How do I write an invoice?

To write an invoice, list each piece of work as its own line, set a quantity and rate for each, add any tax and your payment terms, then send it to your client. In Fee-Lion you do all of this on one screen: open Invoices in the left sidebar, click New Invoice, fill in the lines, and hit send. The client gets a clean PDF and a Pay button.

What goes on a clear invoice

Before you touch the app, it helps to know what a professional invoice actually needs. Use this as a checklist:

• Who it’s from and who it’s to — your name or studio, your client’s name and company.
• An invoice number and dates — a unique number, the issue date, and a due date.
• Line items — each task, fee, or unit of work described in plain language.
• Quantities and rates — hours times your rate for time-based work, or quantity times price for fixed items.
• Tax — applied as a percentage where it’s relevant to you.
• Payment terms — when payment is due and how the client can pay.
• A total — the amount owed, with any deposit already collected subtracted.

Fee-Lion handles the numbering, dates, and math for you, so you can focus on describing the work well.

Create an invoice in Fee-Lion

1. From the left sidebar, open Invoices and click New Invoice.
2. Pick the client this invoice is for. If they don’t exist yet, you can add them inline.
3. Add your line items. Describe each one clearly — “Homepage redesign,” not “design work.” Use tasks for hourly work (hours times rate) and fees or units for fixed-price items (quantity times rate).
4. Apply any discounts or surcharges if you need to adjust the total.
5. Set your tax percentage if it applies to your work.
6. Confirm the payment terms and due date. These default from your preferences, so you usually don’t have to think about them.
7. Review the total, then send. Your client receives the invoice with a built-in Pay button.

Tip: Write line items the way you’d want to read them. A client who instantly understands what they’re paying for pays faster and asks fewer questions.

A faster path from estimates and time

You rarely have to build an invoice from scratch. If you sent an estimate that the client approved in the portal, one click converts it into an invoice with every line carried over. And if you’ve been tracking time against a project, you can pull those hours straight onto invoice lines instead of retyping them.

Set your defaults once

So you’re not re-entering the same details on every invoice, set them once under Settings → Preferences. There you can configure your default payment terms, your tax rate, and your branding so every invoice carries your logo and looks like you. Tax rules vary by where you and your client are based, so it’s worth a quick chat with an accountant about which rate to set and when tax applies — Fee-Lion gives you the percentage field, but the right number is yours to choose.

Tip: Set a default deposit percentage in Preferences too. When you collect a deposit on an estimate, Fee-Lion subtracts it from the final invoice automatically so the client only pays the remaining balance.

What’s next

• How to create an invoice
• Add line items and edit an invoice
• Set your default payment terms
• Connect Stripe to get paid