Invoice record
What it's for
An invoice record is one bill in full: the lines it charges for, what has been paid against it, what is still owed, and where it stands with your accounting system. It is where a billing question gets answered.
Reach it by opening any row on Customers → Invoices, or from the job
that produced it. The route is /invoices/<invoice>.
Tabs
- Invoice — the lines and totals.
- Payments — what has been received, with Date, Method, and Amount.
- Activity — the audit trail: who changed what, when, and why.
Panels and controls
Fact strip
Bill to, Issued, Due, Linked WO, and Balance due.
Line items
Add line puts a charge on the invoice that was not on the job. Every added line takes a reason, and every price change takes a reason — Save adjustment will not commit without one. That is deliberate: an invoice that differs from the job it came from should always say why, because that is the question the customer will ask.
Retention and progress
On a progress invoice — one billed from an agreement's schedule of values — this section shows the terms and the schedule behind the bill: Contract value, Retention rate, the linked Agreement, and which Progress application this invoice is (for example "Application 2").
Below that, the schedule of values itself, one row per line plus a Total row: Scheduled value, Previously billed, This invoice, Billed to date, % complete, and Balance to finish.
Last, a retention breakdown: Retention held this invoice, Retention held to date, and Retention released this invoice. Retention never appears as a line item on the invoice itself — this section is where it's accounted for. A progress invoice's lines come from the agreement's schedule of values, not from Add line: on a progress invoice, Add line and Adjust price are hidden and a short note points you to the agreement's schedule of values instead.
Only the most recent progress invoice on an agreement can be voided or deleted, because each progress bill builds on the ones before it. If a later progress invoice is still active, Thermal refuses and changes nothing; void or delete the later progress invoice first, then this one.
Side panels
- Payment — the Balance due, and Record payment to take one.
- Lock state — on a draft, sent, partial, or paid invoice. The badge is Draft — editable, Sent — locked, Exported to accounting, or Paid — locked. A partial or paid invoice, or any invoice with a payment applied, shows Paid — locked even when it has also been exported. A locked invoice says amounts are fixed and to use a credit memo, or void and regenerate, to change them. Prebill and void invoices do not show this card.
- Credit memos — on a sent, partial, or paid invoice. Issue credit records a credit (a reason is required) and does not change this invoice's balance. Send credit note emails it. Create correction invoice starts a negative draft you release with Release credit memo. Owners and office managers see these controls. Dispatchers see the card and the credits on it, and do not see the controls.
- QuickBooks — whether this invoice has reached your accounting system, when QuickBooks is connected. An invoice that has not synced yet reads Not synced yet. It syncs when the invoice is sent. Connection settings opens the integrations page. Thermal runs beside your accounting, never inside it, so this panel is showing you the state of a hand-off rather than doing your books.
- Source — the job or milestone the invoice was drafted from.
Approval
Submit for approval moves a prebill into review rather than sending it straight to the customer, where your company has that step turned on. While that review is waiting, the title line shows Awaiting approval, unless a more urgent chip already holds that spot: Removed in QuickBooks, Payment disputed, On hold or Overdue. An owner or office manager uses Approve for sending. A dispatcher does not see that button. Approving marks the invoice Sent.
What it accepts
| Field | Format | Required | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit price | Dollars | Yes, to adjust a line | |
| Reason for adjustment | Free text | Yes, to adjust a line | The adjustment will not save without it |
| Description | Free text | Yes, per added line | What the customer reads |
| Kind | Pick a kind | Yes, per added line | |
| Quantity | A number | Yes, per added line | |
| Reason for adding this line | Free text | Yes, per added line | Recorded on the Activity tab |
| Payment amount | Dollars | Yes, to record a payment | |
| Payment method | Pick a method | Yes, to record a payment | |
| Received on | A date | Yes, to record a payment | |
| Reference | Free text — optional | No | Cheque number, transaction id, whatever you will search for later |
How to configure it
- Invoicing settings decide payment terms, numbering, and whether a prebill needs approval.
- Deposits settings decide whether a deposit can be requested against this invoice.
- Integrations settings decide whether the QuickBooks panel is connected at all.
- Job costing settings decide how this invoice's revenue lands against the job's margin.
Who can see it
This screen sits behind the Invoices area.
Owners, office managers and dispatchers can open it. Technicians cannot. The gate is checked on the server, not just hidden in the sidebar, so a direct link does not get around it.
The full role matrix is on Roles & permissions.