How to Create an Invoice and View the Details

This article shows you how to find an invoice (bill), open it to see every detail, and decide what to do with it. It also explains how to download invoices as PDF files.

note

Invoices are not created in the admin platform. They are sent to you by internal subcontractors (workers who invoice you at an hourly rate). Once a worker sends an invoice, it appears on the Bills page for you to review. See What Are Bills and How They Work.

Step 1: Open the Bills page

In the left-hand menu, go to Finance and click Bills.

On this page, invoices and bills mean the same thing. Some labels, such as Invoice Number, still use the word "invoice".

Step 2: Find the invoice

Use the tools above the list to narrow it down:

Filter	How to use it
Search...	Type an invoice number.
Select date range	Pick a start date and an end date on the calendar.
Project:	Pick one project, or All Projects.
Status	Show only invoices with one status, for example Pending.
App User	Tick one or more workers to see only their invoices.
Clear Filters	The funnel icon with a cross. Removes all filters.

The list shows these columns:

Column	What it shows
Invoice Number	The invoice's reference number.
Issued By	The worker who sent the invoice.
Project	The project the invoice is for.
Notes	A speech-bubble badge if the invoice has a note.
Period Start / Period End	The dates of the work being billed.
Amount	The total amount, including GST if charged.
Due Date	When the invoice should be paid.
Issued Date	When the worker sent the invoice.
Status	Where the invoice is up to, for example Pending or Paid.

Use Rows per page (25, 50 or 100) and the Previous / Next buttons to move through long lists.

Bills list with the search, date range, project, status and app user filters

Step 3: Open the invoice details

Click anywhere on the invoice row. A panel slides up from the bottom of the screen with the full details.

Top of the panel

Detail	What it shows
Invoice No.	The invoice number.
Hourly Rate	The worker's hourly rate (in AUD).
Pay Period	The start and end dates of the work.
Project	The project the invoice is for.

Contractor Details: Contractor, ABN, Address and Phone Number.

Bank Details: Bank Name, BSB and Account Number.

tip

Click the small copy icon next to a detail (such as the BSB or account number) to copy it. This saves typing when you make the payment in your banking system.

Line items: a table with one row per day, showing Date, Pay Rate, Hours and Amount. Under the table you'll see Total Hours, Subtotal, GST (10%) (only shown when the invoice includes GST) and Total Amount.

Timesheet check: on the right, SwiftCheckin compares the invoice with the worker's real timesheets and shows any differences. See Invoice Anomaly Detection and How It Works.

Invoice details panel showing contractor and bank details, line items, actual timesheet data and the action buttons

Step 4: Approve, decline or request a correction

These buttons appear at the bottom of the panel only when the invoice is Pending.

To approve:

1. Click Approve.
2. In the Approve Invoice window, click Approve again to confirm.

To decline:

1. Click Decline.
2. Type the reason in the Enter reason box.
3. Click Decline.

To ask the worker to fix it:

1. Click Request for Correction.
2. Type what needs fixing in the Enter reason box.
3. Click Submit.

The Decline and Submit buttons stay greyed out until you type a reason. Click Close to go back without making a change. Click Cancel to close the panel.

Reason box shown after clicking Decline, with the Close and Decline buttons

Step 5: Read the notes

Click View Notes at the bottom of the panel. A number on the button shows how many notes there are. Notes added while the invoice was being reviewed are listed with the author's name and the date. If there are none, you will see No notes available.

Step 6: Update payment status

After an invoice is approved, you can change its status from the list without opening it:

1. In the Status column, click the status drop-down.
2. Choose Approved, Paid or Overdue.

You will see the message "Invoice status updated successfully."

Status drop-down in the Bills list showing the Paid, Overdue and Approved options

Download invoices

One invoice: click the download icon at the end of the invoice's row. The invoice file downloads to your computer.

Several invoices as one PDF:

1. Tick the boxes next to the invoices you want (or tick the box in the header to select all on the page).
2. Click Merge & Download PDF.
3. You will see "Your invoices are being merged. You'll be notified once it's complete."
4. When it's ready, you'll see "Your invoices have been merged successfully!" and SwiftCheckin takes you to the Downloads page, where you can download the file.

Troubleshooting

Message	What to do
Merge failed. Something went wrong while merging the invoices. Please try again.	Try the merge again. If it keeps failing, try fewer invoices at a time.
No results found.	No invoices match your filters. Click Clear Filters and try again.
The Approve, Decline and Request for Correction buttons are missing	These only show for Pending invoices.

Related articles

• What Are Bills and How They Work
• Invoice Anomaly Detection and How It Works
• How to View and Edit Timesheets