Create Your First Invoice

This walkthrough covers every click from opening Stokly to a customer receiving an invoice in their inbox.

Before you start

Make sure you've completed these one-time setup steps:

• Company Settings → Company Details — logo, address, VAT number, banking.
• Company Settings → Email Settings — SMTP configured and test email sent successfully.
• At least one customer exists (or you can create one inline — see step 3).

Tip: You can also run the Create Your First Invoice interactive tour from the Tutorials home page — it walks you through the actual UI with tooltips.

Step 1 — Go to Invoices

From the top navigation, click Sales → Invoices. You'll land on the invoice list. Click the green Create Invoice button in the top right.

Step 2 — Choose a customer

In the Customer dropdown, start typing the customer's name. If the customer exists, select them — the address, email, and VAT number are pulled automatically.

If they don't exist:

1. Click + New Customer.
2. Enter at least a Company Name (or First + Last Name), email, and VAT status.
3. Save — you'll return to the invoice form with the new customer selected.

Step 3 — Add line items

For each item on the invoice:

1. Click + Add Line.
2. Pick a product from the dropdown, or type a free-text description.
3. Enter quantity and unit price (or accept the defaults from the product).
4. Choose the VAT rate — default is Standard (15%). Change to Zero-rated for exports or Exempt for exempt supplies.
5. The system calculates the line total, VAT, and running totals.

Repeat for every line. A typical professional services invoice might have 1–3 lines; a retail invoice could have many.

Step 4 — Set dates and terms

• Invoice date — defaults to today.
• Due date — defaults to 30 days from the invoice date. Adjust per your agreement.
• Notes — anything you want the customer to see (e.g. "Thanks for your business").
• Terms & Conditions — auto-filled from Company Settings; override per invoice if needed.

Step 5 — Review totals

At the bottom right, check:

• Subtotal — sum of line amounts before VAT.
• VAT — calculated per line.
• Total — what the customer pays.

If anything looks wrong, go back and adjust quantities or VAT rates.

Step 6 — Save and send

Two options:

• Save as Draft — keeps the invoice on your list but doesn't email it yet. Good for multi-step approval workflows.
• Send — immediately emails the invoice as a PDF attachment to the customer's email, and marks it Sent on your list.

The customer receives a branded email with the invoice attached, plus a link to view or pay online.

Step 7 — Track payment

When the customer pays, open the invoice and click Record Payment:

1. Enter the amount received (can be a partial payment).
2. Choose the payment date and method (EFT, card, cash, etc.).
3. Select the bank account that received the funds.
4. Click Save.

The invoice balance updates. When paid in full, the status flips to Paid. If Bookkeeping is enabled, a journal entry is created automatically (DR Bank, CR Accounts Receivable).

What just happened?

Behind the scenes:

• The invoice is stored against your tenant.
• A journal entry is queued (DR Accounts Receivable, CR Sales, CR VAT Output).
• The transaction is assigned to the correct open VAT period.
• Customer's open balance is updated.
• An audit trail entry is logged.

Next: Try creating a quote and converting it to an invoice, or set up a recurring invoice for monthly retainers.