A manual invoice is an invoice you create on demand, outside the regular subscription cycle of a rental. It's the tool for billing a one-off service like a lock cut, cleaning fees, a lost key, or any other charge that isn't monthly rent.

Common questions

How do I bill a customer for a lock cut? Go to the Invoices page, click New invoice, choose the customer, add a line with the description and price, and finalize.
How do I charge the customer immediately instead of sending a payment link? Pick Charge automatically as the payment mode. The customer's default card or pre-authorized debit will be charged right away.
How do I add multiple lines to a single invoice? Click Add an item after each line to create a new one.
Why does Charge automatically fail with "no payment method"? The customer has no card or pre-authorized debit set as default. Ask them to add one, or use Send the invoice instead.
What's the difference between Note to customer and Internal memo? The Note to customer appears on the invoice they receive. The Internal memo is private, only visible to your team on the invoice record.

Who this article is for

Creating a manual invoice requires the Owner or Manager role. If the New invoice button is missing, ask an Owner on your team.

Difference between a manual invoice and a rental invoice

Invoice type	How it's created	Effect
Rental invoice	Generated automatically by the Stripe cycle and linked to a booking.	Affects gate access, triggers automatic emails, and can generate late fees.
Manual invoice	Created on demand by an operator, no booking required.	Has no effect on gate access. Late fees don't apply automatically.

Before creating a manual invoice

The customer must already exist as a Contact in the facility. If not, create the contact first.
To use Charge automatically, the customer must have a default payment method (card or pre-authorized debit). Otherwise, use Send the invoice.
For Send the invoice, the contact's email address must be valid.

Create a manual invoice

To bill a one-off service to a customer:

From the left menu, click Invoices.
Click New invoice at the top right.
The New invoice page opens. Fill in the sections below.

Customer section

Click Select a customer... and choose the contact to bill. The customer must already exist in the facility.

Invoice items section

For each line to add to the invoice:

Description: text visible to the customer (for example "Lock cut", "Cleaning fee"). Avoid internal jargon.
Qty: quantity (1 by default).
Price: unit price in dollars.
Tax: check to apply your facility's taxes to this line.

Click Add an item to add another line. Repeat as needed.

Payment mode section

Pick one of the two options:

Charge automatically: Stripe immediately charges the customer's default payment method. Recommended for customers with a card on file.
Send the invoice: Stripe sends the customer an email with a payment link. The customer pays at their own pace via Stripe Checkout.

Optional sections

Note to customer: text shown on the invoice (and the receipt).
Internal memo: private note, only visible to your team.

Preview

To the right of the form, the Preview shows the invoice rendering in real time.

Finalize

Click Create and charge to finalize the invoice, or Cancel to exit without creating it.

What happens automatically

With Charge automatically

Stortech creates the invoice locally and in Stripe.
Stripe immediately attempts to charge the customer's default payment method.
If the charge succeeds, the invoice moves to Paid and the customer receives a Stripe receipt email. No action on gate access (this isn't a rental invoice).
If the charge fails, the invoice stays Open, the failure is recorded, and the customer receives a payment failure email. Late fees don't apply automatically to manual invoices.

With Send the invoice

Stortech creates the invoice in Open status.
Stripe sends the customer an email with a hosted payment link.
The customer pays via Stripe Checkout.
On successful payment, the invoice moves to Paid and the customer receives a receipt. No action on gate access.

Important statuses and fields

Item	Meaning
Select a customer	Choice of the contact to bill. Must already exist in the facility.
Description	Text visible on the customer invoice. Avoid internal jargon.
Qty / Price / Tax	A line's calculation is `price x quantity`, plus taxes if the box is checked.
Charge automatically	Immediately charges the default payment method. Fails if the customer has none.
Send the invoice	Sends an email with a Stripe payment link. The customer pays at their own pace.
Note to customer	Appears on the invoice sent to the customer.
Internal memo	Only visible to your team on the invoice record.
Preview	Live invoice rendering while you fill in the form.

Common issues

Situation	What to check	What to do
Charge automatically fails with "no payment method". What now?	Does the customer have a card or pre-authorized debit set as default?	Ask the customer to update their payment method (see the Payment methods and autopay article), or use Send the invoice so they pay via a link.
The customer doesn't receive the email after Send the invoice. What now?	Is the email address on the contact record correct? Does the facility's Emails list show a send for this customer?	Update the address if needed and resend the invoice.
I created a manual invoice by mistake. How do I cancel it?	What's the invoice status (Open, Paid)?	For an unpaid Open invoice, you can void it from the Stripe dashboard. For a Paid invoice, issue a refund from the invoice record. See the Invoices article.
The total doesn't include taxes. Why?	Is the Tax box checked on each taxable line?	Check the box on all relevant lines. If the invoice is already sent, create a new corrected invoice.
The Internal memo shows up on the customer receipt. What now?	The internal memo should never appear on the customer's receipt. If it does, that's a bug.	Contact support immediately. In the meantime, check that you filled in Internal memo and not Note to customer.