Invoicing That Gets You Paid Faster
Best practices for invoicing that reduce payment times and improve your cash flow.
In this guide
Creating invoices
Create invoices from completed jobs (auto-populates from the accepted quote) or from the Invoices section. Each invoice gets a unique sequential number — e.g. INV-0042.
Before sending, review the line items, check the VAT is correct, and confirm the payment terms. A professional, accurate invoice gets paid faster than a handwritten one.
Payment methods
Gaffer supports three payment methods out of the box:
Pay by Bank — The customer authorises a bank transfer via Open Banking. Funds arrive same day. Fee: 0.5% (capped at £5). This is the cheapest option and is becoming the standard in UK trades.
Card payments — Accept Visa, Mastercard, and Amex via Stripe. Fee: 1.5% + 20p. Convenient for customers but costs more.
BACS transfer — Your bank details appear on the invoice. No fees, but you need to manually reconcile when payment arrives.
💡 Tip: Enable Pay by Bank as your default. Most trade customers prefer it — it's faster than BACS and cheaper than card for both of you.
Automated reminders
Late payments hurt cash flow. Gaffer sends automated payment reminders at intervals you configure — typically on the due date, 3 days overdue, and 7 days overdue.
Reminders include a direct payment link so the customer can pay immediately from the email. No logging in, no faffing about.
Tracking payment status
Every invoice shows its status: Draft → Sent → Viewed → Paid (or Overdue). The dashboard shows your total outstanding, overdue amount, and average payment time.
Use the Reports → Cash Flow view to see incoming payments and forecast your next 30 days.
Credit notes and refunds
If you need to adjust an invoice after it's been sent, create a credit note rather than editing the original. This keeps your accounting audit trail clean and is required for VAT purposes.
Refunds for card and Pay by Bank payments can be initiated directly from Gaffer — the money goes back to the customer's original payment method.