Trade Invoice Tracking That Shows What Still Needs Paying

The customer may be happy and the tools may be back in the van, but the job is not commercially complete if the invoice is unsent or the balance remains unpaid.

Tools2Done keeps each invoice connected to the customer, quote and project. You can see whether it is a draft, sent, part-paid, paid or overdue, record customer payments and identify which balances need action.

An unpaid job can be hiding in several different places

Not every missing payment is an overdue invoice. The real problem may be that the invoice has not yet been sent, the customer has made a part-payment or the payment has arrived without being recorded.

Trying to answer those questions from an inbox, a banking app and a notebook wastes time. It also increases the risk of chasing the wrong amount or forgetting an invoice completely.

See the position of each trade invoice

Tools2Done supports draft, sent, part-paid, paid, overdue and cancelled invoice states. The dashboard highlights draft invoices waiting to be sent and overdue invoices requiring attention. It also shows outstanding and overdue invoice values, giving the owner a clearer view of money that has been billed but not yet collected.

You can search invoices by reference, customer, project, amount or date. That makes it easier to answer a customer query without searching through old messages to work out which job they mean.

Create the invoice from the commercial record

An invoice can be created:

• manually for a standalone piece of work;
• from an agreed quote;
• from a quote payment-schedule stage;
• for a remaining project balance; or
• off schedule for a variation, extra or one-off payment.

Creating the invoice from the relevant quote or project reduces the need to retype the commercial trail. The customer, job and invoice remain connected, making it easier to see what was quoted, what has been invoiced and what has been paid.

Record part-payments without losing the remaining balance

Suppose an electrician raises an invoice for £2,250 and the customer pays £1,500. The invoice should not remain shown as fully outstanding, and it should not be marked as paid.

Tools2Done lets you record the payment amount, date, method and any reference or notes. The remaining balance stays visible so the follow-up can refer to the correct £750 rather than the original £2,250.

A receipt can be emailed when a payment is recorded, and a receipt can be sent automatically when the recorded payment clears the full balance.

Give customers a clear route to the invoice

Invoices support print and PDF output as well as customer online links. Relevant paperwork can also be made available through the customer portal where that is being used.

If Stripe customer payments are configured, customers can pay online by card. Otherwise, invoices can display the business bank details needed for a transfer. Card payment availability depends on the business having the relevant payment setup in place.

This does not remove the need to follow up, but it reduces avoidable friction such as missing bank details, an unavailable invoice copy or uncertainty about which reference to use.

A practical invoice-control workflow

1. Create the invoice: raise it from the quote, payment stage or project balance where appropriate.
2. Review and send it: check the work description, amounts, VAT treatment where relevant, terms and due date.
3. Monitor its position: distinguish invoices that are sent but not due from balances that are overdue.
4. Record every payment: add the date, amount, method and reference so the remaining balance is accurate.
5. Act from the dashboard: send drafts, follow up overdue items and investigate part-payments instead of relying on memory.

Tools2Done does not require every customer to be chased in the same way. It gives the business owner the information needed to decide what action is appropriate.

Examples from day-to-day trade work

A builder has completed the final stage

The job is marked as completed, but the final stage invoice remains a draft. The dashboard brings the draft invoice back to the owner's attention so it can be reviewed and issued.

A plumber has an overdue call-out invoice

The invoice was sent with a due date but remains unpaid. Its overdue status and balance help the plumber send a specific reminder rather than searching the calendar to remember when the visit happened.

A landscaper has received only part of the payment

The customer pays one transfer against a larger invoice. Recording that payment changes the invoice to part-paid and leaves the true balance visible for follow-up.

An electrician needs the history behind a query

The invoice remains linked to the customer and project, allowing the electrician to review the relevant commercial records without reconstructing the job from separate files and message threads.

Frequently asked questions

Can Tools2Done track part-paid invoices?

Yes. Payments can be recorded against an invoice with the amount, date, method and reference or notes. The remaining unpaid balance stays visible.

Do I need to create every invoice from a quote?

No. Invoices can be created manually, from a quote, from a scheduled payment stage or for the remaining project balance. Off-schedule invoices can also be used for variations, extras or one-off deposits.

Does an outstanding invoice always mean it is overdue?

No. An outstanding invoice has an unpaid balance, but it may still be within its payment terms. An overdue invoice is one whose due date has passed while a balance remains unpaid.

Can customers view invoices online?

Customers can receive online invoice links, and relevant invoices can be accessed through the customer portal where portal access is used. Invoices can also be printed or supplied as PDFs.

Does Tools2Done collect card payments?

Customers can pay online by card when Stripe customer payments have been configured for the business. Otherwise, the invoice can show bank-transfer details.

What happens if an invoice is cancelled?

The cancelled invoice record is retained for the financial history. An invoice with an unresolved payment or refund position cannot simply be cancelled in a way that would distort the recorded figures.

Know what needs sending, recording or chasing

For a deeper process covering reminder wording, part-payments and escalation, read the guide to chasing unpaid invoices for trade work.

Tools2Done brings the customer, quote, project, invoice and payment history together so completed work does not disappear into an untracked message thread. Start using Tools2Done to finish the commercial side of each job as carefully as the work on site.