Your First Invoice

This guide walks through the complete invoice lifecycle in SpeyBooks:

1. Creating a contact
2. Issuing an invoice
3. Sending the invoice
4. Recording payment

Each step corresponds to a real accounting event and results in ledger entries.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• A SpeyBooks account with an API key
• A customer to invoice

If you haven't yet authenticated, see Quick Start.

Step 1: Create a contact

Invoices are always issued to a contact. Create a customer contact before creating an invoice.

Store the returned id. It will be referenced when creating the invoice.

Step 2: Create an invoice

Create a draft invoice for the contact.

At this point, the invoice exists but has not yet been issued.

Understanding the amounts

All monetary values are expressed in minor units (pence for GBP).

VAT rates

• standard - 20%
• reduced - 5%
• zero - 0%
• exempt - No VAT applicable

VAT is calculated deterministically per line item.

Step 3: Send the invoice

Sending an invoice marks it as issued and optionally emails it to the customer.

The invoice status transitions from draft to sent.

Step 4: Download the PDF

Generate a PDF copy for your records or manual delivery.

Step 5: Record payment

When payment is received, record it against the invoice.

When the full balance is settled, the invoice status updates to paid automatically.

Invoice lifecycle

draft → sent → paid
         ↓
       overdue

Status transitions are enforced by the system.

Next steps

• Invoices API Reference - Full endpoint documentation
• VAT Returns - Submit MTD VAT returns
• Bank Reconciliation - Match payments to invoices