Create and send an invoice

An invoice goes through three separate actions. You create it as a draft, you finalise it, then you send it. Nothing reaches the patient until all three are done, so a half-finished invoice cannot go out by accident. ## Build an invoice 1. Go to **Billing → Invoices** and press **New invoice**. 2. On **Patient**, choose who the invoice is for. 3. On **Encounters**, pick the visits being billed. Their procedures and diagnoses become the lines. 4. On **Services**, check the lines and their prices. Add, remove or change them here. 5. On **Details**, set the dates, the reference and who is being billed. 6. On **Review & create**, press the button to create the draft.  The invoice takes its number when you create it, not when you send it. A draft already shows the number it will keep. To change what you charge on a line, see [Set what you charge on an invoice](/help/billing-and-claims/set-what-you-charge-on-an-invoice). ## Finalise an invoice Press **Finalize invoice**. That moves the invoice from draft to issued and stamps the invoice date. Until you do, the invoice stays editable and the patient cannot see it. Their portal shows an invoice once it is issued, then follows it through partially paid, balanced, overdue and written off.  ## Send an invoice 1. Press **Send to patient**. This emails the invoice. 2. To send it again, press **Resend invoice**, which is what the action becomes. 3. To see what happened to the email, open the **Email analytics** tab. Practor refuses to send an invoice that is still a draft, so finalising first is not optional. **Download PDF** is available at every stage, for handing over or posting instead. The **Preview** tab shows the same document on screen. ## Record a payment 1. Press **Record payment**, on the invoice or on the **Payments** tab. 2. Check the amount, which starts at the outstanding balance. 3. Choose the method and press save.  The status follows the money without you setting it. A part payment moves the invoice to partially paid, and a payment that clears the balance moves it to balanced. To take a payment back off, press **Void** on its row in the **Payments** tab and say why. The amount comes off and the balance goes back up. ## Change an issued invoice 1. Press **Amend invoice**. The invoice goes back into an editable state. 2. Make the change. 3. Press **Re-finalize invoice** to close it again. > [!IMPORTANT] > The window is **three days from the day you created the invoice**, not from the day you issued it. A draft you sat on for a week is already past it. After that the invoice is fixed. Practor says why when it won't amend. The wording is the same for everyone, so searching the message brings you here: | What it says | What to do | | --- | --- | | Only issued invoices can be unfinalized | Nothing to amend. A draft is already editable, and a cancelled invoice is closed | | Past the 3-day amendment window | Nothing. Cancel the invoice and raise a new one | | Reverse the claim before amending | Reverse the claim on the **Claims** tab | | Claim is in-flight: wait for it to settle | Wait. The claim is submitting or reversing | | Claim reversal failed: resolve it before amending | Resolve the reversal before trying again | | Invoice has recorded payments | Void the payment on the **Payments** tab | They're checked in that order, so an invoice with two problems names the first. An amendment changes the invoice in place and it keeps its number. It does not produce a second document. While it is being amended the patient cannot see it, because an amending invoice is outside the statuses their portal shows. **Re-finalize invoice** brings it back. ## Cancel an invoice Press **Cancel invoice** and give a reason. The invoice is marked cancelled, drops out of outstanding balances, and the reason shows at the top of it from then on. This cannot be undone, and it is what to reach for when an invoice is wrong and too old to amend. It is offered on an issued, partially paid or amending invoice. A draft has **Delete draft** instead, which removes it outright. ## Claim from an insurer Press **Submit to insurance** to start a claim from the same invoice. The **Claims** tab follows it from there. See [Submit a claim to a medical insurer](/help/billing-and-claims/submit-an-insurance-claim). ## Related - [Record an encounter](/help/patients-and-records/record-an-encounter) - [Set what you charge on an invoice](/help/billing-and-claims/set-what-you-charge-on-an-invoice) - [Understanding your invoice](/help/billing-and-claims/understanding-your-invoice)