Creating an invoice is the first step for billing your clients. Invoices indicate when there’s a balance due for a client, and outlines the amount they owe for services or products rendered. This guide covers how invoices will be used to track client balances.

Note: For more information about the billing process, see Using the client Billing Overview page.

In this guide, we'll cover:

• Invoice creation
• Fee adjustment invoices
• Sending past due invoices
• Adding products to an invoice
• Adding appointment descriptions to invoices
• Deleting invoices
• FAQs

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Invoice creation

There are several ways to create invoices, and you have the flexibility to handle these processes automatically or manage them manually as needed.

Important: Until an appointment is invoiced, it's considered Uninvoiced. Once an invoice is generated, the Uninvoiced amount transfers to the Client Balance, giving a record of what your client owes.

Managing your invoice creation settings

You can manage your invoice generation settings by navigating to Settings > Billing and Services. From here you can select the option that's right for your practice:

• Daily: Automatically create invoices at the end of each day. (Recommended)
• Monthly: Automatically create invoices on the first day of each month.
• Manually: Do not automate invoices. (Only recommended for practices with complex billing workflows)

By default, invoices are set to automatically generate on a daily basis. With this setting, an invoice will be created overnight if a client has been seen for an appointment. As a best practice, we recommend keeping this setting as is so that invoices are generated regularly for your clients.

You also have the option to manually generate invoices or set them to auto-generate on a monthly basis. We advise that these options are only used for practices with complex billing workflows.

Creating an invoice from the Calendar flyout

If you collect payment and record it at the time of an appointment, you can add a payment and generate an invoice at the same time from the Calendar flyout. To do this:

• Select the correct appointment in the calendar
• Click Create Invoice & Add Payment

This will generate the invoice and prompt you to add the payment. For more information on adding a payment, see Navigating client payments.

If you'd prefer to view and customize the invoice before applying payment, you can click Create Invoice.

Note: If you manually create invoices for an appointment, a duplicate invoice won’t be created for that appointment, even with automatic invoicing set up for your practice.

Creating an invoice from a client's Overview page

If you've decided to generate invoices monthly or manually, you'll want to periodically create an invoice of all uninvoiced appointments. To do this:

• Navigate to the client's Overview page
• Click Uninvoiced

• Select the date(s) of service
• Click Create Invoice

Your invoice will appear with all outstanding appointments listed and you can edit it as needed. Once the client has made the correct payment, the invoice will get marked as Paid.

Note: Partially paid invoices won't be marked as Paid.

Creating an invoice from a client's Billing page

If you're reviewing a client's Billing page and see that an appointment is missing an invoice, you can create one directly from this page. To do this:

• Click Manage next to the uninvoiced appointment
• Select Create invoice or Create invoice and add payment if the client has already paid

• If you choose Create invoice, review the invoice and click Save
• If you choose Create invoice and add payment, you'll be prompted to add the payment

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Fee adjustment invoices

If an appointment's fee changes after it's already been invoiced, clicking Uninvoiced will create a fee adjustment invoice. 

A fee adjustment invoice is a record of a change to an appointment's fee and will balance out the charge. To avoid fee adjustment invoices, we recommend editing the appointment fee before the end of the day if you have invoice automation enabled.

If you need to change the fee of an appointment with an existing invoice and the client hasn't paid yet, we recommend:

• Deleting the invoice
• Editing the fee
• Creating a new invoice

Note: For more information, see Appointment level billing changes.

If the client has already paid the original invoice and the fee is reduced, see How do I update an appointment’s fee if it’s already paid?

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Sending past due invoices

In your Billing and Services settings, you can indicate when an invoice is considered past due. This will help you stay up-to-date with your billing and identify which invoices need your attention the most.

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Adding products to an invoice

Products are non-appointment items you can add to invoices to charge a client. It can include anything from books, workshops, service charges, an initial balance, etc.

Note: To learn more about setting up your product list, see Adding a product.

You can add a product as a line item to any unpaid invoice, or create standalone invoices for products. The product fee will reflect on the client’s overall balance.

Adding a product to an invoice

To add a product to an invoice:

• Open the unpaid invoice
  
• Click More > Edit

Note: If the invoice is already marked as paid, you can delete it and recreate a new one. New invoices can be edited before they're saved.

• Click + Add Line Item

• Click + Add for the product you want to add 
  • You can add as many as you need
• Click the X when you’re done adding products

• After the product has been added to the invoice, you can make edits to the amount or description, as needed

• Click Save

Creating an invoice for products only

There may be times where you need to create invoices for non-appointment fees only. In these cases, you can create stand-alone invoices to charge your client for products only.

Note: To learn more about how to add billable products to your account, see Adding a product.

To create an invoice for products only:

• Navigate to the client's Billing page
• Select New > Invoice
• Click Create Blank Invoice

Note: You'll only see 0 uninvoiced appointments if all existing appointments in the time frame are already invoiced. If all existing appointments aren't already invoiced, create invoices for those appointments first.

• Click + Add Line Item
• Select + Add for each Product you want to add to the invoice
  
  • Click the X when you're done
• After the product has been added to the invoice, you can make edits to the amount or description as needed
• Click Save

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Adding appointment descriptions to invoices

You have multiple options for how services display on invoices. To choose how you'd like to display this information by default:

• Navigate to Settings > Billing and Services
• Under Invoice Settings select either
  • Use Professional Services
  • Use Appointment Service and Description

By default, invoices will display all appointment types as Professional Services when the invoice is generated.

This general description is used on the invoice billing document to help protect client privacy since more descriptive appointment information is generally required only on superbills.

You can also customize this description to be anything you wish. To do this:

• If you haven't saved the invoice, click into the text field and edit as needed
• If you have saved the invoice, click More > Edit and then edit the text field as needed

If you'd prefer to have the full service code description display on the invoice, go to Settings > Billing & Services and select Use Appointment Service and Description under Invoice Settings. 

Note: You can always edit invoices individually after you generate them.

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Deleting invoices

Invoices can be deleted at any time.

Important: We don't recommend deleting paid invoices, as when an invoice is deleted, any payment associated with it becomes unallocated. If an appointment's fee has changed, we recommend editing the appointment's details instead and creating a new invoice for the adjusted fee. If a paid invoice was deleted, you can create a new invoice and allocate the payment to it. For more information, see How do I update an appointment's fee if it's already paid?

To delete an invoice:

• Click the invoice to view it
• Click More > Delete

• Click Delete Invoice

Important: Deleted invoices and other deleted documents can't be retrieved. Make sure to download the document as a PDF before deleting to keep it for your records. 

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FAQs

• Do I need to use invoices?
• Can I add sales tax to an invoice?
• Can I add a credit card processing fee to an invoice?
• Can I update the address that displays on client invoices?
• How do I update an appointment's fee if it's already paid?

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Do I need to use invoices?

In order to use the billing features of SimplePractice, you'll need to use invoices. Invoices are required in order to indicate that you've billed a client. If invoices aren't created for a session, the session fee won't be part of the client's balance and payments will result in a credit balance.

You don't have to send these invoices to clients. They can remain in SimplePractice to indicate you've billed the client.

Important: Invoices can't be turned off.

While you aren’t able to disable billing in SimplePractice, you can set your service rates to $0 so that clients don’t accrue a balance. This can be done at a practice-wide level, or on a client-by-client basis.

To do this for your entire practice:

• Navigate to Settings > Billing & Services > Services
• Click each service and set the Rate to $0

• Click Save for each service

To do this for a specific client:

• Navigate to the client’s Overview page
• Click Edit > Billing and Insurance
• Scroll down to the bottom of the screen
• Set their Client Default Service rate to $0

Note: For more information about managing service codes for your practice, see Creating and using service codes and products.

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Can I add sales tax to an invoice?

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Can I add a credit card processing fee to an invoice?

Some customers choose to pass credit card processing fees to their clients. This practice, known as surcharging, is illegal in some states and limited in others. 

Important: Card network rules impose detailed requirements for these types of fees, and some states prohibit them altogether. It's important to verify applicable laws and card network rules, before charging a transaction or processing fee to a cardholder.  

Creating a credit card processing fee as a product

To add the processing fee to a client invoice:

• Navigate to Settings > Billing and Services > Products
• Enter a name for the fee such as Credit Card Processing Fee or Credit Card Surcharge

• Enter a fixed price
  • There isn't a way to add a percentage, however you can easily change the processing fee when adding it to an invoice. We'll cover this below. 
• Return to the client's Billing page and open the invoice, or create a new invoice for the session if one isn't already created
• Click Edit in the upper right corner
  • If you don't see an edit button, check if the invoice displays a green Paid stamp. If it does, you'll want to delete and recreate the invoice
• Click Add Line Item just below the session fee on the invoice. A menu will pop up that allows you to select the product
• Click +Add next to the processing fee

• Adjust the Amount field if needed and click Save at the top of the invoice   

Is it legal?

We recommend that you consult a lawyer; however, we can provide some background information on these laws, which are generally referred to as state “surcharge bans.” The scope of surcharge bans vary by state, but generally prohibits a merchant from imposing an additional fee on a cardholder in the relevant state for the privilege of using a credit card.  

State surcharge laws frequently change, so it’s up to providers to be aware of their state laws before charging fees to cardholders. 

Important: This is general information only and we don't intend for you to use any of it as legal advice or guidance, nor do we intend for you to use it in lieu of seeking appropriate legal counsel. 

Is it compliant with card network rules?

We recommend consulting a lawyer or your merchant acquirer. However, we note that the card network rules include detailed requirements on how and when a merchant may charge such fees to cardholders. These rules are separate from the state surcharge bans discussed above. 

For example, Visa Rules and Policy include detailed requirements and restrictions that apply to three distinct categories of transaction fees: a surcharge, a convenience fee, and a service fee. These rules require, depending on the fee type, notification to Visa and that the merchant inquire as to the fee, limitations on fee amounts, disclosure requirements, and other obligations and prohibitions. 

Because card network rules frequently change, it's up to providers to be aware of the applicable card network rules before charging fees to cardholders. 

Important: This is general information only and we don't intend for you to use any of it as legal advice or guidance, nor do we intend for you to use it in lieu of seeking appropriate legal counsel. 

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Can I update the address that displays on client invoices?

You can choose which address you’d like to display on your client invoices. To do this:

• Navigate to Settings > My Practice > Locations
• Scroll down to Billing Addresses
• Click Edit next to Client Billing

• Use the dropdown menu to choose which address you’d like to display on your insurance claims and client facing billing documents such as client invoices, statements, and superbills
  
  • You can choose an address that’s already listed in your account or add a new one
• Click Save

Note: To learn more about managing your office locations, see Adding office locations.

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How do I update an appointment's fee if it's already paid?

There are times when a client's responsibility is reduced after the appointment has already been invoiced and paid. Oftentimes, an electronic payment report (ERA) will update a client's responsibility. Deleting a paid invoice will result in an unallocated client payment. To avoid this, we recommend keeping the fee adjustment invoice as a record of the billing adjustment that took place.

If an appointment's fee has been reduced after being invoiced and paid, follow these steps to record the billing adjustment:  

• Refund the payment to the original invoice, which will mark the invoice as unpaid
• Adjust the client responsibility to the reduced amount
• Create a fee adjustment invoice
  • The amount of the fee adjustment invoice will be the difference between what was paid and the reduced amount

• Return to the original invoice and click Add Payment
• Apply the available credit
• Charge the client the remaining balance

The original invoice will be paid in full and will reflect the credit that was applied. 

If an appointment's fee has been increased after being invoiced and paid, follow these steps to record the billing adjustment:

• Adjust the client responsibility to the increased amount
• Create a fee adjustment invoice for the remaining amount

• Open the new invoice and click Add Payment

The fee adjustment invoice will reflect that the increased amount has been paid.