Invoices indicate when there’s a balance due for a client and outline the amount they owe for services or products rendered. This guide covers how invoices are created in SimplePractice, including how to generate invoices from appointments, create fee adjustment invoices when fees change, update invoice dates and service descriptions, and delete invoices when needed.
In this guide, we'll cover:
- Understanding invoice creation
- Creating fee adjustment invoices
- Editing invoices
- Deleting invoices
- FAQs
Note: To learn more about the different client billing documents available in SimplePractice, see Understanding invoices, statements, and superbills.
Understanding 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 and isn’t included in the client’s overall balance. Once an invoice is generated, the Uninvoiced amount transfers to the Client Balance to give a record of what your client owes.
Creating an invoice from the calendar
If you collect payment and record it at the time of an appointment, you can create an invoice from the calendar and optionally add a payment at the same time. To do this:
- Open the appointment on the calendar
- Choose one of the following options:
- Create Invoice & Add Payment to generate the invoice and immediately record the payment
- Create Invoice to generate the invoice first and review it before adding a payment
After the invoice is created, it can also be viewed directly from the appointment flyout.
Creating an invoice from a client's profile
If you generate invoices monthly or manually, you can create an invoice that includes all uninvoiced appointments for a client. To do this:
- Navigate to the client's profile
- Click Uninvoiced in the Client billing box to the right of the client’s profile
- Select the appointments you want to include
- Click Create Invoice
The invoice will appear with all selected appointments listed, and you can edit it as needed. Once payment is applied in full, the invoice will be 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 the Billing page of a client's profile and see an appointment without an invoice, you can create one directly from that page. To do this:
- Next to the uninvoiced appointment, click Manage
- Choose one of the following options:
- Create invoice to generate the invoice and review it before saving
- Create invoice and add payment if the client has already paid
- If you select Create invoice, review the invoice and click Save
- If you select Create invoice and add payment, you'll be prompted to add the payment
After an invoice is created for an appointment, the appointment can't be deleted. You'll need to delete the invoice before you can delete the appointment.
Creating fee adjustment invoices
If an appointment’s fee changes after it’s already been invoiced, you can create a fee adjustment invoice by clicking Uninvoiced or Uninvoiced Credit on the client's profile.
Note: We've introduced Simple Invoicing to eliminate the need for fee adjustment invoices. If you currently rely on daily invoice creation, we recommend switching to this new option. For more information, see Using Simple Invoices.
A fee adjustment invoice records a change to an appointment’s fee and updates the client’s balance so it accurately reflects what they owe after the original invoice was created. To avoid fee adjustment invoices, update the appointment fee before the end of the day if invoice automation is enabled.
If the appointment already has an invoice and the client has not paid, we recommend:
Editing invoices
You can edit certain details on an invoice after it’s been created, including the issued date, due date, and service description.
Editing invoice dates
When an invoice is created, it automatically includes an Issued date and Due date.
The Issued date reflects when the invoice was created, and the Due date is determined by your Invoice Past Due setting. This is a practice-wide setting that applies to all invoices and can be viewed or updated by navigating to Settings > Client billing and insurance > Client billing documents.
If you need to update the issued or due date on an individual invoice:
- Open the invoice
- Select More > Edit in the top right corner
- Make your changes and click Save
Editing service descriptions on invoices
You can edit how a service is described on an individual invoice after it’s been created.
To update the service description on an invoice:
- Open the invoice
- Select More > Edit in the top right corner
- Edit the Description text field as needed and click Save
By default, invoices may display services as Professional Services to help protect client privacy. If you need to change how services display across all invoices, you can update your practice-wide Service description setting in Settings > Client billing and insurance > Client billing documents.
- Navigate to Settings > Client billing and insurance > Client billing documents
- Under Service description, select either Use Professional Services or Use Appointment Service and Description
- If you select Use Professional Services, invoices will display all appointment types as Professional Services when the invoice is generated
Note: For information about adding sales tax or credit card processing fees to an invoice, see Adding sales tax and processing fees to invoices.
Deleting invoices
Important: We don’t recommend deleting paid invoices. When a paid invoice is deleted, any associated payment becomes unallocated. If an appointment’s fee has changed, edit the appointment details and create a new invoice for the adjusted fee instead. If a paid invoice has already been 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:
- Open the invoice
- Click Delete invoice from the bottom left of the page
Important: Deleted invoices and other deleted documents can’t be retrieved. If you need a copy for your records, be sure to download the invoice as a PDF before deleting it.
FAQs
- Do I have to use invoices in SimplePractice?
- How do I change the address that appears on invoices?
- Can I change the provider that's listed on an invoice?
Do I have to use invoices in SimplePractice?
Invoices are required to indicate that you’ve billed a client. Until an appointment is invoiced, its fee isn’t included in the client’s balance, and any payments recorded will appear as a credit.
You don’t need to send invoices to clients. They can remain in SimplePractice for internal billing records.
While invoices can’t be turned off, you can:
- Use manual invoicing if you don’t want invoices created automatically. To learn how to adjust your invoice creation setting, see Setting up automations for billing documents.
- Set service rates to $0 at the practice or client level to prevent clients from accruing a balance. To learn how to adjust rates for services, see Creating and using service codes.
How do I change the address that appears on invoices?
You can choose which address appears on invoices, statements, and superbills from your practice settings.
To update this, navigate to Settings > Practice > Practice details, then edit the Client Billing address under Billing addresses.
For more information, see Adding office locations.
Can I change the provider that's listed on an invoice?
By default, the provider that appears on an invoice is the primary clinician for the client. The provider can be changed for an unpaid invoice. To do this:
- View an invoice and click Edit invoice
- Select the provider from the dropdown menu
- Click Save