Step-by-step guide

Getting started with Paidlio

From an empty app to an invoice that is paid, in 37 short steps. Click the highlighted button in each screenshot, or use Next, and the guide moves on the way the app would.

Already installed it? Jump to the chapter you need. Every screen here is the real app, running the trial you can download here.

Welcome · Paidlio
Paidlio's first-run setup screen with the business name, email and address filled in for a design studio.

The guide, step by step

  1. Paidlio's first-run setup screen with the business name, email and address filled in for a design studio.

    Set up your businessStep 1 of 3

    Start with your business name

    The first time Paidlio opens it asks who you are. Your business name, email and address become the letterhead on every invoice, quote and statement you send, so this screen is worth the minute it takes.

  2. The Invoicing section of the setup screen: default currency, date format, number format, and the invoice number prefix, next number and number of digits.

    Set up your businessStep 2 of 3

    Pick your currency and formats

    Paidlio suggests a currency and date format from the regional settings on your computer, and you can change either. Amounts are written the same way on screen and on every PDF. If you are carrying on from another system, set the prefix and the next number, and your first invoice number is shown underneath.

  3. The bottom of the setup screen, with Skip for now and Save and continue buttons.

    Set up your businessStep 3 of 3

    Save and you are in

    Everything on this screen can be changed later under Settings. Emailing invoices from inside the app is optional. Set it up now, or skip it and save your invoices as PDFs.

  4. The Payment details section of Settings, with a field for a Pay Now link and payment instructions typed in.

    Make the invoice yoursStep 2 of 3

    Tell customers how to pay

    Paste a payment link from Stripe, PayPal or your bank and it becomes a Pay Now button on every invoice PDF and email. Bank details typed underneath print at the bottom of each invoice. The money goes straight to you.

  5. A live preview of a sample invoice in Settings, showing the studio logo, letterhead, line items and total.

    Make the invoice yoursStep 3 of 3

    See it before you save

    The preview is page one of a sample invoice, drawn from the details on this screen by the same code that makes your real PDFs. Change the logo size or the colour and it redraws.

  6. The Customers screen listing ten customers with their code, email, currency and payment terms, and the Import and New customer buttons.

    Add a customerStep 1 of 4

    Open Customers and click New customer

    Customers is the list of people you invoice, with the currency and payment terms you agreed with each. Search it by name, code or email.

  7. The New customer form filled in with a name, email, phone, billing address, currency and Net 14 payment terms.

    Add a customerStep 2 of 4

    Fill in their details

    The name, currency and payment terms are all Paidlio needs. The currency and terms you choose here are filled in on every new invoice for this customer, so a Net 14 client gets a due date 14 days out without you working it out.

  8. The New customer form with the Create customer button.

    Add a customerStep 3 of 4

    Create the customer

    Click Create customer and they join the list, ready to invoice.

  9. The Import customers window with a CSV file chosen: two customers ready to import, and one skipped because it is already in Paidlio.

    Add a customerStep 4 of 4

    Or bring your whole list with you

    Moving from another app or a spreadsheet? Export your customers as a CSV file, click Import and choose it. Paidlio shows every row before anything is saved, and anyone already in Paidlio is skipped rather than changed, with the reason beside it.

  10. The Invoices screen: ten invoices in US dollars and British pounds with their totals, balances and statuses, and a New invoice button.

    Create an invoiceStep 1 of 4

    Open Invoices and click New invoice

    Every invoice you have raised is listed here with its total, what is still owed and its status. The filters along the top narrow the list to drafts, sent, overdue, paid or void. Customers you bill in another currency sit in the same list.

  11. A new invoice with the customer chosen, and the issue date, due date and currency filled in.

    Create an invoiceStep 2 of 4

    Choose the customer

    Pick the customer and Paidlio fills in their currency and works out the due date from their payment terms. You can still change either one for this invoice.

  12. Three line items on a new invoice, each with a quantity, unit price, tax label and tax rate, and a running subtotal, tax and total.

    Create an invoiceStep 3 of 4

    Add what you are billing for

    Each line has a description, a quantity and a price. Tax is two fields, a label and a rate, so it prints the way your customer expects, whether that is VAT, GST or sales tax. The totals beside the lines update as you type.

  13. The foot of a new invoice with its totals and the Cancel, Save and mark Sent, and Save as Draft buttons.

    Create an invoiceStep 4 of 4

    Save it as sent or as a draft

    Saving gives the invoice the next number in your sequence. Use Save and mark Sent when it is ready to go. Use Save as Draft if you are still working on it, and it stays off their statement until you send it.

  14. A sent invoice with Open PDF, Save PDF, Email, Void and Delete buttons across the top.

    Send itStep 1 of 3

    Save the PDF or email it

    A saved invoice has its own toolbar. Save PDF writes the file wherever you choose, Open PDF shows it in your PDF viewer, and Email sends it from your own address once email is set up.

  15. The finished invoice PDF: the studio logo and address, the customer it is billed to, three line items with tax, and the total.

    Send itStep 2 of 3

    This is what your customer receives

    Your logo and letterhead at the top, their details, each line with its tax, and the total in your accent colour. Your payment details print underneath. The PDF is made on your own computer.

  16. The Email section of Settings with an SMTP host, port, username and From address filled in, and a Save and send test email button.

    Send itStep 3 of 3

    Email from your own address

    To send from inside Paidlio, enter the SMTP details from your mail provider once under Settings, Email. Invoices, quotes and statements then go out from your own address with the PDF attached. Save and send test email checks the details work.

  17. An invoice showing its total, amount paid and balance, with a Record payment button in the Payments section.

    Record a paymentStep 1 of 3

    Open the invoice and click Record payment

    When the money arrives, open the invoice and scroll down to Payments. The totals above show what has been paid so far and the balance still owed.

  18. The Record payment window with a payment date, amount, method and reference filled in.

    Record a paymentStep 2 of 3

    Enter the amount

    Type what you received, and add the method and a reference if you want them on record. Part payments are fine, just record each one as it lands.

  19. The same invoice now marked Paid, with the full amount shown as paid and a balance of zero.

    Record a paymentStep 3 of 3

    The invoice marks itself Paid

    Once the payments cover the total, the status changes to Paid by itself and the balance reads zero.

  20. The Statements screen with a customer chosen, a from and to date, and preset periods underneath.

    Send a statementStep 1 of 3

    Pick a customer and a period

    A statement shows the invoices and payments for one customer over a date range. Choose the customer, then set the dates or use a preset such as last month or year to date.

  21. A customer statement: opening balance, total invoiced, total paid and closing balance, above a list of two invoices and one payment.

    Send a statementStep 2 of 3

    Read what they owe

    The four figures at the top are the opening balance, what you invoiced, what they paid and the closing balance. Underneath, every invoice and payment in the period is listed with a running balance.

  22. The Statements screen with Open PDF, Save PDF and Email buttons.

    Send a statementStep 3 of 3

    Save it or send it

    Save PDF and Email work the same way they do on an invoice, and the statement goes out on your letterhead.

  23. The Quotes screen listing four quotes with their customer, dates, totals and statuses, and a New quote button.

    Quote before you invoiceStep 1 of 5

    Open Quotes and click New quote

    A quote prices the work before you do it. Quotes are numbered on their own, from Q-0001, so they never use up an invoice number, and the list shows whether each one is a draft, sent, accepted or declined. The prefix, the next number and how long a quote stays valid are under Settings, Quotes.

  24. A new quote with the customer chosen, an issue date, a valid-until date a month later, and two line items with tax.

    Quote before you invoiceStep 2 of 5

    Price the job

    Choose the customer and add the lines just as you would on an invoice, with the same tax and totals. Valid until is filled in 30 days out, which you can change for this quote or for every new one in Settings. Save it as a draft, or with Save and mark Sent when it goes to the customer.

  25. The finished quote PDF: the studio logo and address, the customer, the valid-until date, two line items with tax, and the total.

    Quote before you invoiceStep 3 of 5

    The quote your customer receives

    It carries your letterhead and logo, is titled QUOTE and says how long the price holds. The Pay Now button and your bank details are left off, since there is nothing to pay yet. Save it or email it the same way you would an invoice.

  26. The window asking to turn the quote into an invoice, with a Make the invoice button.

    Quote before you invoiceStep 4 of 5

    Turn it into an invoice

    When the customer says yes, open the quote and click Turn into invoice. Paidlio makes the invoice from it, with the next invoice number, today's date and a due date from the customer's payment terms.

  27. The draft invoice made from the quote, with its line items and a message that it was created from the quote.

    Quote before you invoiceStep 5 of 5

    Check it, then send it

    The invoice opens as a draft with the same lines, so you can look it over before it goes out. The quote is marked accepted, shows the invoice it became, and can no longer be changed.

  28. The Recurring screen listing four templates with their customer, cadence, next run, last run and status, and a New template button.

    Set up recurring invoicesStep 1 of 3

    Open Recurring and click New template

    A template is an invoice Paidlio raises for you on a schedule. The list shows each one with its next run date and whether it is active or paused.

  29. A new recurring template with a name, customer, monthly cadence on the 1st, start date, currency and payment terms.

    Set up recurring invoicesStep 2 of 3

    Choose who and how often

    Name the template, pick the customer, and choose weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. Tick the box if the invoices it raises should be marked Sent. Leave it clear and they arrive as drafts for you to check first.

  30. The line items of a recurring template with the total per invoice, and a Create template button.

    Set up recurring invoicesStep 3 of 3

    Add the lines and create it

    Line items work exactly as they do on an invoice. From then on Paidlio raises the invoice on the day it is due. If the app was not running that day, it catches up the next time you open it.

  31. The Backup section of Settings with a Choose folder button for the backup destination.

    Back up your workStep 1 of 2

    Choose a backup folder

    Your data lives on your own computer, so give Paidlio a folder to copy it to. Pick one inside OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive and your cloud sync keeps a copy somewhere else as well.

  32. The backup schedule set to Daily, keeping 30 copies, with Restore, Back up now and Save underneath.

    Back up your workStep 2 of 2

    Set a schedule

    Choose daily or weekly and how many copies to keep. Back up now makes one straight away, and Restore brings a backup back the next time Paidlio starts.

  33. Paidlio during its trial, with a bar across the top showing the days left and an Activate link.

    Activate your licenceStep 1 of 3

    The trial runs for 14 days

    A bar along the top counts down the trial, and everything works during those 14 days. When you have bought a licence, click Activate on the bar.

  34. The Licence section of Settings with a licence key field and an Activate button.

    Activate your licenceStep 2 of 3

    Paste your key and click Activate

    Under Settings, App, paste the licence key from your purchase confirmation email and click Activate. It is one of the few moments Paidlio goes online.

  35. The Licence section showing an active licence with the customer, product and machine, and a Release this machine button.

    Activate your licenceStep 3 of 3

    Moving to another computer

    Once it is activated the bar goes away and Settings shows who the licence belongs to. Your licence covers the computers you work on yourself. If you replace one, click Release this machine first, then activate on the new one.

  36. Paidlio with a bar across the top saying a new version is available, with Release notes and Download links.

    Keep Paidlio up to dateStep 1 of 1

    Installing a new version

    Installed from the Microsoft Store, Windows updates Paidlio for you. Downloaded from this site, a bar appears at the top when a new version is out. On macOS and Linux, click Download and install the new version over the old one. On Windows, from version 1.3.8, click Install update and Paidlio installs it and opens again. Your customers, invoices and settings stay where they are.

Good to know

Can I try all of this before I buy?
Yes. The trial runs for 14 days with everything in this guide switched on, and it does not ask for a card. Put real invoices through it and see whether it fits how you work.
Which of these steps need an internet connection?
Activating your licence and the check for a new version do, and so does downloading a new version when you click Install update. Emailing an invoice goes through your own mail provider. Everything else, from adding customers to saving PDFs and statements, works offline.
Where do I get help if I get stuck?
Send us a message through the contact form on the homepage and a person replies. Email support is included with your licence.

Try it on your own invoices

The trial runs for 14 days with everything you have just seen switched on, and it does not ask for a card. It is the same download as the full app, and your licence key unlocks it when you buy.

Download the free trialBuy Paidlio for $79Ask us a question