Capture the receipt immediately
Take a photo or upload the supplier bill as soon as the cost is incurred. The sooner it is attached to the job, the less likely it is to disappear before invoicing, and the easier it is to remember whether it should be charged to the customer.
- Add the receipt to the job while you are still on site.
- Keep the supplier, total and tax context with the job record.
- Avoid hunting through photos, emails and glovebox paper later.
Separate billable and non-billable costs
Not every receipt should appear on the invoice. Some costs are oncharged, some are absorbed, and some are only useful for understanding margin. The important thing is deciding while the job context is still clear.
Apply markup deliberately
Materials and supplier bills often need markup to protect margin. Set the markup before the invoice is generated so the customer document is consistent and you are not making pricing decisions in a rush at the end.
- Use markup rules that match how you price parts and materials.
- Keep the original cost available for margin review.
- Show the customer enough detail without exposing internal clutter.
Keep supporting detail available
You may not show every receipt on the final document, but keeping it attached to the job helps answer customer questions and keeps accounting cleaner. If a customer asks why a material charge is there, you can see the job context immediately.
Use photos when the work is hard to explain
Photos are useful proof for repairs, hidden damage, before-and-after work and jobs where the invoice line item sounds too simple for the effort involved. Attach photos to the job as you go, then choose the useful ones for the customer document.
Make the final invoice a by-product of the job
The best receipt workflow means the invoice is mostly ready before you sit down to create it. Labour, costs, markup, notes and proof are already connected, so sending the invoice becomes a review step rather than a reconstruction job.