Invoicing & Payments

Creating Invoices

Invoices in Belvak are created through a guided multi-step form that walks you through every required field. Each invoice is linked to a project, and that project provides the client context and currency for the invoice.

Invoice Fields

When you create a new invoice you will fill in the following details:

The invoice form is split into two steps:

1. Step 1 - Invoice Details - enter a description, amount, currency, payment type, status, and the project the invoice belongs to.
2. Step 2 - Timeline & Documents - set the due date, start date, end date, and attach any supporting documents.

Key fields include:

• Invoice number - shown on the PDF using the selected invoice template's numbering settings. If auto-increment is enabled, approving a PDF snapshot advances the next number.
• Project - link the invoice to a project. This is required, determines the invoice currency, and connects the invoice to the right client.
• Amount - enter the invoiced amount. The currency is set automatically from the linked project and cannot be changed on the invoice. You can also apply tax or VAT on top with the Tax field.
• Payment type - choose between "One-Time" for a single invoice or "Recurring" for invoices that repeat on a schedule tied to a project.
• Start date and end date - define the service or billing period the invoice covers. These are especially useful for recurring invoices where each invoice maps to a specific time range.
• Due date - when payment is expected from the client.
• Status - new invoices typically start as Pending.

Invoice Statuses

Belvak uses three invoice statuses:

• Pending - payment is still expected or the invoice is not fully settled yet.
• Completed - full payment has been received. This status can be set automatically when recorded payments cover the invoice amount.
• Overdue - the invoice needs overdue attention and has not been fully settled.

Viewing Invoice Details

Click any invoice row to open the detail drawer. The drawer shows the invoice amount, status badge, linked project, dates, description, documents, and other associated fields grouped into logical sections. From the drawer you can edit the invoice or open the Invoice PDF preview. To record a payment quickly, use the Add Payment action from the invoice row menu.

Invoice Approval and PDF Snapshots

When an invoice PDF is ready to keep as the official version, use the approval action. Approving an invoice generates a PDF snapshot using your selected template and saves it as an attached document. This creates a permanent, printable record of the invoice at the time of approval.

Invoice PDF Preview

From the invoice drawer, click the Invoice PDF action to open a full-width modal with a live PDF preview. This lets you review exactly how the invoice will look before exporting it or saving an approved snapshot. Fonts, colors, and layout match the final output so you can catch issues before sharing the invoice.

The PDF preview is not just a static display. You can edit the invoice content directly inside the preview, making adjustments before you export or approve. See the Inline PDF Editing section below for the full details.

Inline PDF Editing

The PDF preview is interactive for common last-minute adjustments. Instead of closing the preview, editing fields in a form, and reopening the preview to check the result, you can click supported text fields in the preview to edit them in place.

Editable Elements

The following areas can be edited inline when they are visible in the selected template:

• Company details - name, address, phone number, and email.
• Client information - client name and address.
• Invoice metadata - invoice number, issue date, and due date.
• Line items - descriptions, quantities, and unit prices. Numeric fields like quantities and prices are automatically parsed when you finish editing.
• Labels and headers - column headers, section titles, and template labels that appear in the preview.
• Footer content - footer text, notes, and watermark text.

Editing Workflow

Click any field on the preview to activate editing, type your changes, then click elsewhere to confirm. You can also add new line item rows or remove existing ones directly in the preview, so you do not need to leave the modal to adjust the invoice contents.

Toolbar Controls

The preview toolbar provides zoom controls (zoom in and zoom out) for better visibility when editing small text. It also includes three actions:

1. Export PDF - downloads the current invoice as a PDF file with all your inline edits applied.
2. Approve - saves a PDF snapshot as a document attached to the invoice, locking in your changes as the official record.
3. Approve & Export - saves the snapshot and downloads the PDF in a single step.

Switching Templates

The toolbar includes a template selector dropdown that lets you switch between your saved invoice templates without leaving the preview. Invoice-specific edits such as client text, line items, and dates remain available while you compare templates. Template-label edits, header text, footer text, and branding can change when you switch templates because those come from the selected template.

Currency and Project Linking

Every invoice is linked to a project, and the invoice's currency is automatically set to match the project's currency. When you select a project on the invoice form, the currency field is filled in for you and locked so it cannot be changed. This ensures all invoices under a project use the same currency, which keeps collection progress, financial summaries, and client reporting accurate.

If you need to invoice in a different currency, change the currency on the project itself before payments are recorded. If the project has invoices but no payments, Belvak asks you to confirm that those invoices should move to the new currency. If payments already exist, Belvak blocks the currency change so paid records stay consistent. Future invoices inherit the project's current currency.

Collection Progress

When you link an invoice to a project, the invoice amount contributes to that project's invoiced total. The Projects table includes a Paid / Invoiced progress view so you can compare recorded payments with invoiced amounts. Because invoices and payments use the same project currency, these totals stay comparable.

Tax and VAT on Invoices

Belvak applies tax at the invoice level, so you can charge VAT, GST, or sales tax on your work without maintaining line-item tax tables. Each invoice can carry up to two taxes, and the same rates work for one-time invoices, recurring projects, and maintenance contracts.

Setting Up Your Tax Rates

Go to Settings, open the Preferences tab, and find the Taxes card. Add one or more named rates, such as "VAT" at 5% or "Sales Tax", each with a percentage between 0 and 100. You can also pick a Default Tax, which is pre-selected on every new invoice and recurring contract, and turn on "Amounts include tax by default" if you usually quote tax-inclusive prices.

Rates are copied onto each document when you apply them, so editing or deleting a rate in Settings never changes invoices or contracts you have already created.

Adding Tax to an Invoice

On the invoice form, choose a rate in the Tax field. Your default tax is filled in for you, and you can change or clear it - tax is always optional. Once a first tax is selected, an optional Second tax field becomes available for cases like a federal and a regional tax on the same invoice. A live preview on the form shows the Subtotal, each tax line with its name and rate, and the Total, so you can confirm the math before saving.

Tax-Inclusive and Tax-Exclusive Amounts

The "Amount includes tax" choice on the invoice form controls how the amount you type is treated. Leave it off and tax is added on top of your amount; turn it on and tax is extracted from it. In both cases the invoice total is the full amount your client pays, so payment tracking and collection progress stay accurate.

When you re-open a tax-exclusive invoice for editing, the Amount field shows the before-tax amount, so saving again never applies tax twice.

Tax on Recurring Contracts

Recurring projects and maintenance contracts have their own Tax and Second tax fields. The price you set per period is always the amount before tax; tax is added on top of each generated invoice at the moment you approve it. The Upcoming Invoices panel shows the full amount that will be invoiced, with an "incl. VAT" style hint underneath. If you change a rate in Settings mid-contract, only invoices you approve afterward use the new rate.

Tax Registration Numbers on the PDF

When an invoice carries tax, the PDF shows the Subtotal, each tax line, and the Total. Your client's tax registration number prints on the PDF when you have filled in the Tax Number field on that client's record. Your own tax number comes from your invoice template branding, so it appears on every invoice once set.

Editing Tax on an Invoice

You can add, change, or remove tax on an invoice at any status. A saved invoice keeps the rate it was created with unless you change its tax selection, even if the rate in Settings has moved since. Keep in mind that changing tax on an invoice after payments were recorded does not retroactively adjust referral commissions that were already generated.

How Tax Appears in Your Reports

Revenue and money-in figures on the Overview and Analytics pages are shown net of tax, because the tax you collect is passed on rather than earned. Outstanding balances, invoiced totals, monthly recurring revenue, and collection rate stay at the full invoiced amount, since that is what clients actually owe. Referral commissions are calculated on the before-tax amount of each payment.

Setting Up Recurring Invoices

For clients on retainers, subscriptions, or ongoing service agreements, Belvak supports recurring invoicing tied directly to projects. Instead of creating invoices manually each month, Belvak tracks billing periods and surfaces upcoming invoices for your review.

Marking a Project as Recurring

To enable recurring billing, edit the project, set its type to Recurring, and choose the billing frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Belvak uses the project start date for the first billing period and begins tracking future periods automatically. If you later need to correct the start date or move future unbilled periods, follow the guide to changing recurring project billing dates.

The Upcoming Invoices Panel

The Upcoming Invoices panel shows all billing periods that are due or overdue, plus one future preview period for each active recurring project. This gives you a clear view of what needs to be invoiced and what is coming next.

Approving Upcoming Invoices

When a billing period is due, you can approve it to create the actual invoice. Approving an upcoming invoice does two things:

1. Creates a new invoice with the correct project, amount, currency, and dates for that billing period. If the project has a tax configured, it is added on top of the period price at this moment.
2. Advances the project's next due date to the following period so the next invoice is queued up automatically.

Skipping a Billing Period

If a client has a billing pause or a period does not need to be invoiced, use the Skip action. Skipping advances the next due date without creating an invoice, keeping your billing schedule in sync.

Bulk Approve All Overdue Periods

If you have fallen behind on approvals, the Approve All action creates invoices for every overdue period across all recurring projects in one click. This is useful after a vacation or when catching up on administrative tasks.

Payment Tracking

Record every payment you receive against an invoice to keep your financials accurate and up to date. Belvak automatically updates invoice statuses based on the payments you log, so you always know which invoices are settled and which have outstanding balances. If the client was introduced by a partner, recording the payment can generate a commission entry when the partner's rules allow it. See how commissions are generated for the full lifecycle.

Recording a Payment

To record a payment, navigate to Payments and create a new record. Each payment includes the following fields:

• Amount - the payment amount received.
• Date - the date the payment was received.
• Payment Method - how the payment was made. Optional dropdown with five choices: Bank Transfer, Check, Cash, Credit Card, or Other.
• Reference / Check # - an optional free-text field (up to 100 characters) for the transaction ID, wire confirmation number, check number, or any other identifier you want to keep alongside the payment.
• Currency - set automatically from the linked invoice. Payments always use the same currency as their invoice, so amounts are directly comparable.
• Invoice - the invoice this payment applies to.

Payment Method and Reference Number

Every payment can optionally record how it was received and a reference identifier. Both fields are fully optional, so you can skip them for informal payments and fill them in when you need a paper trail for reconciliation, audits, or client inquiries.

The Payment Method dropdown offers five choices:

• Bank Transfer - wire transfers, ACH, SEPA, or any direct bank-to-bank payment.
• Check - paper checks received by mail or in person.
• Cash - physical cash payments.
• Credit Card - card payments processed through your merchant of choice.
• Other - anything that does not fit the above, such as crypto, a third-party payment app, or an in-kind settlement.

The Reference / Check # field accepts any text up to 100 characters. Use it to store the detail that matters for your method of payment:

• For Bank Transfer, save the wire confirmation or ACH trace ID.
• For Check, save the check number printed on the paper check.
• For Credit Card, save the merchant transaction ID or authorization code.
• For Cash or Other, save a receipt number or any note that helps you match the payment to an external record.

Both fields appear in the payment detail drawer and can be shown as columns in the Payments table via the column visibility toggle, so you can sort by method or reference. You can also use the table's general search to help trace a specific transaction.

Automatic Status Updates

When the total payments recorded against an invoice equal or exceed the invoice amount, the invoice status is automatically set to Completed. You do not need to update the status manually. If a payment is later deleted and the total drops below the invoice amount, a Completed invoice automatically returns to Pending so nothing falls through the cracks.

Collection Progress

Belvak compares payments against invoiced amounts so you can see what has been collected and what is still outstanding. The Projects table shows Paid / Invoiced progress, and payment collection also feeds into the Client Health Score, where it accounts for 40% of the overall score. To see every invoice raised against a single client in one place, open the client and switch to the Related tab, which lists pending, completed, and overdue invoices side by side with the projects they belong to. Collection shows what you have billed and received; to see the labor cost and margin behind a project, see project profitability and labor cost.

Payment Currency

When you select an invoice on the payment form, the currency is automatically set to match the invoice and the field is locked. This ensures every payment is recorded in the same currency as its invoice, which keeps the automatic status updates and collection progress calculations accurate. The currency chain flows from project to invoice to payment, so invoice and payment records under a project stay in the same currency.

If the client has a referral partner and a currency conversion is required for the commission row, saving may briefly fail with a "currency rate unavailable" retry message. More detail in referral commissions across currencies.

Invoice Row Actions

Each invoice row offers quick actions accessible from the three-dot menu or by right-clicking the row:

• View Payments - opens the Payments page filtered to show only payments linked to that invoice.
• Add Payment - opens the payment creation form with the invoice already pre-linked.
• Pend / Complete / Mark Overdue - quick status changes directly from the table, without needing to open the edit form.

Column Visibility and Context Menu

Use the column visibility toggle to show or hide table columns, tailoring the invoices table to the information you need. All row actions described above are also available via a right-click context menu on any row, giving you a faster alternative to the three-dot dropdown.

Getting Paid Online with Stripe

Belvak can collect invoice payments online through your own Stripe account. You share a payment link with your client, they pay by card on a secure Stripe checkout page, and Belvak records the payment and updates the invoice automatically - no manual entry needed. Online payments are available on paid plans.

Connecting Your Stripe Account

Go to Settings, open the Integrations tab, and choose Connect on the Stripe card. Belvak asks for a restricted API key from your Stripe dashboard - never your secret key. Create the key in Stripe under Developers, API keys, Create restricted key, and grant it these permissions:

• Checkout Sessions - Write
• Webhook Endpoints - Write
• Charges and Refunds - Read
• Payment Intents - Read
• Accounts - Read

When Stripe asks how you will use the key, choose Providing this key to a third-party application, enter Belvak as the name, and tick Customize permissions for this key to reveal the permissions list above.

Paste the key into the connect window and Belvak links your Stripe account to your workspace. Your key is stored encrypted and is never shown again. You can disconnect at any time from the same tab; disconnecting stops new payment links but never touches money already in your Stripe account.

Creating and Sharing a Payment Link

Open any invoice and choose Payment link from the row menu or the invoice drawer. Belvak creates a stable public link for that invoice; copy it and send it to your client however you like - email, WhatsApp, or inside your own message. The page shows your logo, the invoice reference, and the amount still due, with a Pay button that takes the client to Stripe checkout. The same invoice always keeps the same link, and the amount shown is always the current outstanding balance, so a client who already paid part of the invoice sees only the remainder.

What Happens After the Client Pays

The payment lands directly in your Stripe account. Belvak records a payment against the invoice automatically (method Credit Card, with the Stripe reference attached), the invoice completes when the balance reaches zero, and the payment page switches to a paid confirmation. Partner commissions are generated exactly as they are for manually recorded payments. See payment tracking for how recorded payments behave.

Revoking a Link, Currencies, and Limits

• Revoke anytime - open the Payment link window and choose Revoke; the public page immediately stops working. Creating a new link afterwards issues a fresh address.
• Supported currencies - invoices in AED, USD, EUR, and GBP can be paid online today. Other currencies keep manual payment tracking.
• Small amounts - Stripe requires a minimum charge (for example 2.00 AED or 0.50 USD); balances below that are settled manually.
• Full balance - the client pays the full remaining balance in one step. Partial online payments are not yet supported.

Invoice Templates and Customization

Belvak includes a full template editor so your invoices match your brand. Choose from built-in presets or create a custom template using the available layout, branding, table, totals, footer, and payment-detail controls. Templates are rendered into polished PDFs when you approve or export an invoice.

Accessing the Template Editor

Go to Settings > Invoice Templates to open the template editor. From here you can browse presets, edit existing templates, or create a new one.

Built-in Presets

Belvak ships with 12 professionally designed preset templates covering a range of styles - from minimal and modern to detailed and formal. Presets are a great starting point. Select one, then customize it to match your brand.

Customization Options

The template editor gives you control over:

• Layout - choose from the available invoice layout styles and adjust header and table presentation.
• Colors - set primary and accent colors to match your brand palette.
• Typography - choose fonts and sizes for headings, body text, and line items.
• Logo - upload your company logo to appear on every invoice.
• Company details - set your company name, address, tax ID, and other information that appears on invoices. See Tax and VAT on invoices for how tax registration numbers print on the PDF.
• Extra invoice details - add custom line-item columns, payment-detail rows, notes, terms and conditions, or payment instructions.

PDF Export

Invoice PDFs are generated from the same invoice layout you preview on screen, so fonts, colors, layout, and spacing are preserved. You can preview the PDF before sharing it with a client and export or download it from the invoice drawer.

Setting a Default Template

Once you have a template you are happy with, set it as the default. The default template is used automatically when approving invoices or generating PDFs, so you do not have to select it each time.