Business

How to send an invoice on Shopify

Panna Kemenes

20.02.23 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 5 minutes

Shopify is an online platform that enables ecommerce businesses to build their store and start selling. It supports millions of merchants across 170+ countries and accounts for 10% of total US ecommerce.¹

When a retail customer or wholesale merchant makes an order, you’ll need to send them an invoice. While invoicing with Shopify isn’t tricky, there are some differences and options you should be aware of.

This guide will cover how to send an invoice on Shopify, how to track them, how to share the invoice link, and also some tips on how to receive invoice payments.

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How to send an invoice on Shopify: Step-by-step

So, how does invoicing work on Shopify?

The process for sending an invoice varies depending on whether you’re a Shopify Partner or regular ecommerce business.

How to send an invoice as a Shopify Partner:

Shopify Partners are marketers, designers, affiliates and developers, who are connected through Shopify to ecommerce businesses.²

As a Shopify Partner, you’ll first need to agree on the terms and conditions of the project with your merchant. After you’ve come to an agreement, you’ll need to send them an invoice.

To create and send an invoice as a Shopify Partner, you’ll need to do the following:
In your Partner Dashboard, select “Services” and then “Jobs”. To see your current jobs, select “All” Choose the job you want to create an invoice for and select “Create Invoice” Within the “Create Invoice” section, you’ll need to enter your business and tax number, as well as the invoice number. The rest of your business information will be automatically filled out Select the due date of the payment, according to what you agreed with the merchant Enter items for every service you provided. Enter all details, from rates to the total amount owed Once you’ve entered the services you provided, select “Tax” at the bottom of the invoice. Here you can add the amount of tax to be paid If you have any extra notes or explanations to add, you can write these in the “Additional notes” section. For example, you might include your business’ refund policy, or any specific terms and conditions for this merchant If you plan to send the invoice later, or come back to edit it later, then you can click “Save” To send your invoice, select “Send”. In the “Send invoice” section, you can add a personal message and subject for the merchant, as well as edit their email address if needed³

To create and send an invoice as a Shopify Partner, you’ll need to do the following:

In your Partner Dashboard, select “Services” and then “Jobs”. To see your current jobs, select “All”
Choose the job you want to create an invoice for and select “Create Invoice”
Within the “Create Invoice” section, you’ll need to enter your business and tax number, as well as the invoice number. The rest of your business information will be automatically filled out
Select the due date of the payment, according to what you agreed with the merchant
Enter items for every service you provided. Enter all details, from rates to the total amount owed
Once you’ve entered the services you provided, select “Tax” at the bottom of the invoice. Here you can add the amount of tax to be paid
If you have any extra notes or explanations to add, you can write these in the “Additional notes” section. For example, you might include your business’ refund policy, or any specific terms and conditions for this merchant
If you plan to send the invoice later, or come back to edit it later, then you can click “Save”
To send your invoice, select “Send”. In the “Send invoice” section, you can add a personal message and subject for the merchant, as well as edit their email address if needed³

📩 Once you’ve sent the invoice, your customer will receive a notification by email.

How to send a Shopify invoice as an ecommerce business

If you’re a regular ecommerce business operating through Shopify, the invoicing process is slightly different.

For ecommerce merchants using Shopify, invoices are referred to as “Draft orders”.

To create and send a Draft Order, you’ll need to:
Select “Orders”, from within your Shopify admin page Select “Create order” Add the necessary products to the order Customize the order - here you can apply discounts, add taxes and customer information, change the currency displayed, and add a note Set the terms of payment - you can set the payment due date on the date of receipt, on a fixed date, or within a set number of days after issuing the invoice From here, you can either save the Draft Order for later, or you can send it to your customer⁴

To create and send a Draft Order, you’ll need to:

Select “Orders”, from within your Shopify admin page
Select “Create order”
Add the necessary products to the order
Customize the order - here you can apply discounts, add taxes and customer information, change the currency displayed, and add a note
Set the terms of payment - you can set the payment due date on the date of receipt, on a fixed date, or within a set number of days after issuing the invoice
From here, you can either save the Draft Order for later, or you can send it to your customer⁴

If you’ve already invoiced a particular customer before, you can also create Draft Orders using their pre-filled out customer information, saving you time.⁴

A Draft Order is almost identical to a regular order. The only difference is that a Draft Order is missing your customer’s payment information. As soon as this is added, Shopify will automatically convert it to a regular order.⁴

How to customize a Shopify invoice

If you’re subscribed to a Shopify Plus plan, then you can customize the invoices you send to your wholesale customers.⁵

This can be done by editing the original invoice template. This will enable you to offer wholesale customers alternative payment methods and terms.

To edit the invoice template, you’ll need to change the code in the email body:

In your Shopify Admin page, select “Settings” and then “Notifications” Select “Draft order invoice” in the “Orders” section Add your customized template code to the “Email body” (HTML) Select “Save”

How to track invoices on Shopify

Shopify allows you to track the status of all of your invoices. These can be found in the “Invoices” section of your Partner Dashboard.

Shopify categorizes your invoices by type and has five different possible statuses:
Paid - when the invoice has been paid, you can find the transaction in the “Payouts” section of your Partner Dashboard Viewed - invoices that have been seen but not yet paid Refused - invoices the merchant has refused to pay Sent - invoices that have been sent but not yet viewed Draft - invoices you are in the process of completing and have saved³

How do I share a checkout link on Shopify?

When you invoice a customer, you’ll need to share a checkout link with them to share the invoice on Shopify. With this checkout link, your customer will be able to enter their billing information, preferred shipping method and complete their payment.⁴

To share a checkout link, you have two options.

Either, you can send an invoice to your customer that contains a link to the checkout page. Or, you can share the checkout link with them over a social media app.⁴

To send an invoice containing a checkout link, you need to:

Select the order from the “Drafts” section in the Shopify admin page
Select “Send invoice” and enter your desired message
Select “Review invoice” and once you’ve double checked it, click “Send invoice”⁴

To send a checkout link over a social media app, you’ll need to:

Select “Orders” and then “Draft orders” with the Shopify app
Select your desired order
Select the “...” and then click “Share checkout link”
Select your desired social media app
Review the message and the click “Send”⁴

If your customer is having trouble using the checkout link, then you should double-check that you haven’t already marked the Draft Order as “Paid”. Draft Orders marked as paid automatically become regular orders and will prevent your customers from using the checkout link.⁴

Likewise, if you add any products to the Draft Order after having sent the invoice, shipping rates won’t automatically update to show the new cost.⁴

Does Shopify send invoices automatically?

Shopify itself doesn’t create and send invoices automatically. You’ll have to do this manually, by creating and sending a Draft Order.

But, Shopify does offer Invoicify, a separate app that allows for automatic invoicing.

With Invoicify, all you have to do is select an invoice template. The app will then automatically create and send invoices for every order you receive. It also comes with a dedicated account manager for all paid plans, as well as 24/7 customer support.⁶

Depending on how many invoices you send per month, Invoicify offers different payment packages:

5 invoices per month - free of charge
50 invoices per month - $9.99 USD
200 invoices per month - $19.99 USD
Unlimited invoices per month - $79.99 USD⁶

Receive Shopify invoice payments with Wise

If you’re selling internationally using Shopify Markets, then it’s essential to use a provider that gives you a competitive exchange rate.

The currency displayed on your customer’s invoice is determined by their shipping address, which is associated with their market. So if you change the market, you’ll change the currency displayed.⁴

Connecting Shopify to a Wise Business account could save you money when making international sales.

Wise Business is a smart online alternative to traditional banks. The Wise Business account makes it easy to receive, send, and manage international transactions.

With Wise Business, you’ll have access to up to 10 local account details. This means you can receive foreign currencies like a local, without having to pay anything in conversion fees.

Get a Wise Business account,
Start saving today 🚀

If you do still need to convert a currency, then you’ll have access to the real mid-market exchange rate, saving you on high conversion costs.

💡 For all you need to know about invoices, don't forget to read and bookmark the ultimate guide to invoicing from Wise!

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