Send and Track Invoices

Once an invoice is ready, getting it to your client is the easy part. 

Docket lets you send invoices individually or in batches, track whether they've been opened, and follow up on anything that's gone unpaid.

This gives you an easy way to stay on top of what's been sent, opened, and paid, and what still needs a nudge.

Before You Start

Here are a few things to know before you continue:

• Depending on your permissions, you may not be able to perform all of the functions listed in this article. Please reach out to your Admin if you require additional access.
• Your client must have an email address or phone number saved in their profile's Primary Contact section in order to receive an invoice.
• If you've enabled the Share Invoice Automatically setting in your Billing Settings, Docket will send invoices to clients immediately upon creation.

Automatically Send Invoices

Docket gives you two ways to automatically send invoices to clients without going through the manual send steps: 

1. A global account setting that applies to every invoice in your account.
2. A per-invoice toggle you can use as needed to override the account setting.

Which option is right for you depends on your billing process and how much control you need over when invoices are sent to clients.

Global Share Setting

In your Billing Settings, there's a Share Invoice Automatically setting that is turned OFF by default. 

If you turn this on, Docket will send an invoice to its associated client the moment it's created without your team needing to do anything.

We recommend keeping this setting disabled so you have the ability to review and edit an invoice as needed prior to sending it to your client.

Per-Invoice Share Toggle

When you're creating an invoice, you'll see an Automations section at the bottom with a Share toggle. Turning it on tells Docket to send that specific invoice to the client as soon as you click one of the "Create" buttons.

This toggle works independently of the account-wide setting and you can use it to override the setting for any invoice as needed.

This is useful when you have exceptions to your billing workflow, such as when you'd normally review invoices before sending, but you occasionally create invoices that need to be sent immediately.

TIP: The Share toggle in the invoice editor will match your account setting by default. So if the account setting is off, the Share toggle will also be off.

Manually Send a Single Invoice

After an invoice is created and reviewed, sending it to your client takes just a few clicks.

There are 3 places in Docket that you can send an invoice from:

1. The Invoices page.
   
   
2. The client's profile.
   
   
3. The invoice itself.
   
   

To send an invoice to a client, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on "Send Invoice" from one of the above options.
2. Click "OK" or "Share Invoice" on the prompt that appears.
   
   
   
   If a client's Primary Contact section in their profile is missing an email address or phone number, you'll see a warning on the prompt that appears.
   
   

After sending an invoice, the Invoices page will show you the updated delivery details in the Send To Client column.

TIP: There's an Invoice Sent notification that has an Attach PDF option in your account's Notifications settings. If you turn it on, a PDF will be automatically attached to the email Docket sends to your clients.

Download and Print Invoices

If you need to send a physical invoice to a client, you can download and print the invoice as a PDF instead of sending it through Docket.

To do that, just follow the instructions below:

1. Open the invoice you want to download/print.
2. Click "Actions" in the top right.
3. Click "Print" or "Download PDF" depending on your needs.
   
   

You'll now be able to print or otherwise share the invoice PDF with your client as needed.

Manually Send Multiple Invoices

If you have a batch of invoices ready to go out at the same time, Batch Send lets you select and send them all in one go instead of handling each one separately.

There are 3 places in Docket that you can send an invoice from:

1. The Invoices page.
   
   
2. The client's profile.
   
   
3. The invoice itself. 
   
   

To do that, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on "Invoices" from the left-hand menu.
2. Click on the "Actions" button at the top of the page.
3. Click on "Batch Send" from the menu that appears.
   
   
4. Check the box next to each invoice you'd like to send.
5. Click the "Send" button at the top of the list.
   
   
   
   All of the the selected invoices will immediately be sent to their associated clients and the Invoices page will refresh with the updated delivery details for each invoice you sent.
6. Click "Cancel" at the top to exit the batch mode.
   
   

Resend an Invoice

If a client says they never received their invoice, or if you updated the invoice after sending it, you can resend it to the client.

To resend an invoice to a client, just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on "Resend Invoice" from one of the above options.
2. Click "Share Invoice" on the prompt that appears.
   
   
   
   If a client's Primary Contact section in their profile is missing an email address or phone number, you'll see a warning on the prompt that appears.
   
   

After resending an invoice, the Invoices page will display the updated delivery details in the Send To Client column.

Please Note: Resending an invoice automatically changes the email subject line from "You have a new invoice" to "You have an updated invoice." This happens even if you didn't make any changes to the invoice itself.

Track and Follow Up on Sent Invoices

After you send an invoice, the Send To Client column on the Invoices page updates to show you the delivery status for each invoice. 

You'll also see the invoice's Due Date and Balance Due at a glance; these both turn red when an invoice is overdue.

The Delivered and Read columns help you figure out if the client successfully received their invoice and signed it to accept the charges. 

If the Delivered status says "failed," you can reach out to your client to confirm you have the correct contact information on file. 

Request Payment

If an invoice has been sitting unpaid and you want to prompt your client to take action, resending them the invoice is a good start.

It's also a good idea to track your clients' pattern of inconsistent/late payments so you can decide whether you want to work with them in the future.

The Request Payment button is a separate option inside an open invoice and you can use it to track your clients' behavior around their invoice and payment history.

Every time you record a payment request, a note is logged in the Payment Requests section in that client's profile. 

Those records persist even after the client pays which gives you a clear audit trail if you ever need to show how many times you reached out before a payment was made.

TIP: The Description you add to the payment request doesn't appear to the client. The client will, however, see a Payment Request notification on the top of their Client Dashboard.

If a client consistently requires multiple follow-ups before paying, the Payment Requests tab is a useful place to document that pattern. It can also be helpful during year-end financial reviews.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@yourdocket.com!