Developing on Invoiced

8min
At the heart of Invoiced is a powerful billing API. It allows you to build integrations with accounting systems, CRMs, ordering systems, business intelligence, and any other backoffice systems used to run your business.
Communication with the REST API happens with https://api.invoiced.com. If you are using the sandbox environment then the API endpoint is https://api.sandbox.invoiced.com.
This document will walk you through a common invoicing workflow. You can also dive into the API reference to see all of the available API endpoints.
Getting Started
The first step is to determine how you want to connect to the API. We offer client libraries in several languages, including Ruby, PHP, Python, Java, .NET, and Go. If we don't have a client library for your language then you can perform the HTTP requests to Invoiced directly in the language of your choice.
Once you have your client library ready to go the next step is to get an API key. The API uses Basic Authentication to authenticate requests. All API requests require a valid API key. You can grab an API key by signing in to the dashboard, and then going to Settings → Developers → API Keys. Please remember to keep this API key safe. In the wrong hands it could give unwanted access to your Invoiced account.
Next, we are going to walk through a common invoicing workflow.
Creating a Customer
Customers are at the core of everything on Invoiced. Customers represent a billable entity from your perspective, whether this is a person, organization, or account. You must create a customer first before you can invoice or accept payments.
Every customer has an AutoPay option. When enabled this will charge your customer's connected payment source each billing cycle. When AutoPay is off (the default) we will instead issue an invoice that your customer can pay using any of the payment methods you accept.
Curl
Java
PHP
Python
Ruby
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/customers" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d name="Acme" \
  -d email="[email protected]" \
  -d number="1234" \
  -d payment_terms="NET 30"
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/customers" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d name="Acme" \
  -d email="billing@acmecorp.com" \
  -d number="1234" \
  -d payment_terms="NET 30"
﻿
The number property helps you tie the customer on Invoiced to the ID already used within your system. It is not required as we would generate a value for you if it was not supplied.
We highly recommend saving the customer's Invoiced ID (id property) in your own database. This ID is required to retrieve the customer's account, create invoices, and perform any other customer-centric tasks.
Creating an Invoice
Invoices are another core resource on Invoiced. As you would expect, an invoice represents an amount owed to you by a customer.
Curl
Java
PHP
Python
Ruby
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/invoices" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d customer={CUSTOMER_ID} \
  -d items[0][name]="Copy paper, Case" \
  -d items[0][quantity]=3 \
  -d items[0][unit_cost]=45 \
  -d items[1][name]="Delivery" \
  -d items[1][quantity]=1 \
  -d items[1][unit_cost]=10 \
  -d taxes[0][amount]=3.85
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/invoices" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d customer={CUSTOMER_ID} \
  -d items[0][name]="Copy paper, Case" \
  -d items[0][quantity]=3 \
  -d items[0][unit_cost]=45 \
  -d items[1][name]="Delivery" \
  -d items[1][quantity]=1 \
  -d items[1][unit_cost]=10 \
  -d taxes[0][amount]=3.85
﻿
The invoice will inherit the AutoPay and payment term settings from the customer's profile.
Sending Invoices
Now that you have created the invoice you might want to send it to the customer. That's fairly easy to do through the API.
Curl
Java
PHP
Python
Ruby
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/invoices/{INVOICE_ID}/emails" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -X POST
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/invoices/{INVOICE_ID}/emails" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -X POST
﻿
The customer will be sent the invoice with a View Invoice button using the default email template. You can customize these templates through the dashboard in Settings → Emails.
Items
Our Items feature allows you to build a simpler, more robust integration by centralizing pricing information for the products and services that you sell. You must first add items through the dashboard in Settings → Items or through the Items API. Then you can bill for items by simply referencing them by ID:
Curl
Java
PHP
Python
Ruby
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/invoices" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d customer={CUSTOMER_ID} \
  -d items[0][catalog_item]="copy_paper_20lb" \
  -d items[0][quantity]=3 \
  -d items[1][catalog_item]="delivery" \
  -d taxes[0][amount]=3.85
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/invoices" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d customer={CUSTOMER_ID} \
  -d items[0][catalog_item]="copy_paper_20lb" \
  -d items[0][quantity]=3 \
  -d items[1][catalog_item]="delivery" \
  -d taxes[0][amount]=3.85
﻿
Note that we did not have to include the unit_cost on the item as it was filled in automatically (although you can override per line item by including it). Another benefit of items is that it ties line items together in reports.
Recording a Payment
On Invoiced payments are represent with the Payment resource. A payment models the exchange of value between you and a customer, including payments, refunds, and credits. Whenever customers pay online through the customer portal we automatically create a payment. However, if you accept payments outside of Invoiced, always true if you are accepting checks or wire transfers, then you have to record the payment yourself through the dashboard or API.
Curl
Java
PHP
Python
Ruby
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/payments" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d applied_to[type]="invoice" \
  -d applied_to[invoice]={INVOICE_ID} \
  -d method="check" \
  -d reference="1450" \
  -d amount=148.85
curl "https://api.invoiced.com/payments" \
  -u {API_KEY}: \
  -d applied_to[type]="invoice" \
  -d applied_to[invoice]={INVOICE_ID} \
  -d method="check" \
  -d reference="1450" \
  -d amount=148.85
﻿
This will record a payment for the invoice we created earlier and mark it as paid. Since this is an offline payment, the reference property can be used to reference a check #. And that's it for a basic accounts receivable workflow.
What's next?
The API reference explains all of the resources and endpoints available to you. Our other development guides might be useful as well. If you run into any questions or need help with some code then please don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear from you.
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