How to create a prepayment invoice

Quick answer

Create prepayment invoices by activating the Billing app, setting up fixed-price products with period placeholders, configuring a client contract, then generating and sending the invoice. Only fixed-price products can be included on prepayment invoices — hourly or per-piece products are not supported.

Who can do this

• Company Owners and Company Admins can always set up prepayment invoices.
• Company Members can manage invoices and contracts based on the billing settings in Settings & Apps > Billing > Settings. Important: Prepayment invoices can only include products with a fixed price. Hourly or per-piece products cannot be used.

Step 1 — Activate the Billing app

If you have not already, activate the Billing app in Settings & Apps to enable all invoicing features. See Billing overview.

Step 2 — Create fixed-price products

1. Open Settings & Apps > Billing > Setup > Articles and click + Add.
2. Add the fixed-price services you want to include.
3. To make the invoice period clear to clients, use placeholders in the product name or description — for example, ##{{invoice_next_period}} will automatically show the upcoming billing period.

Using ##{{invoice_next_period}} in the product name makes it immediately clear to the client what billing period the prepayment covers. See Billing placeholders for the full placeholder list.

Step 3 — Set up a client contract

1. Open the client profile and go to Financials > Contracts.
2. Click Add contract.
3. Add the fixed-price products to the contract.
4. Set the start date for the prepayment period.

Step 4 — Generate and send the invoice

Once the billing period begins, Uku generates the invoice automatically and places it in Draft status.

1. Open Billing from the main navigation and go to the Invoices section.
2. Select the draft invoices you want to finalise.
3. Click Create to move them to Created status.
4. Review the invoice, then send it to the client.

Troubleshooting

The invoice is not being generated automatically

Verify that the contract has the correct start date and that the billing period has begun. The invoice will only appear as a Draft once the period starts.

Non-fixed-price products appear on the invoice

Prepayment invoices only support fixed price products. Remove any hourly or per-piece products from the client contract.

Placeholders are not replaced on the invoice

Check the placeholder syntax — use the exact ##{{placeholder_name}} format. Placeholders are resolved when the invoice is generated, not when you save the product.

The invoice is stuck in Draft status

Drafts must be manually moved to Created status. Select the invoices in the Draft tab and click Create.