Invoices and quotes

When a client says yes, Klaudius writes the invoice: a PDF attached to a ready-to-send email in your own mailbox's drafts folder, addressed to the client. You check it and press send; Klaudius never sends it itself.

Sending an invoice

Ask Klaudius to invoice the client, or on the Runs page choose Send an invoice under Client add-ons, pick the client and press Start. In Pipeline, a business's Add-ons button opens the same picker with that client chosen.

Klaudius already knows the client's details and the price you quoted. Give it an amount only if you're billing something else, such as a deposit or an add-on. If the price on file differs from the one your pitch named, it asks which is right.

Before anything is written, it shows you the whole invoice to confirm: who it's billed to, the line items, the tax arithmetic, the currency and the due date (14 days unless you say otherwise). Your mailbox needs to be connected, since that's where the draft goes. If you charge VAT or GST, see VAT and GST.

Your first invoice

The first time, Klaudius asks about your business in one message: the name you invoice under (plus your company number if you're a registered company), your address, whether you charge VAT or sales tax, and how clients pay you. It remembers the answers. A registered company can be looked up in your country's public company register, with the details offered for you to confirm.

Nothing on an invoice is invented: a detail you didn't give doesn't appear. To change your bank details, address or tax rate later, tell Klaudius; invoices already issued stay as they were. In Switzerland or Liechtenstein, Klaudius also offers to add a QR-bill payment slip, which works with an ordinary IBAN.

Numbers and records

Invoice numbers run in sequence and are never reused. A correction gets a fresh invoice with the next number and a line saying which one it replaces. You can cancel an unpaid invoice: its number stays used, and any pay-by-card link on it stops working. A paid invoice is never cancelled; it's corrected with a new invoice or a credit. Your database records every invoice and quote: what was billed, when it was due and when it was paid.

When the client pays

A payment through the invoice's pay-by-card link (see Card payments with Stripe) records itself at the next follow-up round. For a bank transfer, tell Klaudius ("Acme paid"). Either way the invoice is marked paid and the client converted. Ask "who still owes me?" any time.

When an invoice passes its due date, the next follow-up round writes a short, friendly reminder. It appears in the Follow-ups tab of your Inbox marked Payment reminder, and Save to Drafts puts it in your mailbox for you to send. Telling Klaudius when you've sent an invoice is optional, but it lets reminders tell an overdue invoice from one that never went out.

Quotes

A quote is for a client who wants the price in writing first (in German-speaking countries a written Angebot or Offerte is how buying works), a scope beyond the standard build, or a monthly arrangement. If a client is happy with the price you pitched, invoice them instead.

Choose Send a quote under Client add-ons, or ask Klaudius to quote the client. It works like an invoice: one message to confirm, a PDF titled in the local word for a quote, and a draft in your mailbox. Quotes have their own number series, are valid for 30 days unless you say otherwise, and carry no bank details or pay link. A monthly element, such as hosting, gets its own line with its period. When the client accepts, tell Klaudius: it drafts the invoice for the one-off part and sets up any monthly line as a monthly fee.

Read more on the blog: A bespoke PDF invoice and a ready-to-send email.