invoice is sent, its content is frozen: it is the document your client received and your accounts keep.

The invoice’s page says so (1): Sent: this invoice can no longer be changed. To correct it:

• A mistake in part of the amount, or a discount granted afterwards: click Correct it with a credit note. See Credit notes.
• An invoice that is entirely wrong: in …, click Cancel invoice, then create a new one. If the client has already paid all or part of it, To Bill automatically issues a credit for the cancelled amount.

Cancelling does not erase

A cancelled invoice stays in the list with the status Cancelled. Its number stays reserved: it will not be used again. Only a draft that was never sent can really be deleted (… › Delete).

Import older invoices

Import invoices, at the top of the list, brings in your older PDF invoices. To Bill reads each PDF, then you check the client, the reference, the dates and the amounts before confirming. Imported invoices arrive in the Imported tab. For a bexio export, see Import from bexio.

Legal basis

• An invoice identifies the supplier, the recipient and the type of supply. As a rule, it states: the supplier’s name and town, their entry in the VAT register and their VAT number; the recipient’s name and town; the date or period of the supply if it differs from the invoice date; the type, subject and scope of the supply; the amount; the VAT rate and the VAT amount: Art. 26 para. 2 VAT Act. Check on the preview that your VAT number appears at the top of the invoice.
• A business that is not entered in the VAT register must not show VAT on its invoices; one that shows VAT wrongly owes it: Art. 27 VAT Act. If your business is not registered for VAT, To Bill knows it from your account’s setup and shows no VAT.
• Invoices and accounting vouchers are kept for ten years: Art. 958f CO.