What the invoice can carry
Automatic payment link in a text message
The invoice link is created with the invoice. You paste it into the text. It is automatic in the sense that you do not build a second checkout page by hand.
One link, created with the bill
“Automatic” should not mean a magic text that leaves your phone with no review. It means you do not design a payment page for every job. You enter the lines, the invoice gets an address, and that address is what you put in the message. The customer opens the work and the total. If a card payment account is connected later, the page is where it belongs. Until then the link is still the bill they can read, acknowledge and pay by the method you agreed. Do not paste a raw card number and call it a payment link.
Detail finished, $195, due today. Open the invoice here: https://invoicetxt.com/i/your-link
Create the invoice so the link exists
There is nothing to automate before the lines are real.
Paste the link under the total
The text should stand even if the preview of the link is slow.
Do not generate a second link for the same job
Two links look like two charges.
Use the API if your own software should create the link
That is the automatic version for a billing system. The dashboard is the automatic version for a person.
What to put on this invoice
- An invoice with a real total
- The link from that invoice
- The amount written in the text
- No card numbers in the thread
Questions about this job
Does the link charge the card by itself?
Only if you have a payment method connected and the customer chooses to pay. The link’s first job is to show the invoice.
Can I put the link in WhatsApp and SMS?
Yes. It is a normal address.
What if I need my app to create it?
Use the invoice API. It returns the url field for the text your app already sends.
The automation is the address. You still decide the amount before anyone sees it.
Related guides
Text invoice with tax calculation
Put a tax rate on the invoice and let the total include it. Say in the text whether the number you quoted was before tax or after.
Open guide →Branded text invoices for small businesses
Branding in a text is your name, said clearly, plus an invoice page that is not a screenshot. You do not need a custom SMS colour.
Open guide →Track who opened your text invoice
When the customer opens the invoice link, the status moves to viewed. You can see that they opened the page. You cannot see that they read every line.
Open guide →