How We Can Help: Your Guide to Invoice Application
Welcome aboard! We built Invoice Application because we know UK tradespeople have better things to do than spend their evenings buried in paperwork. This is your complete, offline first tool for getting quotes out fast and getting paid even faster.
Whether you’re just setting things up or trying to troubleshoot a hiccup, we’ve got you.
Getting Your Account Ready
Taking a few minutes to set up your profile now will have you looking ultra professional. Here’s the best way to get started:
1. Your Brand (Company Profile)
Your invoices should look as professional as your work.
- Head over to More → Company Profile.
- Choose your profile type (Ltd Company or Sole Trader), drop in your business name, address, company registration number, email and phone number (all optional of course).
- Upload your company logo. Once you do this, your branding will automatically show up on every PDF you send.
2. Bring in Your Clients
- Tap on Clients, then Add Client.
- To save time, you can pull details straight from your phone’s contact list, or type them in manually.
- Pro tip: Don’t forget to add billing addresses so your final documents look sharp.
3. Build Your Item Catalog
- Go to Items → Add Item.
- Set up the services and materials you use most often with their standard prices. Don’t worry, you can always tweak the price for your extra special clients later!
4. Set Your Accounting Preferences
- Navigate to More → Accounting Preferences.
- Pick your financial year-end date so your reporting aligns perfectly when tax season rolls around.
- Pick your default VAT rate, this will apply to all items you add to your invoice (but dont worry, you can also override this per item if you desire).
- If you’re on the flat rate scheme simple enable the Toggle and we’ll take care of the calcuations.
- You can also configure your Invoice Details
🛠 Your Day-to-Day Features
Managing Invoices
Writing a New Invoice
- Tap New Invoice right from your dashboard.
- Pick your client and start adding items from your catalog (or write up new ones on the fly).
- We’ll handle the VAT calculations for you automatically, but always be sure to double check.
- Take a quick look at the preview to make sure everything is perfect.
Sending it Off
- Tap Generate PDF.
- You can fire it off to your client via email, WhatsApp, or whatever app you prefer. Your logo and details will be right there.
- Every invoice saves locally to your phone, keeping your history organized.
Getting Paid
- When the money hits your bank, open the invoice and mark it as Paid.
- You can easily filter your list by Draft, Issued, or Paid so you always know exactly who owes you what.
Quoting & Estimates
Drafting an Estimate
- Head to Estimates and tap New Estimate, choose your client, and add your line items. We save these as drafts locally so you can work on them at your own pace.
Winning the Job (Converting to Invoice)
- Once the client says yes, open the saved estimate.
- Just swipe left and tap Convert to Invoice. All the details carry over instantly, but you can still make adjustments before sending it out.
Tracking Expenses & Receipts
We know losing receipts is a nightmare at tax time. Let’s fix that.
Logging an Expense
- Go to Expenses → Add Expense.
- Pick the right category (Fuel, Materials, Travel, etc.) and enter the date and amount.
- Snap and attach up to 5 photos per expense.
Seeing the Big Picture
- Check out your expense summaries by category to see where your money is going, and easily export the whole lot for your accountant.
Your Data and Privacy
We believe your business is your business. Here’s how we protect your data:
- 100% Offline & Private: We don’t use cloud servers. All your invoices, client details, pricing margins, and receipt photos live exclusively on your phone.
- Military-Grade Security: Your data is locked down using SQLCipher encryption.
- No Tracking & No Subscriptions: We don’t harvest your data, and we don’t charge monthly fees. You bought the app, and it’s yours to use.
Handoff to Your Accountant
When it’s time to do the books:
- CSV Export: Go to Reports → Export CSV. This file contains every transaction, categorized expense, and VAT calculation. Just email it straight to your accountant.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of the App
- Work Anywhere: Because we’re totally offline, you can write up a quote in a customer’s basement or out in the country where there’s zero cell service.
- Swipe to Move Fast: Try swiping left on items in your lists, it’s the quickest way to edit or delete.
- Always Snap a Pic: Make it a habit to photograph receipts immediately. It takes five seconds and guarantees you won’t miss out on tax deductions.
- Backup Regularly: Because your data isn’t in the cloud, make sure you export your CSV data monthly or quarterly just to be safe.
Issues? Let’s Fix It
Technical glitches are frustrating. Here’s how to resolve the most common issues fast.
General App Issues
- App won’t load: Try force closing the app and opening it again. Also, double check that your phone has at least 100MB of free storage space. If it’s still acting up, give your phone a quick restart.
- Offline worries: Remember, the app doesn’t need WiFi or cellular data at all. If something isn’t working, it isn’t an internet issue.
- Data isn’t saving: You might be out of storage space. Check your phone’s Settings to ensure you have room, and confirm that the app has permission to access your storage.
Invoices & Estimates
- Can’t generate a PDF: Make sure you’ve filled out the essentials in your Company Profile (name, address, logo) and that you actually have at least one item on the invoice.
- Can’t find a client: Try searching for their name at the top of the list. If they aren’t there, head to Clients → Add Client to bring them in or add them on the fly.
- Trying to turn an invoice into an estimate? The app only converts estimates into invoices (not the other way around). If you drafted an invoice too early, save it and start a fresh estimate.
Photos & Receipts
- Camera won’t attach photos: Head into your phone’s Settings and make sure the app is allowed to use your Camera and Photo Library. If you’re out of phone storage, or if the image files are massive, try freeing up some space.
- Blurry receipts: Give your camera lens a quick wipe, make sure you’re in decent lighting, and hold the phone straight on to avoid shadows over the text.
Exports & Settings
- CSV export is failing: Ensure you actually have some saved transactions to export, and check that your dates and amounts are formatted correctly.
- Missing expense categories: The app comes with a standard set of pre-configured categories. If you absolutely need custom ones, please reach out to our support team.
- Need to change VAT? You can update these anytime under More → Accounting Preferences.
FAQs
Do I need an internet connection?
Not at all! Every single feature works completely offline.
Is my data safe in the cloud?
Your data isn’t in the cloud, it stays safely on your device. Because of this, we highly recommend exporting your data regularly as a backup.
Can I sync this across my iPad and my phone?
Right now, data is stored per device. If you get a new phone, you can export your backup from the old phone and import it into the new one. Just be sure to remember the export password as this is needed when importing it into the new device.
Can I give one client a better rate than another?
Absolutely. Your catalog prices are just defaults. When you’re building an invoice, you can tap any item and change the price on the fly without messing up your main catalog.
I accidentally deleted an invoice! Can I get it back?
Unfortunately, no. Once it’s deleted, it’s gone forever. However, we wont allow you delete an invoice once its progressed passed the Draft stage, but dont worry you can always mark it as void once you’ve removed the attached payments.
Still Need a Hand?
If you’ve checked our common issues and you’re still stuck, please double check that you haven’t missed any required fields (they’re marked with an asterisk *) and that your phone’s operating system is up to date.
We are always working to make Invoice Application better for you. If you have an idea, a feature request, or if something isn’t working quite right, please reach out. Your feedback is what makes this tool great.
Thanks for trusting us with your business. Now let’s get you paid! 💪