How to send an invoice from your phone before you leave the job

To send an invoice from your phone, build it from the line items you already sell, show the customer the total while you’re still on site, and send it with a pay link by email or text before you start the truck. The customer can pay from the link on their own phone, and you’re not writing invoices at the kitchen table at 9 p.m. The whole thing works because the prices are saved ahead of time, so set those up first.

Why send it before you leave?

Because the job is never fresher in the customer’s mind than when you’re standing in their driveway. They saw the work, they agreed to the price, and they have their phone in their hand. An invoice that arrives three days later competes with everything else they’ve got going on.

It’s also your own time. Every invoice you leave for the evening is one more thing between you and dinner, and the ones left for “this weekend” are the ones that slide.

What do you need set up first?

A little setup saves you typing on every job:

1. Your business details: name, phone, email, logo, and your license number if your trade or state wants it on paper.
2. Saved line items for what you sell most: “Service call”, “Drain clean”, “Water heater install, 50 gal”, each with your price. Pricing from saved items keeps your prices consistent and the invoice quick.
3. Your tax rate, so the total does the math.
4. A way to take payment online. In FieldFlow that’s connecting Stripe in Settings, which takes a short sign-up; once it’s connected, the invoices you send carry a pay link.

How do you build the invoice on site?

• Start from the job, so the customer and address are already on it.
• Add the saved items you used. Change a quantity or a price if this job was different, and add a line for anything unusual so the customer can see what they’re paying for.
• Add materials as their own lines. “Parts” is the line that starts arguments; “1/2 in. ball valve, 2 @ $18” doesn’t.
• Pick the terms. Due on receipt is normal for a homeowner who’s right there.
• Turn the screen around and walk the customer through the total. Questions are cheaper now than in a week.

If you wrote an estimate first and the customer signed it, convert it instead of starting over: in FieldFlow, a signed estimate becomes the invoice in one tap, with nothing retyped. More on that in estimates and invoices.

How do you send it?

Send it the way this customer reads messages:

• Email leaves a record you can both find later, and the customer gets a link to view and pay.
• A text gets opened sooner. FieldFlow doesn’t text customers from its own number; Text from my phone fills in the message and the pay link, and your phone’s Messages app sends it, so it comes from the number they already have saved.

Before it goes out, FieldFlow has you issue the invoice, which gives it its number and locks it, then send it. That two-step is deliberate: an issued invoice is a record, so it can’t quietly change after the customer has seen it.

How does the customer pay from their phone?

They tap the link and pay by card, or by bank transfer (ACH) where your Stripe account supports it. A card costs 3.2% + $0.30 and a bank transfer 1.1% or less, which on a $625 job or bigger is a real difference; see payments for the numbers. If they’d rather use Venmo, PayPal or Zelle, add your handle once and the invoice shows a code they can scan to pay you directly; you then log that payment against the invoice in two taps, the same as cash or a check.

Card and bank payments mark the invoice paid on their own, and your phone gets a notification when one lands.

What if they don’t pay right away?

Most people who don’t pay on the spot simply forgot. Turn on reminders once and overdue invoices get a follow-up email at 3, 7, 14 and 30 days, so you’re not making the awkward call. If someone has asked not to get reminders, switch them off for that customer.

Do you need an app to do this?

You can do a version of it with an invoice template and your phone’s email. What you give up is the pay link, the follow-ups and knowing at a glance who owes you what.

FieldFlow is built around this exact moment in the driveway. It’s $19/month for the whole business, every user included, and you can try it on your own jobs with a 90-day free trial, no card. If you’re weighing it against another tool, the Jobber and Housecall Pro comparisons show the prices side by side.

Questions owners ask

What should a trades invoice include?

Your business name and contact details (and license number where your trade requires it), the customer's name and the job address, an invoice number and date, each line item with a quantity and price, tax, the total, the payment terms, and how to pay.

Is it better to email or text an invoice?

Send it the way the customer actually reads messages. Email leaves a record both of you can find later; a text gets opened sooner. In FieldFlow you can email it, or use Text from my phone, which fills in the message and the pay link for your phone's own Messages app to send.

What payment terms should I put on a residential invoice?

Due on receipt is common for residential service work, because the customer is usually standing there. Net 15 or net 30 suits commercial accounts that pay on a cycle. Whatever you choose, print it on the invoice so the due date is never a surprise.

Do I need a card reader to take payment on the spot?

Not with a pay link. The customer opens the link on their own phone and pays by card or bank transfer. In FieldFlow a card payment costs 3.2% + $0.30 and a bank transfer 1.1% or less, through your own Stripe account.