How to use TapBill

Step by step, from your first invoice to getting paid. It works the same on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Set up your business

The first time you open TapBill, tap Get started and read the three short pages, or tap Skip. Then fill in Set up your business:

• your Business name, the only thing you must fill in
• your logo, business email and phone, if you like
• the Currency, which starts as your phone’s; tap it to pick another

Tap Continue, and TapBill shows you around your first invoice. To add your address, website or a tax ID such as an EIN, VAT or GST number, go to More › Settings › Business details. Changes there show on every invoice the next time you preview or send it.

Make an invoice

1. On the Invoices tab, tap New Invoice. It starts with the next number, today’s date and your usual payment terms.
2. Choose who it’s for: pick a saved client, or tap New and type their name, email and address. Import from contacts fills them in from your phone. Tap Save client.
3. Add an item: what you did or sold in Item or service, then the Price, Quantity and Unit (hours, days, each, feet, square feet or your own). Tap Add item.
4. Tap Add another item for the next one. The subtotal, tax and total update as you go.
5. When it looks right, tap Preview & Send. See Preview and send.

TapBill saves as you type. On a new invoice, Save keeps it and the ✕ throws it away.

Saved items

Each new item is saved to your Items list as you add it. Next time it shows under Your saved items: one tap fills in the price, unit and description. To skip saving one, switch off Save to my items.

Discounts

To take money off one item, open it and choose % or $ under Discount. To take money off the whole invoice, tap Discount under the subtotal. Discounts come off before tax.

Number, dates and PO number

Tap the row at the top of the invoice (Due …) to change the invoice number, the date or the due date, pick payment terms such as Net 30, or add a PO number.

Photos and files

Under Photos & files, tap Add photos or files, then Take a photo, Choose photos or Choose a file. Photos print on pages after the invoice; tap one to add a caption. Files, such as a PDF or a spreadsheet up to 10 MB, are sent along with the invoice.

Notes, terms and how to pay you

Under More options, add Notes to client, Terms & conditions and Payment instructions, such as your Zelle address or bank details. To start every new invoice with them, set them once in More › Settings › Invoice defaults, under Default text.

Preview and send

1. Tap Preview & Send to see exactly what your client gets. Pinch to zoom.
2. Under the pages, pick a design (Classic, Modern, Minimal or Bold) and a color. They’re kept for all your invoices and estimates.
3. Tap Send Invoice and choose how:
   • Text message opens your messaging app with your client’s number, a short message and the invoice filled in.
   • Email opens an email with their address, a subject, the message and the invoice filled in.
   • More apps lets you share it through WhatsApp, AirDrop, Files, Google Drive and others.
4. Check the message, then send it from that app.

Once it’s gone, the preview shows who you sent it to and when, and the invoice is marked Sent. To print it instead, tap the printer at the top. Done saves the invoice and takes you back.

Text message only shows on phones that can send texts. On an iPhone without the Mail app set up, Email copies your client’s address and opens the share sheet: pick Gmail or Outlook, then paste the address.

Get paid

Let clients pay online

Add your payment link once, and every unpaid invoice shows it as a link and a QR code your client can scan:

1. Go to More › Settings › Invoice defaults, under Online payments. Or open an invoice and tap Add a payment link under More options.
2. Enter your PayPal.me or Venmo link, your Cash App $cashtag, or a Stripe or Square payment link.

PayPal.me and Venmo links open with the amount already filled in. The money goes straight to your account; TapBill never handles it.

Record a payment

Open a sent invoice. Under Payments:

• Mark as paid records the whole balance, paid today.
• Record a payment is for part of it, or to note how and when it came. Enter the Amount paid (or tap Full balance or Half), choose Paid by (card, cash, check, Zelle and more) and the Date paid, then tap Save payment.

The balance updates by itself, and the invoice shows as Partial or Paid. To change a payment, tap it; Delete payment removes it. To mark an invoice paid before you’ve sent it, open it from your list, tap the menu at the top right (⋯, or ⋮ on Android) and choose Mark as paid.

Reminders

TapBill can let you know at 9 AM the day after an invoice is due, and again a week later, if it still isn’t paid. Tap the notification to open the invoice. After you send an invoice, TapBill asks whether you’d like these; tap Yes, nudge me. You can switch them off or on in More › Settings, under Overdue reminders.

To remind your client, open the invoice and tap Remind on the card at the top. It sends a friendly note with the invoice attached again, plus your payment link if you have one. The card shows when you last reminded them.

Estimates

1. On the Estimates tab, tap New Estimate and add the client and items as you would on an invoice. An estimate is valid for 30 days; tap the row at the top to change that.
2. Send it with Preview & Send.
3. When your client answers, set Estimate status to Accepted or Declined.
4. Tap Convert to invoice. The new invoice has the same client, items, terms, photos and files, ready to send.

Repeat an invoice

For work you bill on a schedule, such as a monthly service:

1. Open the invoice. Under More options, tap Does not repeat.
2. Choose Every week, Every 2 weeks, Every month, Every 3 months or Every year. To stop on a certain day, switch on End on a date.
3. Tap Save.

On each date TapBill makes a copy with the same client, items and notes, saved as a draft, and lets you know at 9 AM. Nothing is sent without you: check the copy, then send it. If you haven’t opened TapBill for a while, the copies are made the next time you do. Photos and files aren’t copied.

To stop, choose Does not repeat and tap Save. You’ll find every repeating invoice in More › Recurring invoices.

Find, copy and delete

• The top of the Invoices tab shows what you’re owed in total (Outstanding) and how much is overdue.
• Search by client or number, or tap Unpaid, Overdue or Paid to narrow the list.
• Press and hold an invoice or estimate to Duplicate it, convert an estimate, or delete it. When one is open, the same choices are in the menu at the top right.

An invoice is a Draft until you send it, then Sent, Partial once part is paid, and Paid. A sent invoice that isn’t paid by its due date shows as Overdue.

Taxes

Set your usual taxes once in More › Settings › Invoice defaults, under Taxes. Tap Add a tax and enter its name and rate. New invoices start with these.

• US sales tax: enter your combined rate as one tax, such as 8.25%.
• Two taxes: for GST and PST, add both. For two VAT rates, add both and switch off Add to every new item on the one only some items carry.
• One item: open the item and switch its tax off, or choose which taxes it carries.
• One invoice: tap a tax under the subtotal to add, change or remove a tax on that invoice only.

Clients and saved items

On the Clients tab, tap New Client, or bring one in with Import from contacts. Private notes, such as a gate code, never appear on invoices. Open a client to call or email them, see what they owe, and start a new invoice for them.

On the Items tab, keep the services and products you bill often, with their price, unit, description, discount and taxes. Deleting a client or an item doesn’t change invoices that already use it.

Your logo, design and signature

• Logo: More › Settings › Business details › Add logo.
• Design and color: under any invoice’s preview, or in More › Settings › Invoice defaults. They apply to all your invoices and estimates.
• Signature: More › Settings › Signature, or Add your signature under an invoice’s More options. Draw it once with your finger; each invoice then has an Include my signature switch.

Numbers, currency and defaults

In More › Settings › Invoice defaults:

• Currency: search more than 150 currencies. Invoices you already made keep theirs.
• Payment terms: from Due on receipt to Net 90.
• Numbering: the prefix (INV-, EST-) and the next number, for example to carry on from your old invoices.
• Default text: the notes, terms and payment instructions new invoices start with.

To change one invoice’s number or dates, tap the row at the top of that invoice.

Expenses and receipts

1. Go to More › Expenses and tap Add expense.
2. Tap Scan a receipt. TapBill fills in the amount, date and store; check them. Scan a long receipt in parts, top to bottom. You can also Choose a photo or Type it in.
3. Pick a Category and what you Paid with, then tap Save.

The receipt stays with the expense, and it’s read on your phone. If the camera is turned off for TapBill on your iPhone, TapBill shows you how to turn it on, or you can choose a photo instead.

Reports

Go to More › Reports and choose 12 months, This year or Last year. You’ll see what you collected and invoiced, what you’re owed, income by month, profit (payments in less expenses), expenses by category, sales tax and your top clients.

For your accountant, tap the share button at the top right to export spreadsheets (CSV) of the period’s invoices and expenses. Reports count invoices in your business currency and leave drafts out.

Back up and move to a new phone

Your invoices are stored on your phone, and TapBill doesn’t keep a copy. Back up now and then:

1. Go to More › Backup & export and tap Back up now.
2. Save the file somewhere safe: Files or iCloud Drive on an iPhone, or Google Drive or email on any phone.

A backup holds everything: your business details, logo and signature, clients, items, invoices, estimates, payments, photos, files and expenses.

Moving to a new phone: install TapBill and enter your business name to get through setup. Then go to More › Backup & export › Restore from a backup, choose the file and tap Restore. It works from iPhone to Android and back. A restore replaces everything on that phone, and you can tap Undo right after.

For a spreadsheet of every invoice, tap Invoices as a spreadsheet on the same screen.