If you’re tired of copying invoice details, chasing clients, or just generally babysitting QuickBooks, it’s time to automate the drudgery. This guide is for freelancers, small business owners, and anyone who finds themselves muttering “there’s got to be a better way” as they toggle between apps. We’ll walk through using Make (the automation platform, not the build tool) to generate and send invoices straight from QuickBooks with as little fuss as possible.
Before we jump in: this isn’t a magic button that fixes all your billing headaches. But it can save you hours each month and spare you from silly mistakes. Let’s get practical.
Why Automate Invoicing from QuickBooks?
Let’s be honest: invoicing is boring, prone to typos, and not the best use of your brainpower. Here’s what automating invoice generation and delivery can actually do for you:
- Save time: Skip repetitive data entry and manual sending.
- Reduce errors: No more copy-paste mistakes or missed invoices.
- Get paid faster: Invoices go out promptly, so clients have one less excuse.
- Look professional: Automated, timely invoices make you look like you’ve got your act together.
What it won’t do: fix your cash flow, chase deadbeat clients, or make QuickBooks fun. But it will make billing less painful.
What You’ll Need
You don’t need to be a developer, but you should be comfortable poking around new tools. Here’s what you’ll need:
- A QuickBooks Online account (this won’t work with QuickBooks Desktop).
- A Make account. There’s a free plan, but depending on volume you might need to pay a bit.
- Some example clients and invoice data in QuickBooks.
- Access to an email account or another messaging tool (Gmail, Outlook, Slack, etc.) to send invoices.
If you don’t already have a Make account, sign up and poke around the interface for a few minutes before starting. It’s not hard, but it’s got a learning curve if you’ve only used “Zapier-style” automators before.
Step 1: Connect QuickBooks to Make
First, you need to get Make talking to your QuickBooks account. This is how Make will fetch data and build invoices.
- Log into Make and create a new scenario (their word for “automation workflow”).
- Search for QuickBooks Online in the list of available apps.
- Add the QuickBooks Online module to your scenario.
- Authenticate your QuickBooks account. Make will walk you through connecting and authorizing access. Make sure you’re using the correct QuickBooks company (if you have more than one).
- Test the connection. If you get an error, double-check your permissions in QuickBooks — Make needs enough access to read customers and create invoices.
Pro tip: Don’t use your personal QuickBooks login if you have employees or bookkeepers. Set up a dedicated automation user if possible.
Step 2: Decide What Triggers the Invoice
You need a starting point. Here are a few common triggers:
- New client added: Automatically send a welcome invoice for onboarding fees.
- Project completed: Generate an invoice when a project is marked “done” in QuickBooks or another app.
- Recurring schedule: Send monthly retainers or regular invoices like clockwork.
- Manual trigger: Press a button in Make when you want to send an invoice.
For this guide, let’s keep it simple and use a recurring schedule. That way, you can automate invoices for ongoing services or subscription work.
- In your Make scenario, add the Scheduler module (it’s built-in).
- Set it to run whenever you want invoices to go out (weekly, monthly, whatever fits your business).
- You can fine-tune this later; for now, just set up a basic monthly schedule.
Step 3: Find Who Needs to Be Invoiced
Once the scenario kicks off, you need to pull in the right customers. This part looks different for everyone, but here are some patterns:
- Invoice everyone with a certain tag, field, or custom status in QuickBooks.
- Only invoice clients with outstanding work or billable hours.
- Use a Google Sheet, Airtable, or CRM as your source of “who gets billed.”
Let’s stick with QuickBooks for now:
- Add a “Search Customers” module from QuickBooks Online.
- Set up a filter if needed (for example, only those with “Active” status, or clients tagged “Monthly”).
- If you need to get really specific, use Make’s built-in filter tools to add conditions — but don’t overcomplicate things on your first try.
Caution: If you have hundreds of clients in QuickBooks, be careful — Make scenarios can eat up your task quota fast if you don’t add filters.
Step 4: Generate the Invoice
Here’s where Make starts to earn its keep: creating an invoice, not just copying one.
- Add a “Create Invoice” module from QuickBooks Online to your scenario.
- Map in the customer details from the previous step.
- Fill out the invoice fields:
- Line items: You can hard-code these if you always charge the same thing, or pull them in dynamically (e.g., from tracked hours, a Google Sheet, or even another app).
- Due date: Set a standard due date or calculate it based on today’s date (Make can handle simple date math).
- Memo or notes: Add a personal touch if you want.
What actually works: Start simple. Automate just your most boring, repeatable invoices first. Trying to automate all edge cases or every possible invoice format is a recipe for headaches.
Step 5: Send the Invoice Automatically
Now it’s time to actually get the invoice to your client. You’ve got a few options:
A. Send via QuickBooks
QuickBooks can email invoices directly to clients. To do this:
- Add a “Send Invoice” module (QuickBooks Online) after the “Create Invoice” step.
- Map in the invoice ID from the previous step.
- Optionally, CC yourself or your bookkeeper.
Downsides: QuickBooks emails can land in spam, and the templates are generic. If you want fancier messaging or branding, go with option B.
B. Send via Your Own Email
If you want more control, send the invoice PDF as an attachment via Gmail, Outlook, or another email service.
- Add a “Get Invoice PDF” module (QuickBooks Online).
- Add an Email module (Gmail, Outlook, or SMTP).
- Attach the invoice PDF, write your own email copy, and send to the client.
- You can personalize the message, tweak the subject line, and include other info.
Pro tip: Use a no-reply address if you don’t want clients replying to automated emails.
C. Notify Another System
Don’t want to email? Send the invoice link or PDF to Slack, Teams, or another system — just add the relevant module in Make.
Step 6: Error Handling and Monitoring
Automation’s great… until it quietly fails and nobody notices for a week. Don’t skip this.
- Add error handling in Make (look for the “Error Handler” tools). You can set it to alert you on failure, retry, or skip.
- Send yourself a summary email or Slack message every time the scenario runs. That way, you’ll spot problems early.
- Test with real data, not fake accounts. Make sure invoices actually arrive and look right.
Step 7: Test and Iterate
Don’t trust it blindly. Run your scenario a few times with test clients and real data. Here’s what to check:
- Did the right people get invoices?
- Is the invoice info correct (amounts, due dates, line items)?
- Did the emails arrive and look okay?
- Did anything break or get skipped?
Tweak your scenario as you go. Most automation failures are dumb — a missing email address, a typo in a field, a filter that’s too strict.
Pro tip: Keep a manual backup process for at least a month, until you trust the automation.
What to Ignore (For Now)
- Automating payment reminders: Get basic invoicing working first. Payment chasers are a whole separate automation.
- Advanced custom templates: QuickBooks’ invoice templates are… fine. Don’t sink hours into pixel-perfect PDFs unless it actually matters to your clients.
- Real-time triggers: Unless you need instant invoices, monthly or weekly runs are plenty. Real-time setups are harder to troubleshoot.
Real Talk: What Works, What Doesn’t
- Works: Automating the most repetitive, boring invoices. Monthly retainers, onboarding fees, or set packages.
- Doesn’t work so well: Super-custom invoices, one-off projects, or anything where you need to add a personal note every time. You’ll spend more time debugging than you save.
- Ignore the hype: Automation isn’t set-and-forget. You’ll still need to monitor, tweak, and handle exceptions.
Wrapping Up
Automating invoice generation and delivery from QuickBooks with Make isn’t magic, but it is a solid way to save time and cut down on mistakes. Start simple, automate one kind of invoice, and keep an eye on things until you trust the setup. Don’t waste hours on fancy edge cases — get the basics working, then iterate. Your future self will thank you.