Choose a method
SMS invoice vs PDF invoice
An SMS is how you tell them. A PDF is the file they keep. You do not have to choose. The text carries the link, and the link has the PDF.
Send the alert and keep the file
An SMS on its own is a bad archive. It scrolls away and it does not satisfy a bookkeeper. A PDF on its own is a bad alert, because it sits in a mail people do not open. The practical pair is a short SMS and a PDF that downloads from the invoice page. You do not attach the PDF to the SMS unless a customer has asked for the file in the chat. Attaching it every time fills their phone with documents they did not request. The numbers on the PDF and the numbers in the text have to match. If you round one and not the other, you have two invoices.
Electrical invoice attached as a page, PDF on the link, due in 7 days: https://invoicetxt.com/i/your-link
Write the SMS as the alert
Total, due date, link.
Let the PDF be the file
They download it when they need it. You can download it too.
Do not maintain two versions
Change the invoice, not a separate Word file.
If they insist on an attachment, send the PDF from the page
It is the same document, not a retype.
What to put on this invoice
- The SMS as a notification
- The PDF as the record
- One set of totals
- A link that serves both
Questions about this job
Is an SMS legally an invoice?
Sometimes a message can be a bill, and sometimes a jurisdiction expects specific fields on a document. The safe habit is to put those fields on the invoice page and the PDF, and use the SMS to deliver them. This is not legal advice.
Which one do I correct if I make a mistake?
Correct the invoice. The PDF and the page both read from it. Then tell them in the thread.
What if their phone will not download a PDF?
They can still read the page. You can email the PDF later without changing the numbers.
You need the ping and the file. They are not rivals.
Related guides
InvoiceTXT vs traditional invoicing apps
Traditional apps assume you will sit down and fill a form. InvoiceTXT assumes you will type one line and text the link. The books may still live in the other app.
Open guide →Best alternative to QuickBooks for text invoicing
QuickBooks is accounting software. It is a poor place to type a doorstep invoice into a text. Use InvoiceTXT to send the bill. Keep QuickBooks if you use it for the books.
Open guide →Best alternative to Wave for mobile invoices
Wave is a free-to-start accounting tool that still expects an invoicing session. On a phone, a one-line text invoice is a different product.
Open guide →