Invoices are how you get paid. Unlike most of ShineCRM, the invoices area is open to every team member, including technicians, so a crew can invoice a job on site. (Processing a refund is still owner/admin only.)
The invoices list
Open Invoices in the sidebar. Cards across the top show total invoices, outstanding balance, collected, and overdue count. Search by number, contact, or company, and filter by status. Each row shows the total, the remaining balance, and the due date.
Invoice statuses: Draft → Sent → Viewed → Paid, with Overdue and Cancelled as the other states.
Create an invoice
There are four ways an invoice gets created:
- New invoice from scratch
- From a contact, pre-filled with that customer (the contact’s New menu)
- From a job, which carries the work across (one invoice per job)
- By converting an accepted estimate
The builder uses the same line-item editor as estimates: services, quantities, prices, per-line taxes, a discounts section, the customer and address, notes, and a due date seeded from your default due window. You can edit an invoice while it’s a draft, sent, viewed, or overdue.
Send it
Send or resend an invoice by email or text. Text sends can go now or on a schedule. Your customer gets a link to pay online (through Stripe). Once the invoice is paid, the send button becomes Send receipt.
Collect payment
From the invoice, you have several ways to get paid:
- Record payment for any partial amount against the balance (useful for cash or a deposit).
- Charge card on file if the customer has saved a card (through Stripe).
- Request card on file to text or email the customer a secure link to add one.
- Mark as paid with a method (cash, check, or other), which automatically sends a receipt.
In person, take a tap-to-pay card payment with Square on the mobile app. See Payments setup.
Receipts send automatically on payment, and you can resend one any time.
Refunds
You can refund a paid card invoice back to the original card, either the full amount or a partial amount, and you can refund more than once until the captured total is returned. ShineCRM routes the refund to whichever processor settled the payment, Stripe or Square.
One exception: an in-person Square payment must be refunded from the Square app, not from ShineCRM. Refunds are also owner/admin only, and are available only while the invoice is paid and money remains to refund.
Other actions
The status menu also lets you mark as sent, mark as cancelled, revert to draft, and change the customer on an invoice.
Frequently asked
Can a technician send an invoice?
Yes. The invoices area is open to all members so crews can bill on site. Only processing a refund requires owner or admin.
Why can’t I edit this invoice?
Invoices are editable while in draft, sent, viewed, or overdue. A paid or cancelled invoice is locked.
Can I invoice the same job twice?
No. ShineCRM creates one active invoice per job to keep your records straight. 