Invoices & the invoice-first model

Invoices are the financial source of truth in SwiftFox. Every subscription period generates an invoice; payments reduce the invoice balance, adjustments are recorded against it, and Paid To Date and arrears are derived from it. You can also create one-off invoices for ad hoc charges.

How invoices are generated

• Anniversary subscriptions generate one invoice per payment period — a fortnightly anniversary subscription generates a new invoice every fortnight; a monthly one every month.
• Common period and common renewal subscriptions generate a single invoice for the entire year (or the configured renewal interval), which is then paid down by periodic payments. For example, a member paying $10 per fortnight on a 26-fortnight common period sees one invoice for $260 reduced by each $10 payment.
• Direct debit subscriptions receive invoices too, not just invoice-payment members.

Create a one-off invoice

1. Open the contact's profile and go to the Financial tab. In the Invoices section, click Create Invoice. This opens the Manage Invoice form.
2. Enter the header fields: invoice number (assigned automatically), customer, invoice date, currency, reference and due date. Click Integrate with Xero if you want the invoice raised in Xero via the Xero Integration.
3. Click Add Line Item and complete each line: item, comment, quantity, unit amount, account, tax rate, tax-inclusive amount, amount, and the tracking-category columns (for example Location and Department).
4. Choose Save as Draft, Approve & Email, or — from the dropdown beside Approve & Email — Approve or Submit for approval.

Pay, adjust, write off, void

Open any invoice from the contact's Financial tab. The invoice appears in a drawer with Print and Email buttons. The finance actions sit in the dropdown beside Email:

• Pay Invoice — record a payment (see Recording & allocating payments).
• Adjust Invoice, Write Off and Open Pay Now page (see Adjustments, write-offs & voids). Write-off and void wording depends on the invoice: an unpaid invoice offers Write Off as Paid and Write Off & Void; a part-paid invoice offers Write Off Remaining Balance.

Invoice statuses

• Draft — created but not approved.
• Approved — approved, awaiting payment.
• Partially Paid — some payment allocated, balance remaining.
• Paid — fully paid.
• Written Off — unpaid portion marked uncollectable.
• Voided — cancelled (no payments existed).

Voided and deleted invoices are hidden by default. The Invoices table on the contact's Financial tab arrives with a filter already applied — Where Status exclude Deleted, Voided — so a voided invoice looks as though it has disappeared. To see them, open the filter on the Invoices table and remove Voided from the excluded statuses.

Email an invoice

1. Open the invoice.
2. Click Email on the invoice drawer (in the Invoices list you can also use the three-dots menu on an unpaid invoice).
3. Confirm the recipient email address.
4. Click Send.

The emailed invoice is a snapshot at the time of sending, and includes a Pay Now link. When the member pays, SwiftFox auto-emails a confirmation, generates a receipt, and marks the invoice Paid.

The Pay Now link

The Pay Now link in emailed invoices lets the member pay online and always reflects the current outstanding balance — even if the member clicks an old email. So if you make changes after sending, the link still charges the correct amount.

Print or download an invoice

1. Open the contact's Financial tab and click the invoice.
2. Click Print (or the printer icon, or three-dots → Print).
3. The PDF opens — save or print it as required.

Method tracking (SwiftFox vs Xero)

Each invoice records whether it was raised in SwiftFox or Xero. This shows in the invoice view and in the Invoices Action Centre. With the Xero Integration, invoices can be created in Xero and (if enabled in Xero) auto-sent from there.

Recommended: invoicing a subscription

To generate and send an invoice tied to a subscription, use Receipts → Make a payment with Type = Subscription rather than creating a standalone invoice. This automatically adds the full membership fee for that contact and links the invoice to the subscription.