Invoicing now lives in my own back office

I bill my clients from my own back office now. Every invoice, receipt and refund goes out under Forecheck's name, from a billing address, in Forecheck's look. Here's how it works.

An invoice from start to finish

• Each invoice gets a number and a private pay page. The client opens the link and pays by card.
• The email carries a PDF. Once the invoice is paid, the same PDF reads as the receipt.
• If the client has a card on file and the invoice is due today, the card is charged at once and the receipt goes out.
• If it's due later, the email says so plainly: nothing to do, the card will be charged on that date, and the receipt will follow.
• No card on file? The email has a pay button.
• Before anything sends, I can preview the exact email.

Monthly plans that bill themselves

A plan bills a contract's monthly fee on the same day each month. If that day is the 31st, short months bill on their last day.

• A start date of today or earlier starts billing right away.
• A back-dated start bills from the current month. Earlier months are left for me to invoice by hand.
• A daily run at 8 in the morning bills what's due and makes one automatic try on each card invoice at its due date. If the card is declined, the client gets an email with the pay link, and it shows up in my summary of the run.
• A plan needs a signed contract with a monthly fee, and a contract can only have one plan.

A build is two payments, then go live

A build is split into a deposit at signing and a balance at launch. Either one can be paid by card, by emailed invoice, by cash or by check.

Go live is one step. It records the launch date, collects the balance and starts the monthly fee from that day.

Hourly support works the same way. Hours I haven't billed yet roll into one Support invoice. Bug fixes are never on it. They're always included.

Refunds and cancels

• A refund works on a paid card invoice, in full or in part, never for more than what's left. The client gets an email saying what was refunded and that the rest stands.
• Cash and check payments are paid back directly, and the screen says so.
• An unpaid invoice can be canceled. That frees its deposit, balance or support hours to be billed again.
• Refunded rows are labeled, so they never look open.

Guard rails

• The pay page has a clear message for an invoice that's already paid, one that was canceled, and a link that isn't valid.
• A billing email is refused when the client has no billing or contact email on file. It doesn't quietly go nowhere.