# Create an invoice

> Start a draft, add your customer and line items, and see how BillingMart works out the totals before you send.

Source: https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/create-an-invoice
Updated: 2026-10-17 · Applies to: Web · Section: Invoices & estimates

A new invoice starts as a draft. A draft is saved and you can keep editing it, but it has no invoice number yet and it does not count as a send. You choose a customer, set the dates, add line items, and BillingMart works out the totals.

## Start a draft

1. Open **Invoices** and select **New invoice**. Owners, admins and staff can do this.
2. Choose the customer. Type a name to search, or select **Add new customer** to add one in a side panel without leaving the invoice. (The word follows the wording of your business type, so you may see "Client".) If your workspace has more than one business, choose the **Business** too.
3. Check the dates. **Invoice date** starts as today in your workspace time zone. **Terms** sets the due date for you: **Due on receipt**, **Net 15**, **Net 30**, **Net 60**, or your business's own terms. Type a **Due date** yourself and it stays put. The due date cannot be before the invoice date.
4. Add line items (below). Fill in **Details** if your business type has them. See [Custom fields on invoices and estimates](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/custom-fields.md).
5. Add a **Message on invoice**, which prints on the invoice, and **Terms and conditions** if you want them.
6. Select **Save**. You see "Draft created". The number shows **Assigned when sent**.

The customer, the business and the language are fixed once the draft exists. The language starts as the customer's preference. To change one of these, start a new draft. **Duplicate** in the invoice's row menu copies the lines and details into a new draft where you can choose a different customer.

## Line items

Each line has a **Product or service**, a **Description**, **Qty**, **Rate**, an **Amount** that BillingMart fills in, and **Tax**. Pick a product or service to fill in its rate, or select **Add new product or service**. Select **Add line** for more.

- A line must have a description. Quantity can have up to three decimals and must be more than zero.
- A rate is zero or more. The console form does not take negative lines. For money owed back to a customer, see [Credit notes and adjustments](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/credit-notes.md).
- The rate type can be **Fixed**, **Hourly**, **Daily**, **Weekly**, **Monthly**, **Per unit**, **Per mile**, **Per km** or **% of subtotal**.
- A **% of subtotal** line is a share of all the other, priced lines added together, after their own discounts. It is not a share of another percentage line.
- Select **Discount** on a line to take a percentage off that line, from 0 to 100.

## How the totals work

Tax is not a line. Each line is **Taxable**, **Exempt**, **Zero-rated** or **Reverse charge**. A taxable line uses the tax rate saved on your business, or its own **Tax %** if your business type taxes per line. The tax is added up and shown as its own **Tax** row.

The totals show **Subtotal**, **Includes discount** when there is one, **Tax**, **Total** and **Amount due**. **Paid** and **Credits applied** appear once something is paid or credited.

All money is kept in whole units of the currency's smallest part, such as cents, and each figure is rounded to that. The totals beside the form are a preview. When you save and when you send, the server works the totals out again from your lines, and its figure is the one that counts.

## Deposits and retainage

The invoice form has no deposit or retainage fields. They are set on a job, on the plans that include jobs. An invoice made from a job says "Part of job" at the top, with a link.

## Good to know

- Select **Print or preview** for a PDF. It saves your changes first.
- If someone else saves the draft while you have it open, you see "This invoice was changed after you opened it". Choose **Reload** or **Keep mine**.
- The console has no delete button for a saved draft. An unsent draft costs nothing, so you can leave it. See [Change, void or delete an invoice](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/change-void-or-delete-an-invoice.md).
- When you are ready, see [Send an invoice](https://support.billingmart.com/invoices/send-an-invoice.md).