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How to make an invoice on WhatsApp — free, from your phone
Two minutes: signing up, and sending your first invoice.
Most South African small businesses already run on WhatsApp: quotes, photos of the job, "when can you come?", and — eventually — "please send your banking details". The invoice is the only part that still forces you to a laptop, a Word template, or a R400/month accounting suite. It doesn't have to.
Why "I'll WhatsApp you my details" isn't an invoice
Typing your price and bank account into a chat feels quick, but it fails you three ways:
- No invoice number — nothing for the customer's bookkeeper to file, nothing for you to chase by reference, nothing for SARS. (See the full SARS requirements.)
- No paper trail — a chat bubble scrolls away; a PDF gets saved and paid.
- No professionalism signal — businesses that send proper invoices get treated like businesses. Late payers target informality.
Your three real options
1. Type it into a PDF app or Word on your phone
Works, but slow: fiddle with a template, export, remember your last invoice number, attach, send. Ten minutes if nothing goes wrong, and numbering mistakes creep in the moment you're busy — which is exactly when you're invoicing.
2. Use an invoicing app with a share button
Better: dedicated invoice apps keep your numbering and customer list, and share the PDF to WhatsApp. The catch is you're still filling in forms in another app, and most charge monthly for the features you actually need (your logo, your numbering, email delivery).
3. Make the invoice inside WhatsApp itself
This is what WhatInvoice was built for. You send a normal WhatsApp message with your line items:
Thirty seconds later you get back a branded PDF invoice — sequentially numbered, formatted correctly for VAT or non-VAT businesses, with your logo and banking details — and it's emailed to your customer at the same time. No app to install, no forms, no laptop.
What to include, whichever route you take
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Invoice number + date | The reference everything hangs on — payments, queries, SARS |
| Your business name + contacts | Who to pay and who to call |
| Line items with prices | Disputes die when the breakdown is clear |
| Banking details | An invoice without them is a donation request |
| Payment terms | "Due on receipt" or "7 days" — say it, or wait forever |
Common questions
Is a WhatsApp message a legal invoice?
A chat message is weak proof — no number, no document. Send a numbered PDF even if the whole conversation happens on WhatsApp.
Can I do this for free?
Yes — WhatInvoice's free plan turns your WhatsApp message into a branded PDF invoice and emails it to your customer.
Does my customer need the app?
No. They just receive a normal PDF — by email and/or WhatsApp. Nothing to install.
Text it. Invoice sent.
Send your line items to our WhatsApp number and get a branded, numbered PDF invoice back in 30 seconds — emailed to your customer. Free to start.
Try WhatInvoice free