Invoice Operations

The Invoice index page displays the list of invoices generated for your customers. You can access a specific invoice by clicking on it. Chargebee allows you to perform the following operations on an invoice:

Fundamental Operations

These are the basic operations you can perform on any invoice, regardless of its status.

Update address

Using the Update Invoice Address option, you can edit the billing and shipping address information listed on an invoice. You can also update non-address fields such as First Name, Last Name, Email, Company, and Phone. Note that this action only updates the address details on the invoice and does not update the billing or shipping details of the customer or subscription.

Update PO Number

Using the Update PO Number option, you can update the Purchase Order Number on the invoice.

This option is helpful when:

1. The PO Number was not entered while creating a subscription.
2. The PO Number has been modified and needs to be updated on older invoices.

Create a Credit note

If you want to return an amount to the customer in the form of credits, use the Create Credit Note operation.

You can create Credit Notes as either refundable or adjustable, based on the invoice status.

• For a Paid invoice, you can only provide refundable credits (refundable credit note).
• For a Payment Due/Not Paid invoice, you can only adjust the due amount (adjustment credit note).

Actions for Paid Invoices

You can access actions for a paid invoice by clicking the ellipsis icon on the invoice.

A screenshot showcasing the actions available for a paid invoice is shown below:

Record an offline refund

Using the Record an offline refund option, you can issue refunds for offline payments made by cash, check, or bank transfer.

Issue a refund

Using the Issue a refund option, you can issue refunds for paid or partially paid invoices. This option is available only if the payment was made online or via bank transfer.

Remove payment

Using the Remove option, you can remove the payment associated with an invoice.

The screenshot below shows where you can find the Remove option:

Actions for Payment Due/Not Paid Invoices

You can access actions for a Payment Due/Not Paid invoice by clicking the ellipsis icon on the invoice.

The screenshot below shows the actions available for a payment due invoice (these are also available for not paid invoices):

Set expected payment date

The Set expected payment date option allows you to set the date when payment is expected from the customer. You can also set a payment expected date while pausing dunning for an invoice.

Pause dunning

The Pause dunning option is available only when the invoice is in dunning. It is used to suspend the dunning process until a certain date. On reaching that date, Chargebee's behavior will depend on whether the date was set within or outside the dunning period.

Stop dunning

The Stop dunning option is available only when the invoice is in dunning. It is used to stop the dunning process and cancel all scheduled retries for an invoice. However, the subscription will remain Active and the invoice will be marked as Not Paid, regardless of the final action set in dunning.

Collect now

Using the Collect Now option, you can collect full or partial payment for an invoice. This option will not appear if there is no payment method on file.

Record payment

Using the Record Payment option, you can manually record offline payments.

Based on the amount recorded, the payment is considered either a Partial Payment (less than the invoice amount) or Excess Payment (more than the invoice amount).

Partial Payments: When recording the payment, enter the amount collected in the Amount field. The partial amount is deducted from the total amount of the due invoice.

The invoice remains in Payment Due or Not Paid status until the entire due amount is recorded.

Excess Payments: If an excess amount is recorded, it will be added as an Excess Payment at the customer level. This will automatically be applied to future invoices or can be manually applied to existing Not Paid or Payment Due invoices for the customer.

Apply Credits

The Apply Credits option appears if there are any refundable credits available for the customer. When selected, the list of available Refundable Credits will be shown and you can choose which credit to apply to the invoice.

Apply payments

The Apply payments option appears if there is any excess amount available for the customer. When selected, the list of available Excess Payments will be shown and you can choose which payment to apply to the invoice.

Write-off

If the invoice's due amount was not collected after multiple attempts, you can use the Write Off operation to close the invoice.

When this option is used:

• An Adjustment Credit Note will be created for the invoice due amount. This Credit Note will have the reason code "Write Off" and will be applied to the same invoice.
• The invoice's status will be marked as Paid.

Void

Using the Void option, you can cancel an invoice generated with incorrect details. You can recover a voided invoice by regenerating it after correcting the invoice details.

The Void option is available only for the roles of Owner, Admin, Sales Manager, and Customer Support. Voiding an invoice will trigger the invoice_updated event.

You can void an invoice when:

• The invoice amount is incorrect.
• The customer requests a change to the invoice.
• The customer cancels the order.

You cannot void an invoice if it has payments associated with it. However, you can void an invoice after removing the payments.

Delete

This option is used to permanently delete an invoice.

The Delete option is available only for the roles of Owner and Admin. Deleting an invoice will trigger the invoice_deleted event.

An invoice cannot be deleted if:

• The invoice has been paid for
• Credit Notes were applied to the invoice

Regenerate invoice

The Regenerate invoice option lets you restore a voided invoice after making any necessary changes. To correct the details of an invoice before regenerating, navigate to the relevant resources (Customer, Subscription, Plan, Addon, and Coupon) and make the changes.

See our FAQ on scenarios when an invoice can be regenerated.

Example:

If an invoice has an incorrect shipping or billing address, you can change it in the relevant subscription before regenerating the invoice.

If an invoice has incorrect tax details, navigate to Settings > Configure Chargebee > Taxes and change the tax configuration before regenerating the invoice.

After making the necessary corrections, follow these steps to regenerate the invoice.

Step 1: Navigate to the subscription record of the voided invoice using the subscription link at the top of the invoice details page and select the Regenerate invoice option from the banner as shown below:

Step 2: Choose a billing term

1. Full Term - The invoice will be generated for the entire billing term.
2. Custom Period - Select a specific period for which you want to regenerate the invoice.

Step 3: Configure the options for Custom Period:

1. Choose a custom period for which you want to regenerate the invoice.
2. Choose Start and End date (make sure these dates are within the billing cycle).

   Note: The time component chosen will not apply if Chargebee is running on day-based billing mode.

3. Choose whether to prorate the charges for that period.
4. Choose to invoice the charges immediately or add them to unbilled charges (if Consolidated Invoicing is enabled).

Actions for Pending Invoices

If you have enabled metered billing on your Chargebee site, invoices will be generated in Pending status. You can perform the following actions on these invoices.

Add charge

To include one-time charges, use the Add Charge option.

Add addon

Use the Add Addon option to include an addon in the invoice.

Close this invoice

Use the Close this invoice option to add all usage-based charges and post the invoice. When you click Close this invoice, the Close Invoice pop-up displays all the Invoice notes present for this invoice. You can remove some of these notes and add a new note as needed. This note is displayed first in the invoice under Invoice Notes.

The invoice status changes from Pending to Payment Due.

Invoices API

You can also perform operations related to invoices using the Invoices API.

FAQ

Will the invoice number change when you regenerate an invoice?

Yes, the invoice number will be different when you regenerate the invoice for the subscription.

How do invoice operations affect orders in Chargebee?

See this section on the Chargebee Orders page.

Can I send a quote to a customer and later convert it into an invoice?

Yes. Learn more about quotes and proforma invoices in Chargebee.

What is the difference between deleting and voiding an invoice?

If an invoice is deleted, it is removed from the system and the operation cannot be undone. If you are filing taxes, deleting an invoice might be problematic because you will lose the record of the invoice number sequence. For example, if Invoice #002 is deleted, the list of invoices would then be #001, #003, #004, #005, and so on.

If an invoice is voided, the invoice status will be marked as Voided but the invoice will still be available in the system.

When can an invoice be regenerated?

Scenario 1: If you missed adding a coupon to the subscription or taxes were applied incorrectly, you can use the Regenerate Invoice option. When an invoice is generated with an incorrect amount, coupons, taxes, or shipping/billing address, you may void the invoice, make corrections, and then regenerate the invoice with accurate details.

Scenario 2: If subscriptions are imported into Chargebee (via API), invoices will not be created automatically. In this case, you can create an invoice using the Regenerate Invoice option.

An invoice can be regenerated when: a) A subscription has no current term invoices (invoices are voided/deleted) b) A subscription has no current term unbilled charges

An invoice cannot be regenerated when:

• A subscription is in In-Trial, Future, or Cancelled state
• A subscription has a recurring invoice for the current term
• A subscription has recurring unbilled charges for the current term
• A subscription has an Advance Invoice