Invoices

An invoice collects the matter’s receipt line items into a numbered bill (AR-2026-14) with a strict, one-way lifecycle: Draft to Finalized to Paid. Each step locks more down, which is exactly what you want from a financial record.

Building a Draft

From the matter’s Billing > Invoices, create an invoice and Add Line Items. The picker shows the matter’s unassigned receipts: items not already on another invoice. Two rules do the bookkeeping for you:

• Only receipts go on invoices. To bill an expenditure, mark it Recoverable first so it has a recovery receipt (see Fees & Expenses).
• A line item lives on at most one invoice. Anything already billed simply doesn’t appear.

While the invoice is a draft, totals recalculate freely, and tax uses the matter’s current Governing Sales Tax. Write-offs flow through automatically: items contribute their net billable amount.

Finalizing

Finalize locks the invoice: line items can no longer be added or removed, and the tax rate and jurisdiction are captured as of that moment. Changing the matter’s tax jurisdiction later won’t touch a finalized invoice, which is the behavior your accountant would insist on if you asked.

Marking Paid

When the money arrives, Mark as Paid. Paid is the end of the line: paid invoices can’t be deleted, and the record shows who marked it and when.

Deleting

Draft and finalized invoices can be deleted; their line items return to the unassigned pool, ready for a different invoice. Paid ones can’t. If you’re going to reorganize billing, do it before anyone pays.

The Order of Operations That Works

1. Keep line items current as the work happens.
2. Write off what you’re not billing, with reasons.
3. Draft the invoice, add the receipts, sanity-check the totals.
4. Finalize when it’s final; the name is a contract with yourself.
5. Mark paid when paid.

The common mistake is finalizing early “to see how it looks.” A draft shows you exactly the same totals; finalize is for when the bill is actually going out.