Issue and track invoices
Create an invoice, send it, watch it get paid, and reconcile the receipt automatically. The invoice, the email, the payment and the bank line all share the same record.
In this guide
Accounting- Steps
- 5
- Prereqs
- 4
- Pitfalls
- 3 common ones
- Related
- 3 guides
Walkthrough only — no setup wizard. The flow is exactly what you do inside YionStack today.
Before you start
- A customer in the CRM with a billing email address.
- A default sales account (Settings → Accounting → Defaults) so new invoice lines pick up a chart code automatically.
- A connected bank account for reconciliation (Open Banking through GoCardless or directly).
- Optionally: a Stripe or GoCardless connection to take card or Bacs payment directly from the invoice.
Steps
- 1
Open the invoice composer
Go to Accounting → Invoices → New invoice. Pick the customer; their default payment terms, VAT treatment and billing email pre-fill. If they are not in the CRM yet, add them inline — the contact is created in the same transaction.
- 2
Add the line items
Add each line: description, quantity, unit price. VAT applies from the line’s default (per item, per customer, or per business). The total, subtotal and VAT update live. Attach the original quote or any supporting PDFs if the customer asked for them.
- 3
Send the invoice
Send. The invoice emails to the customer with a payable PDF and (if Stripe or GoCardless is connected) a Pay Now button that takes card or Bacs payment directly. The send and open events log against the invoice activity feed.
- 4
Watch the payment land
When the customer pays through the Pay Now link, the payment posts immediately against the invoice and a receipt PDF emails back. If they pay by manual bank transfer, the next bank feed pulls the matching transaction; YionStack proposes the match by amount and reference.
- 5
Reconcile and close
Approve the proposed match. The invoice moves to Paid, the bank line is reconciled, and the receipt PDF generates and attaches to the invoice. The customer’s account balance updates and any dunning sequence for this invoice stops.
Common pitfalls
Wrong VAT treatment
Lines default to the standard rate. For zero-rated or reduced-rate items (children’s clothes, energy), change the line VAT — not the invoice-level VAT — or future invoices for the same item carry the wrong rate.
Customer paid the wrong reference
If the bank line cannot match by amount or reference, YionStack queues it for manual matching. Open the bank line, search for the customer or invoice number, and reconcile manually. The match is remembered for similar future references.
Partial payment
When a customer pays less than the invoice total, YionStack posts the partial payment and leaves the balance open. A dunning rule for the remaining balance fires from day 7 unless you adjust the schedule on the invoice.
Need a hand with this one?
If a step is missing or unclear, tell us — every guide is a working document we improve as customers ask.