Invoicing

Getting started

Each invoice belongs to a CRM client (account). You compose line items from billable time, billable direct expenses, and manual lines; brand the PDF; then issue and email it. Replies from the client land on the invoice activity thread. Payment can be online (Stripe Connect) or recorded manually (for example after a bank transfer). The Invoicing home shows a revenue overview: paid this month, open balance, overdue, issued totals, a daily collections chart, status mix, and top open clients.

Roles

• Owners and admins: issue, send, void, mark paid, manage issuer settings, and connect Stripe.
• Members: create and edit draft invoices.
• Viewers: read-only access to invoices.

Status lifecycle

Invoices move through DRAFT → SENT → VIEWED. From there, direct card payments go to PAID; delayed methods (SEPA Direct Debit or Stripe bank transfer) go to PAYMENT_PENDING until the bank confirms the funds, then to PAID. Separately, a daily sweep can mark unpaid issued invoices OVERDUE when the due date has passed, and admins can VOID an invoice (the number stays reserved).

Plans and limits

• Free Free teams can send up to 5 invoices per calendar month. PDFs and emails include a Powered by Saku footer.
• Pro Pro and Max remove the monthly send limit, unlock custom branding, and allow the Compact and Bold PDF templates.
• A Saku platform fee applies on Stripe payments on every plan (see Getting paid).

Quotes and client approval

Open Quotes to create a proposal for any CRM client. Add priced line items, VAT, an optional discount, a client-facing summary, delivery assumptions, and terms. Quotes use their own yearly number sequence, for example QTE-2026-0001, so invoice numbering remains independent.

Issue and send

Owners and admins can issue a quote without email or send it to the client. Issuing freezes the issuer and client details, assigns the number, and sets a validity date. The default is 30 days after issue, and you can choose a specific date while the quote is still a draft. Sent email includes a branded PDF and a secure review link.

Client decisions

The secure review page shows the scope, price, tax, discount, validity, and terms. The client can accept or decline without creating a Saku account. Views and decisions appear in the quote activity history. Quotes that pass their validity date expire and can no longer be accepted.

Convert to invoice

Once accepted, choose Convert to invoice. Saku creates a draft invoice for the same CRM client with the quote lines, currency, VAT, discount, notes, footer, and PDF template carried across. The quote records the linked invoice and cannot be converted twice. Review the draft invoice, add billable work if needed, then issue it through the normal invoice workflow.

Composing invoices

Create a draft from Invoicing, pick a CRM client, then add lines. Choose Euro (€), US dollar ($), or sterling (£); new drafts default to your Stripe Connect currency when that is one of those three.

From billable time

Use compose-from-work to pull uninvoiced billable time entries attributed to the selected CRM client: a direct CRM account link on the entry, time on a card assigned to that client, or time on a calendar item for that client. Entries marked non-billable are excluded. Already-invoiced sources are excluded so the same time cannot be billed twice. Rates come from the entry snapshot, or your organisation bill rates when no snapshot exists yet. Set organisation defaults in Settings → Costs. Each board can override under Board settings → Rates & billing.

Time grouping options:

• One line per rate (default): groups entries that share the same rate into a single line.
• One line per entry: creates a separate line for each time entry.

From expenses and manual lines

Approved or paid billable expenses linked to the client can be added from Expenses. Saku checks the CRM client and currency, records the source, and prevents the same expense from being billed twice. You can also add manual lines with a title, optional description, quantity, unit amount, and optional VAT rate.

Quantities, VAT, and discounts

Edit quantities and unit amounts on draft lines. Set a default VAT rate and per-line VAT where needed. Invoice-level discounts can be a fixed amount or a percentage. Totals recalculate as you edit.

Snapshots and numbering

Composed lines snapshot their source values (title, description, rate, and linked entry metadata) when the draft line is created; quantity and unit amount on that draft line stay editable until issue. Issuer and client blocks are frozen when you issue. Later edits to the source time entry or expense do not change the invoice. The invoice number is assigned at issue time from a gap-free per-team yearly sequence (default format INV-2026-0001). Voiding keeps the number reserved; it is not reused.

Branding and templates

Configure defaults under Invoicing settings.

• Issuer block: legal name, address, VAT number, bank name, IBAN, and BIC. Bank details appear on the pay page for transfer fallback.
• Logo and brand colour Pro: custom logo and accent colour on Pro and Max. Free teams keep Saku branding with the Powered by Saku footer.
• Templates: Classic is available on every plan. Compact and Bold Pro unlock on Pro and Max.

Sending and replies

Owners and admins can Issue & send (or issue without sending, then send later). Emails go from {team-slug}@invoice.saku.ie with the PDF attached. Reply-To uses a plus-address so client replies thread onto that invoice.

Matched replies appear on the invoice activity feed. Only plain-text body content is stored; attachments in replies are not imported. If a reply cannot be matched to an invoice, team owners get a notification with the sender and subject (no body stored for unmatched mail).

Getting paid

Stripe Connect

Connect a Stripe Standard account from the purple banner on the Invoicing list, or from Invoicing settings. Your team owns the Stripe relationship; Saku creates Checkout sessions on that connected account. Clients open the public pay link from the invoice email, or you can Copy public link from the invoice Actions panel after it is issued. Opening the pay page marks the invoice as viewed when applicable. The public page always includes a Saku footer (logo and sign-up link), similar to shared notes.

Checkout can accept card and any delayed methods you enable on the connected Stripe account (for Ireland, typically SEPA Direct Debit and bank transfers). Card payments mark the invoice paid immediately. Delayed methods move the invoice to Payment pending until Stripe confirms the funds (usually a few business days). If the debit fails, the invoice returns to an unpaid status so the client can try again.

Platform fee

On each successful Stripe payment, Saku charges a platform fee of 1% capped at 20 in the invoice currency (€20, $20, or £20). The fee is taken as Stripe's application fee on the charge.

Bank transfer and mark paid

If you set an IBAN (and optional bank name / BIC) on the issuer block, the pay page shows a bank-transfer section. After you receive funds outside Stripe, an admin can Mark paid on the invoice and record the amount with an optional note.

Transactions

The Transactions tab under Invoicing lists recorded payments: Stripe Checkout charges (with payment intent / session references and the platform fee) and manual receipts. Each row links to the related invoice so you can open the activity thread or PDF.

Overdue automation

Unpaid sent or viewed invoices are marked overdue automatically once their due date has passed, and the creator is notified.

API and MCP

Programmatic access uses API keys Max with invoices:read and invoices:write on /api/v1/invoices. Money fields are integer cent strings. The Saku MCP server exposes list_invoices, get_invoice, create_invoice, and send_invoice. See MCP setup.

Related

• Time tracking
• CRM
• Estimates vs invoicing
• API: Invoices