Create and Edit a Retainer Invoice with FreshBooks

Click "Invoices"

Click "Retainers"

Click "New Retainer"

Find the correct client.

Regardless of when in the month the client's contract is starting, you must enter the "retainer start date" as the first day of the month. Select "monthly" for the retainer period. If you are sending an invoice mid-month, you'll select the 1st of the month. If you are sending the invoice BEFORE the start of the month when the contract begins, you will also select the first of the month.

The fees per period, hours per period, and rate for excess hours will be in the client's contract and proposal. In this example, we are sending the invoice in the current month when the contract is starting, so the "next issue date" is the 3rd of the month. Because of this, there will be additional steps at the end of this SOP. Just make a mental note! If you are sending the invoice before the contract month begins, the "next issue date" would be the 1st of the month in which the contract begins (aka, in the future from when you are creating the invoice).

Again, note that becasuse the next issue date is "September 3" (AKA, today's date), you will have additional steps at the end. Click "Set and Continue".

This will open an invoice. At the bottom of the invoice we need to add "Notes" and "Terms".

Add the text you see below to each section.

Take one final look at your invoice and make sure everything is correct. The Date of issue is today. The due date is 5 days from today. The retainer period if the 1st of the month through the end of the month. If everything looks correct. Click "save".

You'll be prompted to send this first invoice. Even though it says "save", it's actually going to send the invoice to the client, so make sure everything looks correct!

Let's double check that everything is set up correctly. Click "Retainers"

Click on the client you just set up a retainer for.

If you're invoice was supposed to go out today, there should be an invoice at the bottom that says "sent". Sometimes it takes a few minutes, so if you don't see it, wait and refresh your screen.

Look at the top left. It should show that the next invoice will be sent on the 1st of the following month. If it doesn't say the 1st, we need to do some troubleshooting.

Remember, if your "next issue date" was a date that is not the first of month, this is because you're sending an invoice for a month that has already begun. In this example, we are sending an invoice on September 3rd for a contract that begins in September. So, we'll have a few extra steps. If your "next issue date" is the 1st of the month because you are setting this up before the 1st month of service, you can skip the next few steps.