Understand how invoicing works

Invoicing lets you take bookings from customers who need to pay on account, such as schools, universities, clubs and companies, while keeping everything in eola. Your bookings, payments and reporting all stay in one place, with no separate invoicing tool to manage.

Here's what happens from the moment you raise an invoice to the moment the money reaches you.

What can I put on an invoice?

One invoice covers everything in the basket, including activity, rental and accommodation bookings, store items, credit vouchers and class passes. Add them all in New booking before you go to checkout, so a school trip and its extras go on one invoice.

What happens when I raise an invoice?

• The booking is confirmed straight away, so the spaces are held while your customer arranges payment
• The invoice is emailed to your customer automatically, with a secure link to pay online
• Any credit vouchers or class passes on the invoice are created and sent straight away, rather than when the invoice is paid

What does the invoice show?

Invoices are created by Stripe, eola's payment provider. They include your centre name, company number and VAT number, what was booked, any tax you've set on your products, the customer's address (and billing address if it's different), and a PO number and memo if you add them. Because payments are collected securely through eola, eola is shown as the sender and payee. Each invoice has its own invoice number.

How does my customer pay?

Your customer can pay online by card, or by bank transfer for invoices in pounds sterling. The invoice asks anyone paying by bank transfer to use the invoice number as their payment reference, so the payment is matched to the invoice automatically. Customers can still pay online after the due date has passed.

When do I get the money?

As soon as the invoice is paid, its status changes to Paid, your customer receives a confirmation and your team gets a notification in eola. The payment is then included in your next payout with your other bookings.

What do the statuses mean?

• Open: the invoice has been sent and is waiting for payment. An open invoice that has passed its due date is past due, and your customer can still pay it
• Paid: the invoice has been paid in full, online or marked as paid by your team
• Void: the invoice has been cancelled and can no longer be paid

Good to know

• Once an invoice has been sent it can't be edited, so check the details before you complete checkout
• If you leave the due date blank, it's set to the date of the booking. The due date can't be in the past
• Invoices and deposits work separately. To take a deposit on a booking, see Take deposits on your bookings

Helpful tips:

• Set a due date that gives your customer's finance team time to pay, ideally before the session
• Encourage customers to pay through the invoice link so payments are matched and included in your payouts automatically
• Check Reports -> Invoices each week to see what's still outstanding

Related guides

• Set up invoicing
• Send an invoice
• Understand the Invoices report