Configuring Invoices

In this article:

• Invoice Settings
• Configure Invoices

 

Creating an invoice in Canopy is simple and convenient. 

Time entries, services, and user rates can all be configured and summarized into an invoice to best suit your needs - down to showing an itemized breakdown or a single-line invoice.

Set Invoice Settings

Let’s start with your basic customization of invoices. Doing this first may save you a ton of time before you begin configuring and sending invoices.

Navigate to your firm’s Billing Settings by:

1. Click your profile picture
2. Choose Settings
3. Select Billing Settings

Then make sure you are on the Invoice Settings. This is broken up into two parts.

Fields

These options determine how these certain areas appear on invoices. This includes:

• Line Items: time entries separated as their line item or grouped
• Columns: what should appear on the invoice
• Terms: from Due on Receipt up to Net 60. 
  • You can also customize your Terms.
  • Just enter the number of days here.
• Terms and Conditions: switch this on to enter your firm’s terms and conditions
  • Anything entered here appears on the invoice when it’s turned on

Reminders

Scrolling down, you can customize reminders for invoices. Reminders automatically send an email to clients for each invoice that meets the below conditions you set.

Under Setup, you can switch one up to three reminders:

• # of days before a due date
• On the dude's date
• Every # of days after the due date, until paid.

For each reminder, you can include a personal message or choose to leave it blank.

Once you're finished with changing these options, don’t forget to Save.

Configure Invoices

The simplest way to create an invoice is to:

1. Click the Global Plus Button
2. Select Invoice in the second menu

This lands you in the Invoice pop-up.

An invoice in Canopy is like any other invoice you’ve seen. It’s essentially broken down into two sections:

• Contact and Invoice details
• Your service or line items

Along the top, you’ll indicate a Contact you are billing to. 

1. Click the dropdown
2. Search for a contact

Next, you’ll input an Invoice #, otherwise, Canopy automatically numbers each invoice in sequential order. By default, it starts with 0001 and then goes to 0002, 3, and so on. It doesn’t sequentially order on custom #;s though.

Then enter the date of the invoice. Note that you cannot enter a future date. Only the current date or a previous date from today. Don’t worry, Canopy will stop you :)

Then enter payment terms. If you entered a default payment term in billing settings, that appears here on every invoice you make. But of course, you can adjust as you need.

And finally the due date. The due date reflects automatically from the invoice date and terms. 

So if your invoice date is today, and payment is due on receipt, then the due date is today. But if you change the terms, the due date also adjusts automatically. 

Add Line Items

Now, let’s talk about the meat of the invoice - the line or service items, where the service meets the billing.

A line item refers to any service added to an invoice, along with any quantities, rates, and prices that pertain to them.

Simply type in a service item. Service items from your Billing Settings will appear in the list for you to choose from.

Then you can leave an optional description and enter a quantity - this is the duration of your service. Then type in a rate and tax rate, if applicable. Then BAM! The service is itemized and totaled on the right-hand side of your invoice.

Now, you can continue adding items by selecting Add item. As you add items, the invoice tallies the total.

You can also alter the layout of your invoice. Click on the gearbox to display some of the columns that by default display the contact.

Associate Time Entries

If you are currently working with a contact that you are making the invoice for, and you have unbilled time or WIP, you can also associate time entries to an invoice from here. Click Add saved time to view time entries for this contact. This is your work in progress or WIP.

In the menu, click as many time entries that make sense - usually around a single line item. Once you’ve made your selection, click Invoice Entries.

Ok, let’s cover the other invoice options at the bottom.

Single Line Invoice

Switch Single Line Invoice to create an invoice that shows only a description and the totals due.

Add Client Note

To add a Client Note, switch the Client Note toggle to green.

Terms & Conditions

To include Terms and Conditions, switch the Terms and Conditions toggle to green.

Now that your invoice is ready to send, click Preview.

This is where you can see what the invoice looks like. Review to make sure everything looks accurate. You can also view the linked time by clicking on the clock icon. This could be the time you just added to the invoice or the time added from the WIP reports.

Alternatively, you can create the invoice and choose to save, download or print it. 

When you’re ready to send, Click Send.

After the invoice is sent, the contact is notified via email and in their client portal. In the email, they can see the invoice, the amount due, and a link to the invoice.

For you as the practitioner, you can find the invoice:

1. Under Billing
2. Click Invoices

Here you can see your invoices billed to the contacts.

Create Invoices from Client Record

One more thing - 

You can create invoices from the Contact record page as well. Under a Contact’s Record, click the Billing tab. Here you’ll see a basic report of the financial activity between you and the contact. As you can see, it looks just like the overall Invoices dashboard but filtered down for this contact.

And wouldn’t you know, here is where you can create a new invoice.