How do I send a professional invoice fast?

The fastest professional invoice in Fee-Lion starts with work you’ve already done: set your branding once, then convert an approved estimate into an invoice with one click and hit send. From a blank slate you can still be done in under five minutes by reusing line items and pulling everything up with the command palette.

Set your brand once, reuse it forever

“Professional” mostly comes down to consistency, and you only have to configure that a single time. Open Settings → Preferences and handle the parts that repeat on every invoice:

• Branding — add your logo and colors so every invoice and the client portal carry your studio’s look.
• Payment terms — set a default like Net 15 or Due on receipt so you’re not retyping it.
• Tax — store your default tax percentage so the math is already done.
• Deposit defaults — set a standard deposit percentage if you collect one up front.

Once these are saved, they pre-fill on new estimates and invoices. That’s the single biggest time-saver, because the polish is baked in instead of rebuilt each time.

Tip: Tax rules and what you’re required to show on an invoice vary by location. Use the tax percentage and payment-terms fields to match your situation, and check with an accountant if you’re unsure what your invoices need to include.

The fastest path: convert an approved estimate

If the work started as an estimate, you’ve already entered every line. Don’t rebuild it — convert it. When a client approves an estimate in the no-login portal, you get a one-click handoff:

1. Open the approved estimate from Estimates in the left sidebar.
2. Click Convert to Invoice. Your tasks (hours × rate), fees, units, discounts, surcharges, tax, and any deposit carry straight over.
3. Review the lines, confirm the due date from your default terms, and you’re ready to send.

This is the core Fee-Lion loop working in your favor: estimate, client approval, invoice, paid — with no re-keying in between.

Building from scratch, still in minutes

No estimate? Start fresh and lean on reusable pieces. From Invoices in the sidebar, create a new invoice and add lines as tasks (hours × rate) or as fees and units (qty × rate). Add discounts or surcharges if needed, and your tax and terms are already filled in from Preferences.

If you tracked time against this client, pull those hours straight onto the invoice as billable lines instead of adding them by hand — the timer and time entries become invoice lines in a couple of clicks.

Let the command palette do the navigating

Press ⌘K to open the command palette from anywhere. Type “new invoice,” jump to a client, or open a recent estimate without hunting through menus. For anything you do often, this is the difference between a five-minute invoice and a two-minute one.

Send it with a Pay button

A professional invoice isn’t just sent — it’s easy to pay. When you send, your client gets a link to the portal where they see the invoice and a Pay button. They pay by card, and the money lands in your own Stripe account (a small platform fee applies). To turn that button on, connect Stripe once from Settings, then every invoice you send is payable on the spot.

That’s the whole trick: front-load the setup, reuse your estimates and tracked time, navigate by keyboard, and send something the client can pay in one tap.

What’s next

• Create an invoice step by step
• Convert an approved estimate
• Connect Stripe to get paid
• Set up your brand and logo