How to Build an Invoicing System in Bubble.io
Off-the-shelf invoicing tools miss the 20% that makes them painful. Complete invoice data model, online payment with Stripe Checkout, automated overdue reminders, client portal, recurring invoices, and sequential auto-numbering — all in Bubble in 2-4 weeks.
Building Your Own Billing System
Many businesses need invoicing software that fits their exact workflow: custom fields, approval processes, branded templates, integration with their project management tool, and billing in their local currency and tax structure. Off-the-shelf invoicing tools (QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave) cover 80% of use cases but miss the 20% that make it painful. A Bubble-built invoicing system takes 2-4 weeks and fits your exact process.
Everything an Invoice System Needs
Client
name, email, phone
: text
billing_address
: text
vat_number
: text (for UK/EU VAT invoicing)
payment_terms
: option set (Due on receipt, Net 7, Net 14, Net 30)
default_currency
: option set (GBP, USD, EUR, AED, PKR)
Invoice
client
: Client
invoice_number
: text (auto-generated: INV-2026-001)
issue_date, due_date
: date
status
: option set (Draft / Sent / Viewed / Paid / Overdue)
subtotal, tax_amount, total
: number
tax_rate
: number (e.g. 20 for 20% VAT)
currency
: option set
stripe_pi_id
: text (if paid online)
notes
: text (terms and conditions)
InvoiceLineItem
invoice
-> Invoice
description
: text
quantity
: number
unit_price
: number
line_total
: number (quantity * unit_price)
What Makes an Invoice System Complete
Invoice Generator
Create invoice with line items. Auto-calculate subtotal, tax, and total. Auto-generate sequential invoice numbers (INV-2026-001, INV-2026-002). One-click duplicate previous invoice. PDF export via PDF Conjurer plugin or HTML-to-PDF backend workflow.
Online Payment
Add a ‘Pay Now’ button to each invoice that opens a Stripe Checkout session for the exact invoice amount. On payment completion (checkout.completed webhook), update Invoice status to Paid and send a receipt. Clients pay in 1 click without logging in.
Automated Reminders
Scheduled backend workflow: daily, check all Invoices where due_date = today and status = Sent. Mark as Overdue. Send reminder email to client. Repeat at 7 days overdue and 14 days overdue with escalating urgency. Never chase invoices manually again.
Revenue Dashboard
Monthly revenue by client, outstanding balance total, average days to payment, overdue invoice count. Read from denormalised fields on a MonthlyRevenueSummary data type updated by workflows. Gives a real-time view of cash flow without manual calculation.
Client Portal
Clients access a password-free portal (via unique link in their invoice email) to view all their invoices, download PDFs, and pay outstanding invoices. No account creation required. Reduces the ‘can you resend that invoice?’ emails by 80%.
Recurring Invoices
RecurringInvoice data type: client, template (line items + amount), frequency (Monthly/Quarterly), next_invoice_date. Scheduled workflow runs daily and creates Invoice records from active RecurringInvoice records when next_invoice_date = today. Sends automatically.
Sequential Numbering in Bubble
Workspace
: invoice_counter (number, default 0)
// When creating a new invoice:
Step 1
: Update Workspace: invoice_counter = invoice_counter + 1
Step 2
: Create Invoice: invoice_number = ‘INV-‘ + current year + ‘-‘ + Workspace’s invoice_counter formatted as 3 digits
// Result: INV-2026-001, INV-2026-002, INV-2026-003…
// Reset counter on Jan 1 via a scheduled workflow if desired
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