The five-minute guide

From "hi" to paid.
The A to Z.

Everything WhatInvoice does, in the order you'll actually use it. No manual, no training video — if you can WhatsApp, you already know how.

A

Save the number

Save +44 7383 365360 as WhatInvoice. That contact is now your invoicing department. Then create your free account at whatinvoice.uk — 30 seconds, your name, email and business name. No card.

📱 One-tap invoicing: open whatinvoice.uk/chat on your phone and add it to your home screen — the icon opens your WhatsApp chat directly, like an app.
B

Say hi

Message hi and it greets you by name. That first message also opens the line so codes and PDFs reach you instantly.

hi
Hi Sipho 👋 Send me line items and I'll turn them into a PDF invoice for *Dlamini Plumbing*.
C

Send your first invoice

Type the job the way you'd tell a friend. Each item goes on its own line with a price — the currency symbol is optional. Any line under an item (with no price) becomes that item's description.

invoice Hardware 300 Hammer, screwdrivers Labour 400 2 assistants customer Yellow Market
INVOICE for *Yellow Market* • Hardware — Hammer, screwdrivers — R300.00 • Labour — 2 assistants — R400.00 Total: R700.00
💡 Three shortcuts: a bare number is the price ("Hardware 300"); a line with no price becomes the description of the item above it; and "20 x 15" means 20 units at R15 each. Plain sentences work too: "invoice Yellow Market for hardware three hundred rand".
🎙 Hands full? Just say it. Send a voice note — "Invoice for Naledi Traders, materials two hundred rand, labour three-fifty" — and it types itself. You'll see what it heard before anything is created. Free accounts get 15-second notes; paid plans get longer.
D

Check, then choose

Nothing ever reaches your customer without your say-so. You'll see every line, the total, and the due date (issue date + your payment terms — or write due 30 in the message to set it per invoice). Then two paths:

📄 PDF to me first — the invoice comes to you alone. Look it over, tap ✓ Make invoice when you're happy — it's issued, and it asks whether to email your customer or leave the forwarding to you.
✓ Create & send — one tap does both: the PDF lands in your chat and in your customer's inbox, with your logo, banking details and a payment reference.

💡 The only button that emails your customer says send on it. Everything else keeps the document between you and WhatInvoice. No banking details saved yet? It warns you right on this screen, with the link to add them.
E

Change anything by talking

Tap ✎ Change and just say what's different. It shows the updated total and asks again.

1. geyser element — R450.00 2. labour — R350.00 Tell me what to change…
change labour to 500 and add callout fee R150
Updated: Total: R1,100.00
📷

Put photos of the job on the invoice

Photograph the work — the damage, the finished install, the parts you replaced — and send the picture straight to WhatInvoice. It's kept and printed on the next invoice or quote you make, under the line items. Nothing else to do.

📷 photo of a cracked geyser
📷 Photo saved, Sipho — it'll print on your next invoice or quote. Now send me the job and I'll build it: invoice callout 450 parts 200 customer John
invoice geyser element 450 labour 350 customer Mrs Naidoo
✓ INV-0042 · Mrs Naidoo · R800.00 📷 1 photo included

The order doesn't matter. Send the photo first and it waits for the invoice; send it while you're checking a draft and it joins that one. Either way it ends up in the right place.

💡 Why it wins work. A quote that shows the cracked pipe answers the question the customer was about to ask. It's the difference between "R4,500 for a repair" and seeing what you're paying for.
📌 The details: up to 6 photos per document. Reply PHOTOS to see what's waiting, or NOPHOTOS to drop them. Photos are resized before printing, so the PDF stays small enough to send on mobile data. Unused photos are cleared after 6 hours, so an old picture can never surprise you on next week's invoice.
F

Not ready? Save a draft

Reply DRAFT instead of sending — it's saved privately, the PDF comes to you only, and it doesn't use your daily free allowance. When you're ready, tap ✓ Make invoice (or reply MAKE 45) to issue it and email your customer.

G

It remembers your customers

Second job for Mrs Naidoo? Just her name is enough — email and details auto-fill. Spell it slightly wrong and it politely checks: "did you mean Mrs Naidoo?" — one tap.

H

Your products & services, saved once

Sell the same things over and over? Save each one as a product or service — a preset line with its own description and price — then just say its name. No retyping, no AI guessing the amount, and it can't be misheard on a voice note.

PACKAGE Bundle 1 = Full garden service, 450
📦 Saved: *Bundle 1* → Full garden service · R450.00
add bundle 1 for Mrs Naidoo and 3 days labour at 300 per day
INVOICE for *Mrs Naidoo* • Full garden service — R450.00 • labour — 3 × R300.00 = R900.00 Total: R1,552.50
💡 Say PRODUCTS (or SERVICES) to see them all, 2 x callout for multiples, or PRODUCT remove Callout to delete. Manage them any time in Portal → ⚙ Settings → Products & services. Each business keeps its own list. PACKAGE still works if you're used to it.
I

Forgot a line? Fix it in your browser

Every invoice and quote comes back with a one-tap edit link. Open it on your phone or laptop, change the items, the customer or the notes, hit Save — and the corrected PDF comes straight back to you. Nothing to reinstall, no starting again.

INV-0045 · Mrs Naidoo · R1,552.50 📄 Your copy is above ✏️ Missing something? Edit it here (24h): whatinvoice.uk/edit/…
💡 The link lasts 24 hours and only ever comes to you — never your customer. After that, or for any older document, just say EDIT 45 and you'll get a fresh one.
J

Mark it paid

Money in? PAID 45 and the books balance. Your portal shows what's outstanding at a glance.

K

Late payers get chased (politely)

The moment an invoice goes past its due date, you get a nudge — not the awkward silence. One reply sends the customer a courteous reminder with the invoice re-attached.

⏰ Now overdue: • INV-0045 · Mrs Naidoo · R1,100.00 Reply CHASE 45 to send a polite reminder.
CHASE 45
✓ Polite reminder emailed to [email protected]
L

Quotes win the work

Start a message with quote instead of invoice. When they say yes: CONVERT 12 — it becomes a numbered invoice, zero retyping. The paperwork is done the moment you win the job.

M

Month-end in one word

STATEMENT — issued, paid, outstanding for the month. Your accountant gets a tidy story instead of a shoebox.

N

The portal — your paper trail, searchable

Log in at whatinvoice.uk/app with your number — a code comes to your WhatsApp or email, no password to forget. Every document, filterable and downloadable. Add it to your home screen and it behaves like an app.

O

Make it yours

Portal → ⚙ Settings: upload your logo, pick one of three PDF styles, set your accent colour, banking details (protected by a WhatsApp code — type your bank's name and the branch code fills itself), payment terms, VAT number if you're registered — and even what number your invoices start from. INV-1000 sounds established; that's allowed.

P

Claim your free website

Every account comes with a one-page business website — your services, your area and a WhatsApp button, live at yourname.whatinvoice.uk. Portal → 🌐 My website → your details are already filled in → pick a look → Publish. Done in under two minutes.

Your site also takes online bookings: customers pick a service, date and time on a simple form — no app, no payment. Each request appears in your portal's 📅 Bookings tab (they're saved to your customer list automatically), and you Confirm or Decline with one tap. Customers who leave an email get told either way.

🔁 Then close the loop: in Settings, choose to show your website link on the WhatsApp message or printed on the invoice itself — every invoice you send quietly advertises you.
Q

Grow into it

Free is 1 invoice + 1 quote a day, forever. Business unlocks unlimited documents, reminders and statements. Business Plus runs up to 3 businesses — each with its own logo, numbering and banking — from the same WhatsApp number. Reply UPGRADE or tap your plan badge in the portal.

R

Add your team

On Business Plus, up to three WhatsApp numbers can work the same company — a partner, an admin, whoever invoices. Reply TEAM ADD 0821234567 and they get an invite; once they accept, they invoice from their own phone. Every document quietly records who created it, so month-end shows exactly who did what.

💡 TEAM lists everyone, TEAM REMOVE 0821234567 takes someone off. Only the account owner can add or remove people.
Z

Your data stays yours

Download everything as a ZIP or delete your account entirely — both in Settings, both instant, no phone call required. That's the whole alphabet. Now go send one: it takes less time than reading this page did.

Open WhatsApp and try it →

Cheat sheet

Every word it understands.

HELP
The tappable menu — start here anytime
LIST
Your last 5 documents with statuses
PAID 45
Mark invoice 45 as settled
CHASE 45
Politely remind a late payer
CONVERT 12
Turn accepted quote 12 into an invoice
EDIT 45
Get a secure link to edit a sent document
DRAFT
At the confirm step: save without sending
MAKE 45
Turn draft 45 into the real thing & email it
due 30
Add to any invoice message — due in 30 days (or "due 2026-08-01"). Default is 14 days, changeable in Settings
📷 send a photo
Kept and printed on your next invoice or quote — up to 6
PHOTOS
See which photos are waiting for the next document
NOPHOTOS
Drop the waiting photos — nothing gets attached
STATEMENT
This month: issued, paid, outstanding
BUSINESS
See or switch between your businesses
PACKAGES
Your saved bundles — then say one to add it
PACKAGE Bundle 1 = …, 450
Save a preset line item (name = description, price)
TEAM ADD 082…
Invite a teammate (Business Plus, up to 3 numbers)
UPGRADE
Plans and prices, in your currency
quote …
Start any message with it for a quotation