How to create and send an invoice

Creating an invoice from tracked time entries and expenses, reviewing and adjusting it, and sending it to your client.

Written By Matti Parviainen

Last updated About 1 month ago

Before you start

Make sure the following are in place:

  • Time entries are tracked (and approved). The invoice pulls from time entries in the selected billing period. If your organization uses approval flows, entries should be approved before invoicing.

  • Optional: Billable expenses are added. Any project expenses you want to include should already be recorded against the project.

  • Invoicing settings are configured on the company. Invoicing configuration (your company name, address, tax rates, payment terms, etc.) is set at the company level, not the organization level. If your organization has multiple companies — for example, a Finnish entity and a UK entity — each has its own invoicing setup.

  • The project has a client with contact details. The invoice is addressed to the project's client. Make sure the client has an address and contact person set up.

Step 1: Navigate to the project's invoicing section

Open the project you want to invoice. Scroll down to the Invoicing section on the project detail page. Here you'll see:

  • The project's invoicing schedule (if one is set), showing upcoming and past invoices

  • Any previously created invoices for this project

  • A button to create a new invoice

If you've set up an invoicing schedule (monthly, custom, etc.), the upcoming invoice dates are visible here.

Step 2: Create a new invoice

Click Create invoice. Operating presents you with the time entries and billable expenses from the billing period.

For time-and-materials projects: Operating shows all un-invoiced time entries for the period. Each time entry's value is calculated from the tracked hours multiplied by the applicable billing rate (from the rate card or position-specific rate). Billable expenses are listed separately.

For fixed-price projects with a custom invoicing schedule: The invoice amount is based on the schedule you've defined. You can still review and adjust line items.

What Operating does automatically

  • Groups time entries into line items (typically by person or by task, depending on your settings)

  • Calculates amounts based on tracked hours and billing rates

  • Includes billable expenses as separate line items

  • Applies the tax rate configured for the company

  • Sets the invoice date, period, and due date based on your payment terms

Step 3: Review line items

Before finalizing, review every line item carefully. Mistakes in sent invoices can be awkward and time-consuming to fix.

Check that:

  • The billing period is correct. Make sure the date range covers the work you intend to invoice.

  • All expected time entries are included. If entries are missing, they may not have been approved yet, or they may fall outside the selected period.

  • Hours and rates look right. Each line item shows the person, hours tracked, billing rate, and total. Verify these match your expectations.

  • Expenses are correctly included. Billable expenses should appear as separate line items. Non-billable expenses are excluded automatically.

Adjusting prices on line items

You can adjust the price of individual line items during invoice creation. This is useful when:

  • You've agreed to a discount with the client

  • You need to cap hours at a maximum amount

  • You want to round amounts for cleaner totals

Important: Price adjustments on the invoice do not change the underlying time entries or earned revenue figures. The adjustment only affects the invoiced amount. This means "invoiced revenue" and "earned revenue" may differ for this project — this is by design and is normal in consulting billing.

Step 4: Add any notes or references

Add relevant information to the invoice:

  • PO number if your client requires one for payment processing

  • Invoice notes for any additional context (e.g., project phase, contract reference)

  • Description to help the client understand what's being billed

Step 5: Finalize the invoice

Once you're satisfied with the invoice:

  1. Review the total amount including tax.

  2. Check the due date is correct for your payment terms.

  3. Save the invoice. At this point, Operating marks the included time entries as invoiced. Those time entries will no longer appear as un-invoiced in future billing cycles.

The invoice is now in Ready to send status.

Step 6: Send the invoice

From the invoice view, you can:

  • Download as PDF to send manually via email or upload to your accounting system

  • Download work breakdown PDF

  • Send directly from Operating if your organization has email sending configured (currently in Beta)

The invoice is addressed to the client contact person associated with the project.

After sending

Once sent, the invoice appears in the project's invoicing timeline with its status. You can track which invoices are sent and which are outstanding.

If you need to make corrections after sending, you can create a credit note linked to the original invoice rather than modifying the sent invoice. Credit notes show which invoice they belong to, making the invoicing timeline easy to follow.

Invoicing across multiple projects for the same client

An invoice can include work from multiple projects — as long as they belong to the same client and the same company. This is common when a client has several active projects and you want to send a single consolidated invoice rather than one per project.

Setting up invoicing schedules

To avoid creating invoices from scratch each month, set up an invoicing schedule for the project:

  1. Go to the project detail page → Invoicing section

  2. Choose a schedule type: Monthly, Weekly, or Custom

  3. For custom schedules, define the invoice stages with your own dates and amounts — useful for upfront payments, phased billing, or non-standard contracts

The schedule creates a cadence for invoice generation, so you can see upcoming invoices and prepare for each billing cycle. Custom invoicing schedules are especially useful for fixed-price projects where you want to invoice in stages that don't align with calendar months.

Marking time entries as invoiced without using Operating's invoicing

If your organization creates invoices in an external system (an accounting tool, for example) but tracks time in Operating, you can bulk-mark time entries as invoiced from the Time Entries directory. This keeps your data clean by preventing those entries from appearing as un-invoiced.

Go to the Time Entries list, select the relevant entries, and use the bulk action to mark them as invoiced.

Note: There is no undo for this action. Once entries are marked as invoiced, they stay that way.

Tips for a smooth invoicing process

Build a monthly routine. The most common invoicing cadence is monthly. At the start of each month, invoice the previous month's work. Combine this with timesheet approval: approve timesheets first, then create invoices from the approved entries.

Review before creating, not after. It's easier to fix time entries (wrong project, wrong task, missing hours) before they're included in an invoice than to create credit notes afterward.

Use the project Status section. The project detail page shows earned revenue, invoiced revenue, and the difference between them. This helps you catch projects that haven't been invoiced on time or where invoiced amounts are falling behind earned revenue.

Check the invoicing section regularly. The project's invoicing timeline gives you a clear picture of what's been sent and what's upcoming. When all invoices for the past period have been sent, you can move on with confidence.

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