Create and send an invoice

To create an invoice in Dispatch Bros, open Invoices in the left sidebar and click Create Invoice. Pick who the invoice is sent as, link a job or add a customer, add your line items, then click Send Invoice to email or text the customer a secure link — or Save Draft to finish it later. The invoice number is assigned automatically when you save.

Before you start

• You need a login with permission to create invoices (owner, admin, or technician by default — dispatchers can view invoices but not create them unless you enable it in Roles & Permissions).
• To let customers pay online by card, connect Stripe first — see Stripe Connect setup. Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App can be offered without Stripe.
• If you invoice under multiple business names, set those up first — see brand invoices per job source.

Step 1 — Open the invoice builder

1. Click Invoices in the left sidebar.
2. Click Create Invoice (top right). The builder opens with your company letterhead at the top and the number showing "Auto-generated on save".

Step 2 — Pick who the invoice is sent as

If your account has job sources, the Sending As row appears under the letterhead and a choice is required — the logo, business name, and the From/Reply-To email on the invoice all follow it. Pick a source or "My Company". When you link a job, the job's own source is picked for you automatically (you can still change it).

Skipping this shows the error "Choose who this invoice is sent as ("Sending As" at the top)." and blocks saving.

Step 3 — Link a job or add the customer

• Linked Job — search any job; the job's customer, cost, and job type pre-fill the invoice. The customer's email shows under Bill To and is used when sending.
• No job? Use the Bill To card instead: Search Existing finds a customer by name, phone, or email; Enter Manually creates a new one from the name, phone, email, and address you type. A manual phone must be 10 digits and the email must be valid (both optional).

You can also set the Issue Date, Payment Terms (number of days until due — leave blank for no due date), and an optional PO Number.

Step 4 — Add line items

The Line Items card has two modes, switchable per document and per row:

• Itemized — each row has Description, Qty, Rate, Disc%, Tax%, and a computed Amount, plus a longer description box that appears on the invoice.
• Free-form — each row is just a text box and one flat amount. Good for scope-of-work style invoices. A tax percent can still ride the row; it shows in the totals block, never on the line.

Ways to fill rows fast:

• Saved Items — pick from your catalog; the item's saved price, quantity, discount, and tax seed the row. There's a picker at the top of the card and one on every row. See Build your Items catalog.
• Use Template — appends a saved bundle of line items. See Invoice templates.
• Generate with AI — on an itemized row, type the item name and click the button to draft the customer-facing description.
• Add Line Item — adds a blank row (labeled Add line in free-form mode). Drag rows by the grip to reorder.

Step 5 — Set totals, tax, and deposit

In the totals card:

• Subtotal sums the lines. If your lines carry no prices (text-only scope of work) you can type the subtotal directly.
• Flat Discount subtracts a dollar amount.
• Tax Rate applies your document-level tax; it is hidden when any line carries its own Tax%. Your default rate comes from Invoice Settings and the last rate you used is remembered on this device.
• Total Due is what the customer owes.
• Request upon signing sets a deposit — use the 10% / 25% / 50% chips or type an amount. The customer is asked to pay exactly this when they sign.
• Card fee paid by — choose Client (your card service fee percent from Settings — or a 3% default when none is set — is added when they pay by card) or Business (no fee added).

Step 6 — Message, terms, photos, signatures

• Client Message — a personal note; it also leads the email the customer receives.
• Contract & Terms — the legal text printed on the invoice. Pick a saved contract from the dropdown or type your own; owners and admins can click Save as template to reuse it. See Attach contract terms.
• Images — attach photos with Add Images, and tick any contract files you want included.
• Signatures — toggle the Client Signature line and optionally a typed Company Signature.

Step 7 — Preview and send

1. Click Preview to see the exact document the customer will see — it renders through the same component as the public invoice page.
2. Click Send Invoice. In the send window choose Send via Email (multiple addresses and an optional Cc are supported), Send via Text, or both. The subject and message prefill from your saved email template; edit them freely.
3. The "Let client pay with a credit card" checkbox controls online card payment for this invoice. Unchecked, the invoice is sent for review only.
4. Click Send. Prefer to hold off? Save Draft stores the invoice without sending anything.

What your customer sees

The customer gets an email (and/or a text) with a button that opens their invoice on a secure public page — no login needed. There they can view, download a PDF, sign, and pay. Full walkthrough: How customers pay: the public invoice link.

Troubleshooting

• "Add at least one line item." — at least one row needs a description before you can save or send.
• "Choose who this invoice is sent as ("Sending As" at the top)." — pick a brand in the Sending As dropdown; it's mandatory whenever job sources exist.
• "Customer phone must be 10 digits." / "Customer email address is invalid." — a manually entered phone or email is malformed. Both fields are optional, but once typed they must be real.
• "Invoice saved but email failed to send" — the invoice was created, but delivery failed (usually a bad address). Open the invoice and use Resend.
• "Invoice saved but no email or phone to send to" — you chose Send but the customer has no email or phone on file. Add one under Bill To, or edit the customer, then resend.
• Leaving with unsaved work — the page asks before you leave and offers to save a draft, so a half-built invoice isn't lost.