Send an order invoice to a customer in Shopify
A draft order needs a way for the customer to pay from home. Sending an invoice emails the customer a link to a checkout where they enter their billing details, pick a shipping method, and pay. This tutorial sends the invoice for a $144.00 draft order to Dana Whitfield.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Customer | Dana Whitfield |
| 3 × Trail Cap, $36.00 | $108.00 |
| 1 × Canvas Tote, $24.00 | $24.00 |
| Subtotal | $132.00 |
| Shipping | $12.00 |
| Total before tax | $144.00 |
Download the invoice record: invoice-record.csv (87 bytes).
The lines for the invoiced draft. The two line totals add to the $132.00 subtotal in the slip above.
1Build the draft first
From your Shopify admin, go to Orders, then Drafts, and click Create order to create a new draft order, or click an existing draft. This draft holds three Trail Caps at $36.00 and one Canvas Tote at $24.00, a subtotal of $132.00, plus $12.00 shipping, for $144.00 before tax.
2Add the customer contact details
Before you send an invoice for a draft order, add the customer email address or phone number. If you do not include contact information, the order confirmation will not be sent, and you cannot send it after the draft order is created. Add Dana Whitfield and her email address now.
3Open Send invoice
From the Payments section, click Send invoice. In the Send invoice dialog, enter the message that you want to include in the invoice. State the total, what is in the order, and how long the offer stands.
4Check the price lock, then review
Product prices are locked by default. To unlock all prices on the order, deactivate the Product prices setting: deactivating the price lock toggle when sending an invoice automatically unlocks all product prices in the draft order. Then click Review invoice and read the invoice back: the lines, the total, and the customer email.
5Send the invoice
In the dialog, review your invoice, and then click Send invoice. Dana receives an email with a link to the checkout page. After she completes the checkout process using the link, the draft order becomes an order in the Orders page and is automatically marked as Paid.
The arithmetic
| Line | Quantity | Unit price | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail Cap | 3 | $36.00 | $108.00 |
| Canvas Tote | 1 | $24.00 | $24.00 |
| Subtotal | $132.00 | ||
| Shipping | $12.00 | ||
| Total before tax | $144.00 |
The total before tax is $144.00. Tax is added by Shopify once the customer and address are set, so the amount Dana pays at checkout is $144.00 plus the tax on this order.
Held at the counter
Do not mark the draft as paid before the customer pays. Be careful not to mark the draft order as Paid before receiving the payment, or else the link in the invoice will not work, and the customer will not be able to complete the checkout process.
Zero stock blocks the checkout. If you send an invoice and the invoice includes products with no available inventory, customers trying to check out are notified that the item is out of stock and cannot complete the sale. Add the required inventory and reserve the products for the draft order, or take the payment in the admin instead.
Terms in another currency block the invoice. You can send invoices for orders with a Payment pending status. But if the draft order is in a local currency other than your store currency and you set payment terms, you can only collect payment by credit card or by marking the order as paid.
Sources
- Sending invoices for draft orders — Shopify's help pages: sending an invoice with a checkout link, sharing a checkout link, and the checks to run before you send an invoice.
- Creating draft orders — Shopify's help pages: the full create-draft steps, custom items, inventory warnings, reserving items, and the invoice, payment, and payment-terms options.