Customizing Your Invoice PDFs
Make every invoice look like it came from a real shop — not a spreadsheet.
What goes on every invoice PDF
Every invoice Kontrol™ generates is a professional US Letter PDF. It includes your shop name, address, phone, and email in the top-left corner — pulled automatically from your Settings. On the right is the invoice number, date, due date, and a color-coded status badge (green for Paid, blue for Sent, red for Overdue). Below that is the Bill To block with your customer's name and address, then the line items table, totals, notes, and footer.
Step 1 — Fill out your Shop Info (this is the big one)
Go to Settings → General. Fill in every field: Shop Name, Address, Phone, and Email. These four pieces of data are what appear in the header of every single invoice you send. If your shop name is blank, the PDF defaults to "KONTRAKTR" — which is fine for testing but not for real invoices.
- 1Settings → General → Shop Info section
- 2Enter your legal business name or DBA in the Shop Name field
- 3Add your full street address (customers use this to remit checks)
- 4Add your shop phone number — the main line, not a cell
- 5Add your billing email — this is what customers reply to with payment questions
- 6Save — the change takes effect on the very next PDF you generate
Your shop name renders in blue at 20pt bold — it's the first thing a customer sees. Use your actual brand name here, not an abbreviation.
Step 2 — Write line items that actually explain the job
The Description column is 45% of the invoice width and supports multi-line text. Use it. A vague line item like "Shirts" is a support call waiting to happen. A clear line item like "50 Gildan 64000 Black Tees — 1-color front, white ink" tells your customer exactly what they're paying for — and gives you paper trail if there's ever a dispute.
- 1Open the job → Invoice tab → Add Line Item
- 2In Description, include: garment name/style, quantity detail, print location, number of colors
- 3Example for a multi-location job: "50 Gildan 64000 — 2-color front / 1-color left chest"
- 4Example for a fee: "Rush Turnaround Fee (48hr) — 15% upcharge"
- 5Example for setup: "Screen Setup (4 screens @ $20 each)"
- 6Set Quantity and Unit Price — the total calculates automatically
If your line items reference specific jobs, Kontrol™ automatically adds an Order Reference block to the PDF showing the job name and any customer PO number. No extra work needed.
Step 3 — Set payment terms with the Due Date
There's no separate "payment terms" field — the due date IS your payment terms. Set it when you create the invoice. Common patterns: same day as ship date for COD accounts, 14 days out for trusted customers, 30 days for established accounts. The due date appears in the Invoice Details block on the right side of the PDF.
Once a due date passes without payment, the invoice automatically flips to Overdue status and the status badge turns red on the PDF. Kontrol™ can also send automated reminder emails — set that up in Settings → Automations.
Step 4 — Use the Notes field for payment instructions
The Notes field at the bottom of the invoice form becomes a shaded callout box on the PDF — easy for customers to spot. Use it for payment instructions, bank transfer details, check payable info, or any terms you need in writing.
- 1On the invoice form, find the Notes field (below line items)
- 2Example: "Payment due within 15 days. Make checks payable to Ink & Thread Co. Mail to: 123 Main St, Austin TX 78701"
- 3Example: "NET 30 — 2% discount if paid within 10 days"
- 4Example: "All balances over 60 days subject to a 1.5% monthly finance charge"
- 5Example: "Wire transfer available — contact billing@yourshop.com for bank details"
Keep notes under 3-4 lines. Long notes compress the totals section and can look cluttered. If you have extensive terms, reference a URL in the notes instead.
Tax rates on invoices
If you've set a tax rate on a customer's account or on the invoice itself, a Tax line automatically appears in the totals section showing the rate percentage and dollar amount (e.g., "Tax (8.5%) — $42.50"). If tax rate is 0, the tax line is hidden entirely — the invoice stays clean.
Tax rates are set per-customer in the Customer record, or you can override them per-invoice. Check your state's screen printing tax rules — most states tax the full invoice amount including labor.
Applying credits to an invoice
When a credit is applied to an invoice (e.g., a discount, refund credit, or deposit), the totals section shows three rows: Total, Credit Applied (in green), and Balance Due. This makes it crystal clear to customers what they owe after any credit. Credits are applied from the invoice detail screen before sending.
The QR code — what it is and why it's there
Every invoice PDF has a small QR code in the top-right corner next to the invoice number. Scanning it takes your customer directly to their online invoice view where they can pay, download the PDF again, or check the status. It's automatically generated — nothing to configure. If you'd rather not have it, contact support.
Downloading and sending the PDF
There are three ways to get the PDF to a customer: (1) Click Send Invoice — Kontrol™ emails it automatically with a Pay Now button. (2) Click Download PDF from the invoice screen — you get a file to attach to your own email or print and hand over. (3) The customer can download their own copy anytime from the Customer Portal — the PDF button is always visible there.
The public portal PDF is identical to the one you download — your branding, their billing info, same layout. Customers can't see draft invoices, only sent ones.
Batch invoices — printing multiple PDFs at once
Need to run end-of-month billing? Go to Invoices → select multiple invoices using the checkboxes → Batch Export PDF. Kontrol™ stitches all selected invoices into one PDF file, one invoice per page, in the same branded format. Useful for printing or sending to an accountant.
What you can't change (and workarounds)
A few things on the invoice PDF are fixed right now: the footer always says "Thank you for your business!", the blue accent color on the shop name, and the overall two-column layout. Custom logo images in the PDF header are not yet supported — use the Shop Name field as your brand identifier. These are on the roadmap for a future update.
For now, if you want your logo on paperwork, the Work Order PDF supports logo images. On invoices, your shop name in the header is the brand anchor.
Quick checklist before your first real invoice
- 1Settings → General: Shop Name, Address, Phone, Email are all filled out
- 2Customer record: Company Name, billing email, and address are complete
- 3Line items have clear descriptions (not just "Printing")
- 4Due Date is set on the invoice
- 5Notes include payment instructions if needed
- 6Tax rate is set correctly (or confirmed as $0)
- 7Invoice status is Sent before sharing the PDF link