How to send an invoice
An invoice starts as a draft only your team can see, then goes out by email with a pay button on it. This guide walks the whole path, from the Create Invoice button to a paid line in the list.
Start the invoice
Where to clickInvoicesCreate Invoice
Press Invoices in the left sidebar, then press Create Invoice at the top right of the list.
Nothing goes to the customer yet. Everything on the next screen lands in a draft you can still change.
Say who it is for
Where to clickCreate InvoiceJobDue Date
The New Invoice form opens with Job at the top. Search for the job you just finished and Pillar takes the customer from it.
If that job was quoted, the estimate’s line items load into the invoice on their own. For work with no job behind it, tick This invoice isn’t attached to a job and pick the customer instead.
Due Date sits under the job picker and is optional. Set one and the invoice moves itself to overdue once that date passes.
Add the work and the tax
Where to clickLine ItemsSelect from CatalogCreate Invoice
Line Items takes one row per thing you are billing: description, quantity, price. Press Select from Catalog to pull a priced item out of your price book, or Add Line Item and type your own.
Tax Rate (%) carries an Auto-calculate tick box, which fills the rate from the customer’s ZIP code or from the estimate the job was quoted on. Untick it to type your own rate.
Notes (visible to customer) print on the customer portal and the PDF. Internal Notes stay with your team.
Press Create Invoice at the bottom of the form. Pillar saves the draft and opens it.
Send it to the customer
Where to clickInvoicesopen the draftEmail Invoice to Customer
A draft cannot be paid. Open it from Invoices in the left sidebar and use one of the two buttons at the top of the invoice.
Email Invoice to Customer is the normal path, and its tooltip reads “Emails the invoice to the customer”. The email carries the invoice number, the total, the due date, your notes, the branded PDF, and a View & Pay Invoice button that opens the invoice in your customer portal.
Mark as Sent — No Email makes the same invoice payable without contacting anyone, for the job you were paid for on the spot. Both buttons stay disabled until the invoice has at least one line item.
Either button moves the invoice out of draft and into unpaid. Collecting the money is its own guide: how to take payments through Pillar.
Track it to paid
Where to clickInvoicesthe Status column
Back on Invoices, the Status column says where each invoice stands: draft, unpaid, partially paid, paid, overdue, or void. The cards above the list count what is unpaid, part paid, paid, and overdue.
An unpaid invoice moves to overdue by itself once its due date passes, and a payment moves it to partially paid or paid without you touching it. You can also set a status by hand from the More menu on the invoice.
Editing closes as soon as the invoice is sent, so make changes while it is a draft with Edit invoice in that same menu. Download PDF gives you the file the customer received, whenever you need it.
Common questions
Can I edit an invoice after I send it?
Only drafts can be edited, from Edit invoice in the More menu, so make your changes before you send. After that you can void it and raise a new one.
Do I need a job to raise an invoice?
No. Tick "This invoice isn’t attached to a job" on the New Invoice form and pick the customer instead.
What if the customer has no email address?
Email Invoice to Customer still makes the invoice payable, but there is no address to send it to, so nothing goes out. Add the email to their customer record first, then send.
Can I bill one big job in stages?
Yes. Tick Progress Billing on the New Invoice form and name each billing step with its percentage, and Pillar raises one invoice per step once the steps total 100 percent.
Does the customer get a PDF?
Yes. The branded PDF is attached to the email, and Download PDF on the invoice gives you the same file.