Choose how you'll invoice
About 10 minutes · For owners · Needs Pro or Business · Last checked in v0.61.0, Oct 2026
Fifi can write your invoices, email them, record what customers pay, take card payments through Stripe and hand your numbers to QuickBooks. You don't have to use all of it. This guide helps you pick the pieces that fit your business, then points you to the guide for each. It takes about ten minutes to read, and none of your choices is permanent.
Note
Fifi isn't an accountant or a tax adviser. Ask yours about sales tax and how long to keep records.
The question
An invoice goes through four steps, and each has more than one way to do it. Decide these four things once, and the rest of this series follows.
| Step | The choice |
|---|---|
| A. Create it | By hand, or from a visit, stay, service record, deal or load |
| B. Send it | Email from Fifi, or mark it as sent and deliver it yourself |
| C. Get paid | Record payments by hand, take cards and bank debits with Stripe, or both |
| D. Keep the books | Nothing, a QuickBooks file, or QuickBooks Online sync |
Needs: the Invoicing module on the Pro or Business plan. Invoices, online payments and QuickBooks sync come together with it: there's no extra switch or add-on. Fifi takes no fee on payments. Stripe charges its own processing fees, and your business pays them.
What Fifi doesn't do
Read this before you pick, so nothing surprises you later.
- No recurring invoices. A monthly retainer is a new invoice each month. Duplicate copies the last one into a new draft.
- No credit notes. To fix an issued invoice, void it and make a new one. To give a discount, add a line with a negative price.
- No price list. A line's price is whatever you type, or the last price you charged for that service.
- One tax rate per invoice. Combine your state and local rates into one. You can mark each line taxable or not.
- US dollars only. Stripe and QuickBooks sync work for US businesses.
- Only QuickBooks. There is no Xero or other accounting connection. QuickBooks Online has the sync; QuickBooks Desktop has a file.
- No part-payment from the customer link. The Pay button takes the invoice's full balance. Part payments are recorded by hand.
The Invoices reference has the full rules.
Your options
A. Create by hand, or from your records
| Option | Good for | Not so good for | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| By hand: Invoices → New invoice, pick the customer, type the lines | Anything: retainers, one-off jobs, extra charges | Retyping what Fifi already knows about the visit or the load | Consultants, agencies, odd jobs |
| From a record: the Invoice button on a visit, stay, service record or load, or New invoice on a deal | The customer, the words and the quantity arrive filled in. The record then shows Invoiced, so you can't bill it twice (a deal can be billed in parts) | Only works for records in modules you have on. You still check each price | Groomers, kennels, pest control, freight |
| Mixed: start from a record, then Add line | Trip charges, discounts, late-pickup fees: extras the record doesn't know about | Nothing, except one more step | Most service businesses |
B. Send from Fifi, or mark it as sent
| Option | Good for | Not so good for | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Send…: Fifi issues the invoice and emails it with a link to view it online | One step. The email says your business name, replies come to you, and Fifi records when the link was opened | The customer needs an email address on a contact. Limits apply: 5 emails a day for one invoice | Customers who read email |
| Mark as sent…: Fifi issues the invoice and emails nothing | Handing a printed invoice over at the counter. Sending the link yourself by text or your own email. Customers with no email | You deliver it. Fifi can't remind a customer with no email address | Counter sales, text-only customers |
Either way the invoice is numbered, locked and kept for 7 years. A Copy customer link button gives you the private link, whichever you picked.
C. Get paid
| Option | Good for | Not so good for | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record by hand: cash, check, bank transfer, a card you took on your own terminal | No setup and no cost from Fifi. Partial payments and deposits are easy. Works the same for every customer | You enter each payment. Customers can't pay from the invoice | Counter businesses, checks, a few big invoices |
| Stripe online: customers click Pay on the invoice link and pay by card, or by US bank debit if you turn that on in Stripe | Fifi records the payment itself, with Stripe's fee. Faster for customers who pay from their phone | You need your own US Stripe account. Stripe charges its fees. Full balance only, at least $0.50 | Customers who pay by card from email |
| Both: Stripe for those who click Pay, hand entry for the rest | You never refuse a way of paying. A hand payment lowers the balance, and Pay then charges what's left | Two places to look, though they land on the same invoice | Most businesses that take cards |
Put cash and check instructions in How to pay in Settings → Invoicing. They appear on every invoice.
D. Keep the books
| Option | Good for | Not so good for | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing: use Fifi's Payments and Receivables pages and Export CSV | No setup. You can see who owes what and how late | Your bookkeeper retypes the numbers | Sole traders, no accountant yet |
| A QuickBooks file (Invoices → Export for QuickBooks) | Works for QuickBooks Online (invoice CSV) and Desktop (IIF, invoices or payments). You choose when it happens | Manual: you export and import each batch. Online's CSV can't carry discount lines or payments, and sales tax only as a plain line. Refunds aren't in the file | Desktop users, monthly batches |
| QuickBooks Online sync (Settings → Integrations) | Issued invoices and your recorded payments reach QuickBooks within about a minute. Payments recorded in QuickBooks come back to Fifi | QuickBooks Online only. Needs an owner or admin who is also an admin of the QuickBooks company. Refunds aren't sent. Coming soon until Fifi's Intuit setup is done | Online users who want it hands-free |
Don't use both the sync and a file for the same invoices: QuickBooks would hold them twice. The export dialog warns you when the sync is connected.
What we recommend
| Your business | Create | Send | Get paid | Books |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo consultant | By hand, or from a deal | Send from Fifi | Stripe for card payers, bank transfers by hand | Nothing at first, then the sync if you use QuickBooks Online |
| Groomer | From visits, plus extras | Mark as sent at the counter, Send for the rest | By hand: Card for your terminal, Cash | A monthly file for your bookkeeper |
| Boarding kennel | From stays | Send at check-out | Both. Record the deposit after you issue the invoice | A monthly file, or the sync |
| Pest control | From service records. Untick Taxable on lines like trip charges | Send from Fifi | Checks by hand, Stripe for businesses that prefer cards | The sync, if you use QuickBooks Online |
| Freight broker | From delivered loads. The shipper's reference becomes the PO | Send from Fifi, with Net 30 or Net 45 terms | Bank transfers by hand, or Stripe bank debit for large invoices | The sync, or Desktop's IIF file |
| A team with a bookkeeper | Whatever each person's work needs | Send from Fifi | Both | The sync or a file; make the bookkeeper an admin to export |
These are starting points, not rules. If you can't decide, begin with "by hand or from records, Send from Fifi, record payments by hand, no accounting". Everything else can be added later.
What it costs
- Fifi: nothing beyond your plan. Invoicing is in Pro and Business.
- Stripe: its fees for each payment, charged to your Stripe account. See Stripe's pricing page (as of October 2026). Fifi doesn't set or add to them.
- QuickBooks: your subscription with Intuit. Fifi doesn't change it.
Where next
- Set up invoicing: numbering, tax, terms and your details. Everyone starts here.
- Create and send your first invoice.
- Record payments and chase overdue invoices.
- Optional: take card payments with Stripe, then move invoices into QuickBooks with a file or connect QuickBooks Online.
- When something goes wrong: Invoicing troubleshooting.
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