Sending your first invoice

This is a five-minute walkthrough from a brand-new account to a sent invoice. Sliptree's editor lets you do everything from one screen — add a customer, line items, your logo, bank account, and more — so you don't have to visit settings before sending your first invoice.

Sign up

1. Open the sign-up page.
2. Enter your name, email, and a password.
3. Click Register.

You'll land on a short form asking for your business name.

Create your business

The only required field is Business name. Address, registration number, and VAT number are optional and can be filled in later.

In some countries, Sliptree can fill in your business details automatically. Start typing the registered name and pick a match from the dropdown, and the registration number, address, and VAT number are filled in for you. If your country isn't supported, fill in the fields by hand.

Click Save to land on the dashboard.

Create the invoice

Click New invoice in the top right of the dashboard. The invoice editor opens with a blank document — the preview on the left, an editing side-panel on the right.

Add a customer

Click the Recipient block on the document to open the Customer panel. In the Name field, start typing the customer's name.

• If you already have them saved, pick them from the dropdown.
• Otherwise, click Add new customer to fill in their details (at least name and email). They'll be saved for next time.

In countries where Sliptree supports business-registry lookup, typing a registered business name shows matches from the registry below the search — pick one and the registration number, address, and VAT number fill in for you.

Add line items

Each line on the invoice is something you're charging for — a product, a service, or one-off work.

1. In the first line's Product / Service field, type a name (e.g. Web design or Consulting hours).
2. Fill in Qty (quantity).
3. Fill in Price per unit.
4. Pick a VAT rate from the dropdown. Your country's default rates were set up automatically when you created the business.

The line total updates as you type. To add another line, click + Add line below the line list.

If you'd like to reuse this line item on future invoices, click Save as product in the line-item side-panel, and it is added to your product catalogue. Skip this if it's a one-off.

Set invoice details

Click the Invoice no. block at the top of the document to open the Invoice details panel. From there you can adjust:

• Invoice date and Due date
• Currency (for foreign-currency invoices)
• Payment method — pick from a list (Bank transfer, Card, Cash, Check, PayPal, Other)
• Language (separately from your account language — useful when invoicing customers abroad)
• Late fee (per day) (if you charge one)

For free-form text — payment instructions, a thank-you message, anything else — use the Notes field at the bottom of the document. Select text there to format it: bold, lists, headings and links show on the invoice page and in the PDF exactly as you see them. See Formatting text.

None of these are required to complete and send the invoice, because the defaults work for most cases.

Make it yours (optional)

You can customise the look and add bank details from inside the editor, without leaving for settings:

• Click the logo placeholder at the top of the document to upload your logo and pick a theme / brand colour.
• Click the company footer area below the line items to add a bank account so customers know how to pay. See Adding a bank account to invoices for the full picture.
• Open Invoice settings from the editor's default side-panel to toggle which line-item columns appear (Quantity, Unit, Discount, VAT) and other display options like the "Invoice created by" line and price-with-or-without-tax labels.

Complete and send

1. Click Save & complete (in the Save button menu in the top right). This finalises the document and assigns it a number, and you can still edit it later if needed.
2. On the completed invoice, click Send invoice.
3. A side panel slides in with the recipient's email pre-filled and a default cover message. Edit anything you like.
4. Click Send.

Sliptree emails the invoice with a PDF attached and a public view link, so the customer can also open it in the browser without downloading anything.

You can also send the invoice as an e-invoice, delivered straight into the recipient's accounting software. To do that, set up e-invoicing first — see Setting up e-invoicing.

That's the first invoice done. Next time you start a new one, you'll already have customers, products, and a styled template ready to go.