Invoices and payments

Use invoices to collect deposits, installments, balances, or full payment. Track what clients have paid and what they still owe.

Before you create an invoice

Check these settings first:

Go to Settings → Account to check your currency and Default tax rate (%). Your currency is set at signup and cannot be changed. Each new project takes the default tax rate when it is created and keeps it, so changing the default later does not change existing projects.
Go to Settings → Payments to connect Stripe if clients should pay online. You can also continue incomplete Stripe setup, refresh its status, and open the Stripe Dashboard after connection.
Payment reminders are on by default. Change their timing in Settings → Reminders.

Only teammates with billing access can manage Stripe and payment reminders. Manage payouts, disputes, and Stripe account details in the Stripe Dashboard.

You can also record cash, bank transfers, and other payments received outside LYGHTBOX.

Open a project and select the Payment step in Progress. The Payments panel shows the amount remaining, how much has been paid, and the total. Record payment sits beside the three tabs:

Invoices: this project’s invoices, with New invoice to start another.
Payments: payments received, including booking-page payments. Edit or delete the ones you recorded.
Package & add-ons: the service, package, amount, included photos, and add-ons, with the total and tax. Under Settings, you’ll find Payment required, Charge tax, and, for a booking-page payment that can be refunded, Refund checkout payment.

If the project has no package or amount yet, choose Set up on the Payment step. Record payment needs a total above zero.

For work that does not need payment, turn off Payment required. Existing invoices stay as they are. You cannot turn it off while the project has recorded payments.

Each project uses one tax rate. Turn off Charge tax for a tax-exempt job. Turning it back on uses your current default rate.

Mini-session bookings use the same invoice editor. Open the booking’s details to find it.

Create an invoice

In the project’s Payments, open the Invoices tab and select New invoice. When the Payment step shows Create invoice, choosing it opens your latest draft or a new invoice.
Check the recipient name and email.
Choose a due date: 14 or 30 days before the event date, or a custom date. If the project has no date, choose a custom date.
Review the items. A new invoice starts with the project amount and any add-ons, or with the remaining balance once something has been paid. Edit any line, or use Add item to add the package, an add-on, the remaining balance, or a blank line.
Add a Deposit if needed. Enter an amount or choose 25%, 50%, or 75%.
To spread the rest over time, turn on Allow split payments and choose 2 to 6 installments.
Select Save draft to keep working or Publish when it is ready for the client.

Tax is added at the project’s rate. To change it, use Charge tax on the Package & add-ons tab. If the invoice asks for more than the remaining balance, the editor tells you before you publish.

The invoice uses your account currency. Its total comes from its items and tax, so it can differ from the project total.

Draft, publish, and send

These are separate steps:

Draft lets you keep working. You can open or copy a preview link, but clients cannot pay and the invoice does not appear in their portal.
Publish lets the client view and pay the invoice from its link. Publishing normally opens the send dialog.
Send emails the client a link to the invoice. The list shows the date it was sent.

In the send dialog, review the recipient, subject, and message before selecting Send.

Each invoice in the list has buttons to open or copy its link and to send it. Its ⋮ menu offers Edit, Replace, Refund, Cancel, or Delete, depending on its status. Replace cancels an unpaid published invoice and starts a new one for the remaining balance, due the same way.

Some invoices created through booking pages are scheduled to send automatically. Check the invoice for its send time. While it is waiting, you can send it now or cancel the scheduled send.

What the client can do

The invoice page shows what the client owes, when payment is due, and their payment and refund history. When Stripe is connected, clients can follow the available action to:

Pay the deposit.
Pay the next installment.
Pay the remaining balance.
Pay the full amount.

Published invoices appear in the client’s portal for the related project or booking, including paid, overdue, and cancelled ones. A cancelled invoice remains available as a record but cannot collect another payment.

Record payments and refunds

In the project’s Payments, select Record payment to add a cash, bank transfer, or other payment. Enter the amount, payment date, method, and an optional note. The payment uses your account currency.

If the project has invoices, choose the one the payment belongs to. The payment cannot exceed that invoice’s remaining balance.

Use the Payments tab to edit or delete payments you recorded.

If the payment covers the project’s full balance and other unpaid invoices remain, Review unpaid invoices lets you keep them or choose which ones to cancel. Recording a payment does not automatically cancel those invoices.

To refund an online payment, choose Refund from the invoice’s ⋮ menu. For a payment made on a booking page, use Refund checkout payment on the Package & add-ons tab. Choose Full refund or Partial refund, select a reason, and optionally add an internal note. The dialog shows how much you can refund.

Refunds return money to the original payment method and update the project and invoice totals. Online payments cannot be edited like the payments you record yourself.

Understand invoice status

Draft - saved but not available to the client.
Awaiting payment - published or sent, and ready for the client to pay.
Partially paid - some money has been collected, with a balance remaining.
Overdue - an unpaid balance has passed its due date.
Paid in full - the invoice has been paid.
Cancelled - no longer valid for payment.

Each installment shows its own status in the invoice list. Check the invoice or installment for its exact balance, even when the project shows an overall payment status.

You can edit, replace, or cancel an invoice before it has payment activity. After that, use Refund where available to return a payment. You can delete a draft that was never sent, or a cancelled invoice, as long as it has no payment activity.

Payment reminders

Payment reminders are on by default. LYGHTBOX emails the client 3 days before an invoice is due and 3 and 7 days after, until it is paid. To change the timing or turn them off, go to Settings → Reminders, edit Payment reminders, and select Save changes.

As payments come in, LYGHTBOX updates the invoice and project balances and the project’s Payment step.

Attach invoices to projects.
Require payment on booking pages.
Set up the packages and add-ons you invoice in services and pricing.