Invoicing customers

There are 3 ways to create invoices from SortScape:

1. You can create, send and manage invoices directly from inside of SortScape without connecting to Xero or QuickBooks Online.

2. You can connect to Xero and create / send Xero invoices from inside of SortScape.

3. You can connect to QuickBooks Online and create / send QuickBooks Online invoices from inside of SortScape.

Many invoicing settings — including due dates, invoice numbers, and invoice templates — depend on which of these options you use. If you are not connected to Xero or QuickBooks Online, you are using SortScape’s built-in invoicing and those settings are configured in SortScape (see Setting invoice due dates and Setting invoice numbers).

You can only use one invoicing method at a time. If you need to change from Xero to QuickBooks Online, move to SortScape built-in invoicing, or switch the other way, see Switching invoicing method.

Create an invoice

The Invoicing screen only shows visits that have been completed but not yet invoiced. If you want to invoice a visit that has not yet been completed, navigate directly to that visit from your schedule.

There are two ways to create an invoice in SortScape.

From the Invoicing screen

Log in as an administrator and go to the Invoicing screen.

Use the Group by dropdown in the top-right corner to organize visits by property or billing contact. Select the visit(s) you want to invoice and click Create invoice at the top of the screen. If you selected multiple visits, SortScape combines them into one invoice.

When combining multiple visits into a single invoice, all selected visits must share the same billing contact. Visits at the same property always qualify. Visits at different properties also qualify when those properties use the same billing contact. If you select a visit with a different billing contact, SortScape automatically deselects the others.

To combine visits from the Invoicing screen:

1. Navigate to the Invoicing screen.
2. Use the Group by dropdown to sort visits by property or contact (billing contact).
3. Select the grouped visits you want on one invoice.
4. Click Create invoice and complete the form.

One invoice for multiple properties

You can put visits from more than one property on a single invoice when those properties share the same billing contact. This is common when one landlord or property manager pays for several sites.

1. Make sure each property uses the same billing contact. On the property record, set Billing contact to that person or company (see Changing a property billing contact).
2. Open Invoicing.
3. Set Group by to Group by contact (top right).
4. Select the visits you want across those properties.
5. Click Create invoice.

SortScape only blocks selection when visits have different billing contacts, not when they are simply at different addresses. If properties bill to different people, create separate invoices.

From a visit on the schedule

To invoice a visit that has not yet been completed, open it directly from your schedule:

1. Open the visit from your schedule.
2. Click the ⋮ menu (next to Complete).
3. Select Create invoice.

Create invoice is available on visits that are not yet marked complete, as long as you are an administrator, Requires invoicing is enabled, and invoicing is set up for your account. This lets you bill a customer before work is done or before you mark the visit complete.

After a visit is marked complete, Create invoice also appears as a primary button on the visit.

Invoicing before work is complete

If you invoice a visit before marking it complete, keep in mind:

• The Invoicing screen only lists completed visits. You cannot bulk-invoice multiple incomplete scheduled visits from that screen.
• For time-and-materials visits, line items may still show estimated hours until the visit is marked complete and actual time is logged.
• Checklist items only transfer to the invoice when marked Work done.
• Once invoiced, the visit is locked. You cannot change logged time, materials, or line items unless you remove invoice status.

See also Can I invoice customers before work is complete? for advance billing and bulk scheduled-visit scenarios.

Select the visit(s) you want to invoice and click “Create invoice”

After clicking this button, you will be presented with a “Create invoice” form showing the line items already added for that visit. The line items are added based on the “invoicing basis” you specify for that visit (see below). On this form you can add, remove or edit line items and other invoicing details before creating the invoice.

By default, the invoice uses the billing contact set on the property. You can select a different billing contact when creating an invoice, and optionally save that choice as the new property default.

If you need help deciding who should be the service contact vs billing contact (for example rentals, strata/body corporate, or HOA setups), see Setting up service and billing contacts for rentals, strata, and HOAs.

If “Create invoice” is missing for a visit

If you cannot see Create invoice on a visit, check the following:

1. You are logged in as an Administrator (employees and contractors cannot create invoices).
2. The visit has Requires invoicing enabled.
3. Invoicing is set up for your account (built-in invoicing, Xero, or QuickBooks Online).

A visit does not need to be marked complete before Create invoice appears in the visit ⋮ menu.

If Requires invoicing is turned off, that visit is treated as non-billable and won’t show invoice actions. To invoice it, edit the visit, enable Requires invoicing, set the billing type and line items, then save.

Remove a visit from Visits pending invoicing

The Visits pending invoicing tab lists completed visits that still need an invoice. These are visits, not invoices, so there is no delete button on that list.

To stop a visit appearing there:

1. Open the visit from the list or your schedule.
2. Click Edit.
3. Under Invoice settings, turn off Requires invoicing.
4. Save the visit.

The visit will drop off the pending list. You can also Reopen the visit if it was marked complete by mistake.

Check for missed invoicing

Use the Visits pending invoicing tab on the Invoicing screen when you want to review completed visits that still need an invoice. This is where you check whether billable work was completed but not yet invoiced.

1. Open Invoicing.
2. Select the Visits pending invoicing tab.

You can also open the same list from the Pending invoicing card on the Dashboard (administrators only). See Dashboard.

If you need completed visit details in a spreadsheet (for example, work done, hours, or invoicing status), use Invoicing → ⋮ → Export completed visits. See FAQ - How do I export visit information for a specific customer?.

Recording cash payments

Sometimes a customer pays you in cash at the job site and you do not need to raise an invoice in SortScape, Xero, or QuickBooks Online. You may still want to record that the visit has been paid and remove it from your list of visits pending invoicing.

SortScape does not yet have dedicated cash payment tracking. Until that is available, you can use Mark as invoiced as a workaround:

1. Go to the Invoicing screen, or open the visit from your schedule.
2. Click the arrow next to Create invoice (or Invoice).
3. Select Mark as invoiced.
4. When prompted for an invoice number, enter cash (or another label that makes sense for your business, such as “Cash - paid on site”).

The visit will be marked as invoiced in SortScape and will no longer appear in your pending invoicing list. Nothing is sent to Xero or QuickBooks Online — you are not creating an invoice in those systems.

If you use Xero or QuickBooks Online: This workaround is especially useful when you are connected to an accounting system. Creating an invoice from SortScape will send that invoice to Xero or QuickBooks. If the customer has already paid cash and you only need to clear the visit in SortScape, use Mark as invoiced instead of Create invoice.

If you use SortScape’s built-in invoicing: You can either create an invoice and record the payment once you receive cash, or use Mark as invoiced with “cash” if you prefer not to raise an invoice at all.

Applying discounts

SortScape does not include a separate discount field or percentage on invoices. To reduce the invoice total, add a line item with a negative unit price and set the quantity as needed. Use a clear description so your customer understands the adjustment—for example, “Loyalty discount” or “Promotional discount”.

You can add a discount line item:

• On the Create invoice form when invoicing one or more completed visits.
• On a visit’s Invoice items before the visit is invoiced (including one-off and repeating line items).

The invoice total will decrease by the amount of the negative line. Tax is calculated on each line item according to your usual settings (see Tax treatment of invoices below).

For example, to apply a $15 discount, add a line item with description “Promotional discount”, quantity 1, and price -15.00.

Checklist items and invoices

Checklist items represent tasks or services associated with a visit. To ensure these items appear on your invoice:

1. Navigate to the “Work Required” section where pending tasks are displayed.
2. Mark each completed item to change its status to “Work Done”.
3. Only items marked as “Work Done” will be automatically transferred to the invoice when you create it. Double-check the completion status of all checklist items before creating an invoice to avoid missing entries in your final invoice. Checklist items marked as “Work Done” during the visit are automatically included in the line items on this form. This ensures all completed tasks or services are accurately represented in the invoice.

Sending the invoice

When creating and invoice, you may see the option to either “automatically email invoice” or “automatically send invoice text message.”

Emailing invoices

If you click the “Automatically email invoice” checkbox when creating an invoice then the invoice will be emailed to the customer as soon as it’s created. Please note that this box is only selectable if the billing contact has an email address specified and, in the case of Xero, the default invoice status is set to either “approved” or “waiting approval” on the Xero settings screen.

To have the invoice always get automatically emailed you can enable the “Automatically email new invoices?” setting on the Customer Messaging > Invoice Notifications screen.

Sending invoices as a text message

If you are creating invoices directly within SortScape or Xero, you can also optionally send new invoices as a text message. (Sending invoices via text message is not available for QuickBooks Online customers).

If you click the Send invoice text message checkbox when creating an invoice, SortScape sends a text message to the customer as soon as the invoice is created, including when the invoice is stored in Xero. The text uses your SMS text message credits. This box is only selectable if the billing contact has a mobile number specified and, in the case of Xero, the default invoice status is set to either “approved” or “waiting approval” on the Xero settings screen.

Sending invoices after they have been created

If you don’t tick the “Automatically email invoice” checkbox or “Automatically send invoice text message” checkbox when creating the invoice, then you will need to send the invoice AFTER it’s been created.

If you create your invoices inside of SortScape and are not connected to Xero or QuickBooks Online you can navigate to the invoice in SortScape, open it, and then click on either the email icon or chat icon in the upper right hand corner of the invoice. That will allow you to send the invoice either by email or text message.

If you are connected to Xero or QuickBooks Online and did not tick the send options when creating the invoice, you need to send it from Xero or QuickBooks Online after it has been created. SortScape cannot send a Xero or QuickBooks Online invoice after the fact.

Invoice status when using Xero or QuickBooks Online

On the Invoicing screen, each invoice shows a status such as Draft, Sent, Overdue, or Paid. If you send invoices from Xero or QuickBooks Online rather than from SortScape, the status in SortScape still updates, but not immediately.

When you create an invoice in SortScape, it is saved to your accounting system and usually shows as Draft in SortScape until the next status sync runs. SortScape regularly pulls invoice details (including sent and paid status, amounts, and due dates) from Xero or QuickBooks Online:

• Xero: about every 12 hours
• QuickBooks Online: about once per day

Your integration still runs more often (about every 30 minutes) to keep contacts and products up to date. Invoice status is synced on the schedule above to limit API usage.

After a sync runs, invoices you have sent from Xero or QuickBooks Online should show as Sent in SortScape. Until then, seeing Draft does not mean anything went wrong. It just means SortScape has not refreshed that invoice yet. It is normal to see a mix of Draft and Sent if some invoices have synced and others are still waiting.

If you want to update statuses sooner, go to your Xero integration settings or QuickBooks integration settings and click Sync with Xero or Sync with QuickBooks now. Check back after a few minutes.

How to tell who sent the invoice: SortScape only records emails and text messages it sends itself. Open Customer messaging → Recent messages, or go to sent message history. If an invoice is not listed there, it was sent from Xero or QuickBooks Online, not from SortScape. An invoice can show as Sent in SortScape after a status sync even when SortScape did not send it.

Status sync applies to invoices from roughly the last 120 days. Older unpaid invoices may not show an updated status in SortScape.

If you tick Automatically email invoice or Send invoice text message when creating the invoice, SortScape can mark the invoice as sent straight away without waiting for the next sync.

Invoice status after partial payments

If you use SortScape’s built-in invoicing, an invoice is only marked Paid when the balance reaches zero.

You can record one or more payments against the same invoice. If a customer pays a deposit or part payment, the invoice still shows as Sent, Not due, or Overdue until the rest is paid. The invoice PDF and customer invoice link show Less amount paid and Balance due so the customer can see what is left to pay.

Sending payment receipts

If you use SortScape’s built-in invoicing, you can send a payment receipt when you record a payment on a sent invoice. The receipt can be emailed and/or sent by text message, depending on the contact details available for the billing contact. Online payments through Stripe automatically attempt to email a payment receipt.

See Sending payment receipts for invoices for how this works and how to edit the Payment received templates.

Note to Xero customers

Xero invoices have separate settings for email and text messages:

Email — You can choose how Xero invoices are emailed by enabling or disabling the “Email Xero invoices from SortScape?” setting in your Xero integration settings:

• When turned ON: Invoices are emailed from SortScape with a PDF attachment included. If you ever need to edit the email template, you can do so from the Invoice messages admin screen.
• When turned OFF: Invoices are emailed from Xero. The subject and body of these emails are generated using your Xero account’s default Sales Invoice template. Emails sent from Xero do not include a PDF attachment of the invoice, so please make sure your default Sales Invoice template in Xero includes a link to the online invoice.

Text message — Unlike email, there is no setting to send invoice SMS through Xero. SortScape sends invoice texts only when you tick Send invoice text message at creation time (see above). You can edit the template on the Invoice messages admin screen. To send an invoice after creation, use Xero. SortScape does not have information on what Xero may charge to send invoices from within Xero.

Correct billing contact or address after an invoice is created

You cannot change the billing contact on an existing invoice in SortScape when you use Xero or QuickBooks Online. Those invoices are managed in your accounting system, not in SortScape.

Invoiced visits are locked. They do not appear on Visits pending invoicing until you remove invoiced status. You cannot create a second invoice for the same visit while it is still marked invoiced.

The easiest fix is to get billing details right before you create the invoice. On the New invoice screen, use Select billing contact for a one-off change, or update the property’s Billing contact if the default should change. See Changing a property billing contact.

Xero or QuickBooks Online

Once an invoice has been created in your accounting system, SortScape cannot change the billing contact or billing address on that invoice. What you do next depends on your accounting workflow and whether the invoice has already been sent.

For Xero or QuickBooks Online customers, the usual fix is to update the billing address on the contact in your accounting system, or change the invoice contact to a contact with the correct billing details.

If the invoice is already in Xero or QuickBooks Online and you are not sure how to correct it, contact SortScape support.

You cannot edit billing addresses on contacts in SortScape when connected to Xero or QuickBooks Online. Address changes are made in your accounting system and sync back to SortScape.

SortScape built-in invoicing

If you use SortScape’s built-in invoicing, you can update an existing invoice directly:

1. Open Invoicing → Invoices and open the invoice.
2. Click Edit.
3. Change Select billing contact if needed.
4. Save the invoice.

If the billing contact is correct but the billing address is wrong, open that contact, update the billing address, then return to the invoice.

You can also open the visit and choose Remove invoiced status if you only need to unlock the visit. See Editing time or line items after a visit has been invoiced.

If you want to fully cancel and recreate a built-in invoice, delete it from Invoicing → Invoices → open invoice → ⋮ → Delete. That returns linked visits to Visits pending invoicing.

Selecting attachments

You can add photos and other attachments to invoices. For example, if your employees upload photos of completed work to a visit, you can attach those photos to the invoice so they are sent to your customer.

When using accounting integrations:

• In Xero, attachments default to “Send with Invoice”
• In QuickBooks Online, attachments default to “Attach to email”

This allows attachments to be shared with your customer when the invoice is sent.

Important: Attached photos are sent as separate attachments. They are not rendered inside or at the bottom of the invoice PDF.

Attachments are not included by default. You must manually select which attachments to include when creating the invoice. This helps prevent photos intended for internal use from being accidentally sent to customers.

If you always want all visit attachments to be added automatically, you can enable the “Automatically add visit attachments to new invoices?” setting.
Please note that this setting applies to all users in your account, so any invoice they create will automatically include all visit attachments.

Creating contacts and items in Xero or QuickBooks Online

If the billing contact you specify does not already exist as a customer in the connected Xero or QuickBooks Online account, then a new customer will be created in that system.

If a material referenced on an invoice line item don’t exist as a product or service in the connected Xero or QuickBooks Online account then a new product will be created in that system.

Note for QuickBooks Online users:

• To add the service date to QuickBooks Online invoice, you should have the QuickBooks service date? setting enabled in SortScape’s QuickBooks settings screen. The Service Date option should also be enabled in QuickBooks Online
• For US customers that allow their customers to pay QuickBooks Online invoices electronically, you can allow invoices to be paid with online bank transfers or credit card by updating the “Allow online credit card payments” and “Allow online ACH payments?” settings in SortScape’s QuickBooks settings screen.
• The “service date” field on the QuickBooks Online invoice line item will be the date the SortScape visit was completed.

Setting the invoicing basis for a visit

Customers who started using SortScape before October 2024 read about the old method for setting the invoicing basis here.

When creating or editing a visit, you can set how the visit will be invoiced. When creating or editing a visit you will see two checkboxes

Requires Invoicing - if this box is selected, you can create an invoice for this visit from the visit ⋮ menu (including before the visit is marked complete) or from the Invoicing screen after the visit is marked complete. If you don’t plan to create an invoice for this visit then you can un-select this box so that you’re not prompted to invoice this visit later.

Charge hourly based on time logged - this is for visits billed on a time-and-materials basis. If this box is selected, any hours you log against the visit will be invoiced at the hourly rate set. A line item with estimated hours will added to the “invoice items” section. When the visit is marked complete, the line item will be updated with actual hours logged. This update happens before you create the invoice — once a visit has been invoiced, logged time and line items can no longer be changed unless you remove invoice status.

For example, if you estimate a visit will take an hour at $60 per hour, then you will see a line item for the estimated amount of $60 as shown below:

Once you mark the visit complete then that 1 hour estimate will be replaced by the actual hours logged against the visit either manually or by using the visit timer. You can add or edit logged hours after marking a visit complete, but only before the visit has been invoiced. For example, if 1.5 hours were actually logged, then the visit would look like the one below once it’s been completed:

Invoice items lists all the line items that will be added to the invoice when you create it. To apply a discount on a visit before invoicing, add a line item with a negative price (see Applying discounts).

How invoice items affect schedule totals

The total of a visit’s Invoice items (plus any estimated hours line for time-and-materials visits) is what SortScape uses as the visit’s estimated value on the schedule. At the bottom of the schedule you will see Total for the day, Total for the week, or Total for the month, with a Value column that adds up those visit totals by crew.

Visit cards on the schedule do not show dollar amounts on the card itself. Open a visit to review its invoice items and total. For more detail, see Seeing estimated values on the schedule.

One-off charges on a single visit

If you need to charge extra on one visit without changing the price on future visits (for example, extra work or materials on top of a regular fixed-price maintenance visit), add a one-off line item while viewing that visit on the schedule.

1. Open Schedule and click the visit.
2. Do not click Edit on the repeating visit series.
3. In Invoice items, add a line item with the extra description and price.
4. Confirm the new line item has a “1” icon. That means it applies to this visit date only.

Line items behave differently depending on whether you are viewing or editing the visit:

• Viewing a visit (not in edit mode): a new line item is added to that visit date only. It shows a “1” icon.
• Creating or editing a repeating visit: a new line item is added to every visit in the series. It shows a circular repeating icon.

Do not change the price on an existing repeating line item if you only want to adjust one visit. That updates the price on all future visits in the series. Add a separate one-off line item instead.

For a full walkthrough, see How do I change the price on just one visit without changing future visits?.

Delete or cancel an invoice (SortScape built-in invoicing)

If you created an invoice in SortScape and want to remove it:

1. Open Invoicing and go to the Invoices tab.
2. Open the invoice.
3. Click the ⋮ menu and select Delete.
4. Confirm the deletion.

Deleting the invoice removes it from SortScape and returns any linked visits to Visits pending invoicing so you can invoice them again.

Remove invoice status on a visit is different. It unmarks the visit as invoiced but does not delete the invoice record. Use Delete on the invoice when you want to cancel it entirely.

You must be logged in as an Administrator to delete invoices.

Editing time or line items after a visit has been invoiced

Once a visit has been invoiced — whether you used Create invoice or Mark as invoiced — the visit is locked. You cannot add or remove logged time, materials, or invoice line items.

If you need to change the hours or line items after invoicing:

1. Open the visit.
2. Select Remove invoice status (shown in the app as Remove invoiced status).
3. Make your changes (add or edit logged time, materials, or invoice line items).
4. When finished, create the invoice again or use Mark as invoiced.

This unmarks the visit as invoiced. It does not delete a SortScape invoice record. To remove the invoice entirely, use Delete on the invoice (Invoices tab → open invoice → ⋮ → Delete).

For visits billed hourly based on time logged, hours can be added or edited after the visit is marked complete, but only before the visit has been invoiced. The invoice line item updates to reflect actual logged hours when the visit is marked complete — not after an invoice has already been created.

Setting invoice due dates

Where the invoice due date comes from depends on how you invoice:

• SortScape built-in invoicing: set the default due date on the Invoice settings screen. See Setting invoice due dates for step-by-step instructions.
• Xero or QuickBooks Online: the due date is controlled in your accounting system, not in SortScape. See Setting invoice due dates for details.

Tax treatment of invoices

SortScape respects the invoicing settings you’ve configured in QuickBooks Online and Xero where possible.

QuickBooks Online

SortScape uses the tax settings on each QuickBooks Online product / service to determine:

1. The tax rate to be applied on each invoice line item and
2. (Australian, New Zealand, Great Britain) Whether the tax on each invoice line item is tax inclusive or tax exclusive

Xero invoices

By default, invoices are created with the status of “approved” in Xero. From the Xero settings screen you can change the “Default invoice status” for invoices to “draft” or “awaiting approval” depending on your Xero invoicing workflow.

To determine whether an invoice should be “tax inclusive” or “tax exclusive”, SortScape uses the Tax Defaults specified in the financial settings of your Xero account as shown below:

When you invoice an item that doesn’t yet exist in Xero, we will create the Xero item for you when the invoice is created. When creating that item, we will code it according to the account code specified on the setting “Account for new Xero products.” For example, if you have account “Sales - 200” specified in your “Account for new Xero products” setting, then any new Xero item created from SortScape would use account “Sales - 200.”

To determine the tax rate applied on each invoice line item, SortScape uses the “Account code” set for the Xero Product or Service specified on the line item. If no Xero product or Service is specified then SortScape will use the “Account for new Xero products” setting specified in SortScape’s Xero settings screen.

If you have a Xero customer that is tax-exempt or has non-standard tax treatment then then you can:

• Go into Xero
• Edit that Xero contact
• Go to “Sales Defaults”
• Change their “Sales tax” settings like tax rate or tax inclusive / exclusive treatment
• Save the contact

This new tax rate will now get applied to any future invoices created for this contact.

Adding a billing reference to invoices

Sometimes your clients require you to provide an account number, client number or reference code on the invoices you send them. For this case, we have a “billing reference” field which can be set for each property. The “billing reference” will get added to any invoices that get created for that property.

If you are sending invoices through Xero, the billing reference will get added to the “reference” field at the top the Xero invoice.

If you are sending invoices through SortScape or QuickBooks Online, the billing reference will get added to the customer notes field at the bottom of the invoice.

To change the billing reference, edit the property and update the contents of the “billing reference” field.

Running an end-of-year invoice report

At the end of the year, your accountant may require a report of all the invoices created or paid during the year. If you are using Xero or QuickBooks online, this report can be run within those systems.

If you are using SortScape’s built-in invoicing system, you can run a report of the total invoices created or paid for any period if you go to the “search” tab on the invoicing screen.

Depending on what your accountant needs, you can run a report of invoices based on when they were created or based when they were paid.