One-time invoices explained

A one-time invoice is a bill you create manually to charge a client for a single, non-recurring service—directly inside the portal, with support for online payments.

One-time invoices at a glance

A one-time invoice bills a client for a specific service—such as tax preparation, a consultation, an audit, or preparation of financial documents in cases of company liquidation. Use it whenever a one-off charge is needed, rather than a regular schedule like a recurring invoice .

One-time invoices can be used on its own, included in a proposal so the client pays or receives the invoice at the time of signing, or paired with a document locked to the invoice —such as a completed tax return—so the client can only access it after payment.

Here is what you can do with one-time invoices:

• Itemize services via line items — add each service with a name, description, rate, quantity, and optional tax.
• Apply discounts — add a discount line to reduce the total.
• Transfer the processing fee — pass the processing fee on to the client instead of covering it yourself.
• Send automatic reminders — notify clients automatically if the invoice remains unpaid, using automatic reminders .
• Let clients download the invoice as a PDF .
• Accept partial payments — let clients split an invoice into installments instead of paying it all at once.

Access and permissions

One-time invoices are available to the firm owner and admins by default. Team members need the Manage invoices access right to create, view, and manage invoices.

Note

To give a team member access to all of the firm’s invoices—not just the accounts they’re assigned to—toggle on View all accounts.

Where to find the invoice once it’s sent

Once an invoice is created, you can find it in Billing > Invoices from the left menu bar. From here, you can:

• View the invoice status (Unpaid, Paid, Overdue, etc.)
• Find out the total amount and sum of unpaid invoices
• Edit invoice data, link to jobs, download, and more
• Delete invoices in the Unpaid status

To view invoices for a specific client, open the client account and go to the Invoices tab.

Partial payments

When you want your clients to pay partially upfront or break down larger invoices into manageable installments, you can issue an invoice and request partial payments from clients.

The partial payment option is enabled by default, so you don’t need to take any action to start using it. Keep in mind the following:

• You can view the full payment history within the invoice.
• You cannot bulk pay partially paid invoices, delete them, or edit the financial details (amount, services, payment date).
• Client can make partial payments using credit .
• It’s not available for offline payments, but you can learn about the workaround .
• You can make partial payments on the client’s behalf .

Automate processes with invoices

One-time invoices can be automated via pipeline automations . Common automation scenarios:

• The invoice is automatically created and sent to the client the moment a job reaches the specified stage.
• The job automatically moves to the next pipeline stage once the invoice is paid.
• Payment reminders are sent if the invoice is not paid within a set number of days.
• A document is locked —such as a completed tax return—so the client can only access it after payment.

Client view

When you send an invoice, the client receives a notification via email, mobile app, and client portal. Clients can pay directly from the notification link without logging in to the client portal, using the guest pay option.

Depending on your payment methods selected, clients can pay using:

Credit card

• Clients enter card number, expiration date, security code, and billing address
• May require 3D Secure verification depending on the bank
• Payment processes immediately
• Payment details are saved automatically when clients are logged into the client portal
• Clients can use Link to save payment details for one-click payments across multiple sites

Bank debit (ACH)

• Clients select their bank and authorize the connection via online banking; bank account verification is completed immediately
• Payment takes some time to be completed—from a couple of hours up to a few days (status for such payments shows as In progress)
• Payment details are saved automatically when clients are logged into the client portal
• Clients can use Link to save payment details for one-click payments across multiple sites

Tip

If you need to provide your clients with payment instructions, you can find them in the client help article .

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