How to Invoice a Customer in QuickBooks Online (Step by Step)

QuickBooks Online makes invoicing straightforward once you know the navigation. The hardest part for most users isn’t creating the invoice—it’s knowing what to set up in advance so the invoicing process stays fast and professional every time.

If you’re using QuickBooks Online to manage your freelance or small business finances, invoicing from within the platform keeps everything connected: invoice status, payment tracking, and income reporting all stay in sync automatically. Here’s how to do it.

Before you start: set up products and services

If you regularly invoice for the same services, set them up as Products and Services in QuickBooks before creating your first invoice. This saves significant time on every invoice.

To set up a service:

1. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top right
2. Select Products and Services
3. Click New and choose Service
4. Enter the service name, default rate, and the income account it maps to
5. Save

Once your services are saved, you can add them to any invoice in seconds by selecting from the dropdown—no retyping descriptions and prices each time.

Step-by-step: creating an invoice

Step 1: Start a new invoice Click the + New button in the top left navigation. Under the Customers column, select Invoice.

Step 2: Select or create the customer In the Customer field at the top, type the customer’s name. If they’re an existing customer, they’ll appear in the dropdown. If they’re new, select + Add new to create their profile.

Step 3: Set the invoice date and due date The invoice date defaults to today. Set the due date based on your payment terms—Net 30 means 30 days from the invoice date. If you have standard terms, you can set them in the customer profile so they fill in automatically.

Step 4: Add line items In the Product/Service column, select from your saved services or type a description manually. Enter the quantity and rate. QuickBooks calculates the line total. Add as many line items as needed.

Step 5: Add a message (optional) There’s a Message on Invoice field at the bottom where you can include payment instructions, a thank-you note, or your payment method preferences (bank transfer, credit card, check).

Step 6: Review and send Review the total, confirm the customer email address is correct, and click Save and Send to email the invoice immediately. You’ll see a preview of the email before it sends. Alternatively, click Save and Close to save the invoice without sending, then email it later.

Tracking invoice status

Once sent, QuickBooks automatically tracks invoice status:

• Sent: Invoice has been emailed to the customer
• Viewed: Customer has opened the invoice email (requires QuickBooks Payments enabled, or this may appear as Sent)
• Partially Paid: Customer has made a partial payment
• Paid: Invoice is fully paid
• Overdue: Past the due date without payment

Find these statuses in the Get Paid & Pay section under Invoices. Filtering by Overdue shows you exactly which clients need follow-up.

Setting up automatic payment reminders in QuickBooks takes five minutes and can dramatically reduce late payments. Once configured, QuickBooks sends professional reminder emails before and after the due date—without any manual action required from you.

Setting up payment reminders

To set up automatic reminders:

1. Click the gear icon > Account and Settings
2. Select the Sales tab
3. Scroll to the Reminders section
4. Toggle on automatic reminders
5. Configure when reminders send: the day before due, on the due date, and 1 and 7 days after the due date are common settings

Each reminder email references the original invoice and includes a Pay Now button if you have QuickBooks Payments set up. Clients can pay directly from the reminder email, which removes friction from the payment process.

Customizing your invoice template

Default QuickBooks invoices are functional but plain. A customized template looks more professional and reinforces your brand.

To customize:

1. Gear icon > Custom Form Styles
2. Click New Style or edit the existing template
3. In the Design tab, upload your logo, choose colors, and select a layout
4. In the Content tab, configure which fields appear and in what order
5. Save and apply the template to future invoices

You can create multiple templates—for example, one for proposals-that-became-invoices and one for standard billing.

Accepting online payments through QuickBooks

Enabling QuickBooks Payments lets customers pay directly from the invoice with a credit card or bank transfer. QuickBooks deposits the payment automatically and marks the invoice as paid.

The convenience significantly reduces how long invoices sit unpaid. Clients who can pay with one click do so much faster than clients who need to write a check or initiate a bank transfer manually.

Fees apply: credit card processing runs around 2.9% + $0.25 per transaction. ACH bank transfers are typically lower. Review the current fee schedule in your QuickBooks account.

When QuickBooks invoicing isn’t enough

QuickBooks is excellent for accounting, but its invoicing is built for billing—not for the earlier stages of client work. If you need to send proposals, get digital signatures, track when clients view your quote, or convert a proposal to an invoice automatically, a tool like Waco3 fills that gap. Many freelancers use both: Waco3 for the proposal and quote stage, QuickBooks for accounting and tax preparation.

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