How proposal invoicing works

When a client accepts a proposal, Tidyflow turns it into invoices for you. The Invoicing section on the proposal, shown under the pricing line items, controls when billing starts and whether invoices go out automatically or wait for your review.

What is invoiced at acceptance

Accepting a proposal creates one acceptance invoice containing every one-time fee, plus the first recurring cycle when recurring billing starts on acceptance. If the proposal offers packages, only the package your client selected is invoiced. Recurring services also get a recurring invoice schedule that generates the following cycles automatically.

If nothing is due at acceptance, for example when the only line is at no charge or recurring billing starts on a later date, no acceptance invoice is created and no invoice is emailed. Your client still receives the acceptance confirmation email.

Choose when recurring billing starts

The Billing starts setting on the proposal controls the first recurring invoice:

• On acceptance: the first cycle is billed on the acceptance invoice the moment your client accepts. This is the default.
• On a specific date: pick a Start date, and the first recurring invoice is generated on that date instead. Nothing recurring is billed at acceptance.

Either way, later cycles follow the Frequency you set, and the schedule appears under Billing in Recurring after acceptance.

Auto-send or save as draft

The Invoices setting controls every invoice the proposal produces, both the acceptance invoice and each generated recurring cycle:

• Auto-send: each invoice is emailed to your client’s billing contacts as soon as it is raised. New proposals default to Auto-send, so accepting a proposal bills your client end to end without any manual step.
• Save as draft: invoices are created but held as drafts for you to review and send from Billing under Invoices. Nothing reaches your client until you send it.

An invoice your client has already paid always emails its receipt, whichever option is selected.

What happens when online payments are enabled

With online payments connected, the accept button becomes Accept & Pay or Accept & Save Card depending on the amount due today.

• If your client pays at acceptance, the invoice is marked paid and they receive a receipt. This happens even when Invoices is set to Save as draft, because your client actively paid on Stripe’s checkout.
• If your client saves a card without paying today, the unpaid acceptance invoice follows the Invoices setting: emailed with a payment link on Auto-send, or held as a draft on Save as draft.
• With a saved payment method and Auto-send, each recurring cycle is charged automatically and your client receives a receipt. If a charge fails, the invoice is emailed with a payment link instead and your firm is notified.
• With Save as draft, recurring cycles are not charged automatically. Each cycle waits as a draft until you send it.

Include work at no charge

A one-time line with a $0 total, for example ad-hoc work quoted at an hourly rate with a quantity of 0, is treated as scope rather than a charge. Your client sees the line on the proposal, and it appears at $0.00 on the acceptance invoice when there are other billable lines, but a $0 line never produces an invoice on its own. Bill ad-hoc hourly work later through time tracking when the work actually happens.

Where the invoices live

The acceptance invoice appears under Billing in Invoices, and the recurring schedule under Billing in Recurring, both linked from the accepted proposal. If you record an acceptance on your client’s behalf with Mark accepted, the invoice is always created as a draft and nothing is emailed, so you stay in control of what the client receives.