Invoices

Overview

Cliento lets you create invoices linked to your projects, export them as PDF and collect payment online via Stripe or PayPal — all from one place. Your client pays through a secure token link with no account required.

Creating an invoice

You can create invoices in three ways:

From a project

Go to a project page and click Generate invoice when validated milestones are ready for billing. Milestone amounts are pre-filled but can be adjusted.

From scratch

Go to Dashboard → Invoices → New invoice to create a standalone invoice not linked to a project.

Automatically on milestone validation Solo / Pro

Enable the Auto-invoice option on any milestone to have Cliento create a draft invoice automatically the moment the client validates that milestone — no manual step required.

The auto-invoice badge is displayed on the milestone card so you can tell at a glance which milestones trigger automatic billing. The draft invoice is immediately available in Dashboard → Invoices for review before sending.

See Projects → Auto-invoice on validation → for setup instructions.

Invoice creation fields

About line items

Invoice lines can come from validated milestones or be added manually. Milestone amounts are pre-filled but can be adjusted before generating the invoice. Totals are computed automatically.

The quantity of a line must be greater than 0. To reduce a line, use its discount rather than a quantity of 0. If an older invoice or quote has a line with a quantity of 0, it still displays and can be paid as before; to save changes to its lines, set a quantity or remove that line first.

Each line has an optional Unit (hours, days, pcs, pages… or any text of up to 20 characters). It is shown under the quantity on the PDF and on the page your client opens, and it is kept when you duplicate a quote or when a recurring invoice is generated. It is only a label: it never changes the quantity or the amount. Leave it empty and the line reads exactly as before.

Line discounts

Each line can carry a discount, as a percentage (0 to 100) or as a fixed amount (at most the line amount). Choose it under the line when you create or edit the invoice. The discount is printed under the line description on the PDF and on the client's page, and the line shows its discounted amount.

Discount comes first, then tax: VAT applies to the discounted subtotal. Each line is rounded to the cent after its discount, the subtotal is the sum of those lines, and the amount charged by card is the total printed on the invoice. A milestone that is already paid cannot be discounted.

Standalone payment links Pro

A standalone payment link lets you collect a one-off payment without creating a project or a milestone. It is useful for retainers, deposits, or any service billed outside of a project workflow.

Access it from Dashboard → Invoices → Payment link.

How it works

1. Enter the amount, currency, and a short description.
2. Optionally attach a client, a due date, and a VAT rate.
3. Click Generate payment link — a Stripe Payment Link is created instantly.
4. Copy the link and share it with your client, or use Send link to email it directly.

An invoice record is automatically created in your invoice list with a Payment link badge and the status Sent.

Tax

Toggle tax on to enter a rate (called VAT unless you chose another name in Profile → Billing & legal, and pre-filled with your default rate if you set one). The amount sent to Stripe is the tax-included total; the tax-excluded amount is stored in the invoice for accounting purposes.

Email

When the link is generated, an email is automatically sent to the attached client with a Pay now → button pointing directly to the Stripe payment page.

You can resend the email at any time from the invoice list using the Resend link button.

After payment

Once the client pays via Stripe, the webhook automatically marks the invoice as Paid. No manual action required.

Invoice statuses

Mark an invoice as Paid manually after receiving payment, or let Stripe update it automatically when the client pays online.

Awaiting confirmation

When a client initiates a payment (via Stripe or PayPal) but the confirmation has not yet been received — for example, during a bank transfer or a delayed webhook — the invoice moves to Awaiting confirmation.

A dedicated Awaiting confirmation section appears in your invoice dashboard, grouping all invoices in this intermediate state so you can follow up or verify payment without losing track of them.

Sending an invoice

Click Send to generate a secure payment link and email it to your client Solo / Pro.

The email contains:

• Invoice summary (amount, due date)
• A "View & pay" button linking to the client payment page

On the Free plan, copy the payment link manually from the invoice page and send it yourself.

The client payment page

Your client sees a clean invoice page with:

• Your logo and brand color
• Full line item breakdown
• Due date and total amount
• A Pay now button (Stripe), a PayPal link or your own custom payment link

No account, no friction.

Payment methods

Stripe Connect Solo / Pro

Connect your Stripe account once in Profile → Payments. After that, every invoice gets a Stripe Checkout link automatically. Payment is deposited directly to your bank account.

See Payments → for the full setup guide.

PayPal

Configure a PayPal.me link in Profile → Payments. Cliento embeds it as a payment button on the client invoice page. Payment tracking is manual — mark the invoice as Paid yourself after receiving the transfer.

Custom payment link Solo / Pro

Add any payment page in Profile → Payments → Custom payment link (and the text of the button, "Pay online" by default). It appears next to the other payment buttons on the client invoice page. Like PayPal, payment tracking is manual — mark the invoice as Paid yourself once you have received the money.

Partial payments

When a client pays an invoice in several instalments, open the invoice and click Record a payment: enter the amount received, the date and an optional note (a bank transfer, a cheque number…). You can record as many payments as you need on a sent invoice.

• The invoice stays Sent (or Overdue) and shows Partially paid with the balance due. The PDF and the page your client opens show the amount received and the balance due.
• When the payments add up to the total, the invoice becomes Paid by itself, on the date of the last payment, and the invoice.paid webhook is sent once. Every recorded payment, partial or final, sends the invoice.payment_recorded webhook.
• Unpaid totals (the pending amount in the invoice list, the revenue forecast and the annual report) count a partially paid invoice only for what is still due.
• An amount greater than the balance is refused. A payment recorded by mistake can be deleted: if it had settled the invoice, the invoice is reopened.
• Automatic reminders ask your client for the balance due, and the card payment page charges the balance, not the total.
• Once a payment is recorded, the invoice lines, tax and currency can no longer be changed and the invoice cannot be cancelled (a credit note would be needed for what you have received). You can still edit its dates, notes and texts.
• Mark as paid still settles the whole invoice in one click, as before.
• The accounting export (CSV format) adds amount_paid and balance_due columns at the end of each row. Revenue reports count an invoice when it is fully paid.

Payment tracking fields

Each invoice records two fields when payment is confirmed:

These fields appear on the invoice detail page and are included in the CSV export for accounting purposes.

Export PDF Solo / Pro

Click Export PDF to download a professionally designed PDF invoice using your logo, brand color and business information from your profile.

If you have written your Payment details in Profile → Payments (bank account, Wise, mobile money…), they are printed as written in a dedicated section at the bottom of the PDF, followed by your custom payment link if you set one — no need to add them manually in notes.

Your client can download the same PDF from the invoice page, with the Download the invoice PDF button. Anyone who has the invoice link can download it, payment details included, so send the link only to your client.

The PDF is generated server-side and is suitable for sending to accountants or attaching to emails.

Payment terms and footer

Set your usual payment terms and a closing footer once in Profile → Default document texts. Every new invoice starts with them, and you can edit or clear them on the invoice form. The invoice created by a payment link, by a milestone validation or by a recurring invoice takes the texts you have in your profile at that moment.

The payment terms are printed after the totals, before your payment details, and the footer at the end of the PDF; both also appear on the client's invoice page. Each invoice keeps its own text: changing your profile later does not change an invoice that already exists. Cliento calculates no late-payment penalty or fee: the text is printed as you wrote it.

Invoice numbering

Cliento numbers your invoices automatically, with the same sequence whatever the way an invoice is created (from a project, from the My invoices page, a payment link, a recurring invoice). Set it up in Profile → Invoice numbering:

• Prefix — 1 to 10 letters or digits (INV by default, FAC for accounts created before this option existed). CN is reserved for credit notes and cannot be used as an invoice prefix.
• Include the year — INV-2026-001, with the numbering restarting at 001 every January. Turn it off for a continuous number such as INV-001.
• Next invoice number — coming from another tool? Set the number to continue your sequence (for example 143). You can raise it, never lower it below a number already used.

A number is never reused, even if you delete an invoice, and two invoices created at the same time never get the same number. Changing the prefix, or turning the year on or off, starts a separate sequence: existing invoices keep their numbers. Some countries require an unbroken chronological sequence, so check your local rules before changing it. Invoice numbers are not editable.

Credit notes

When an invoice that has already been paid turns out to be wrong (a mistake, a refund, a goodwill gesture), issue a credit note from the invoice: open it and click Issue a credit note in the Credit notes panel.

• The lines of the invoice are pre-filled: lower a quantity or a price, or remove a line, to credit only part of it. Add an optional reason. The tax rate and the currency are those of the invoice.
• The credit note gets its own number (CN-2026-001, then CN-2026-002…) and a PDF where the amounts are printed as negative. It names the invoice it corrects.
• You can issue several credit notes on the same invoice, up to the invoice total (tax included): the panel shows how much has been credited. A credit note you have issued cannot be edited or deleted; issue another one for the difference.
• A credit note does not change the invoice: its status, payments and reminders stay as they are. To correct an invoice that has not been paid yet, cancel it and issue a new one.
• Each credit note has a Send button (it emails your client a link to the credit note, and shows the date of the last sending) and a Copy link button to share it yourself, like an invoice. The page behind the link shows the credit note and lets your client download its PDF. You can still download the PDF from the panel.
• Revenue figures (analytics, annual report, monthly report) are net of credit notes: a credit note is deducted from your revenue in the month it is issued.

Cancelling an invoice

A Draft can be deleted. If it was created from project milestones, those milestones become billable again. An invoice you have already sent should not be deleted: its number belongs to your sequence, and in many countries an issued invoice must be kept. Open the invoice and click Cancel invoice instead.

• The invoice keeps its number, its lines and its PDF, which is stamped CANCELLED and no longer shows your payment details or payment link. Your client can still open the invoice page, which says that no payment is due.
• A cancelled invoice can no longer be edited, paid, sent again or deleted, and it gets no reminders. Cancelling is final.
• Milestones that were invoiced on it become available again, so you can issue a corrected invoice from the project.
• A payment link created for it (Pro) is switched off.
• Your client is not notified: let them know yourself, and send a new invoice if one is due.
• A cancelled invoice is left out of the Total invoiced figure and of your reports. It still counts toward the invoice limit of the Free plan, and it appears in the accounting export with the status cancelled — filter on that column before adding up amounts.
• Only invoices that are Sent (or overdue) can be cancelled. A Draft was never issued: delete it. A Paid invoice cannot be cancelled: correct it with a credit note (see "Credit notes" above).

Deleting an invoice

Only Draft invoices can be deleted. Once an invoice is Sent or Paid, it is locked to preserve your accounting history. To void a sent invoice, use Cancel invoice (see above).