Xero Invoicing: Create, Approve, Send and Repeat Invoices

Here's the catch most people find the hard way. A repeating invoice set to Approve for Sending only emails the first invoice automatically if its invoice date is in the future. Set it to today or a past date and Xero approves that first invoice but doesn't send it, so your customer never gets it. To start a series from today, Xero says you need to create the first invoice by hand.

How to create a Xero invoice from scratch

Xero saves the invoice every few seconds once you've added a contact, and fills in the fields with details it already holds. As of October 2026, these are the steps on the web app:

1. From the header, click the quick launch icon, then select Invoice.
2. In the Contact field, start typing to pick an existing contact or add a new one.
3. Optionally click Add last items to pull in the items from the last invoice you sent that contact.
4. In the Item field, pick an inventory item or type a description, then the Quantity and Price.
5. Click Save & close to keep it as a draft, or use the arrow next to it for Save & add another or Submit for approval.

You can show or hide fields by clicking Columns, drag line items to reorder them, and use drag to fill to copy the first cell into the cells below. If you're new to it, the Xero demo company has most of the features of a live organisation, so you can practise without touching your own data.

Copying invoices, and the tab that trips people up

Copying saves retyping. In the Sales menu, select Invoices, then choose the tab for the status of the invoices you want to copy. You can't copy from the list of all invoices, which is where most people go looking first. Tick the invoices, then click Copy to (or More, then Copy to, if invoice reminders are on), choose Invoice and enter the customer. Copy multiple invoices and Xero creates one draft holding every line item from the originals. Some details can change on the copy because your organisation, contact or item defaults are applied.

Approving and sending a Xero invoice

To approve and send, you need one of four user roles: Administrator, Standard, Sales and purchases, or Sales. Open the invoice and click Approve & email, or pick another option from the arrow next to it.

Option	What it does, as of October 2026
Approve	Approves only, so you can send or print it later
Approve & email	Approves and opens the Send email window
Approve & SMS	Texts the invoice to your customer's phone; needs a connected payment service and a supported region
Approve & get link	Copies a link to the online invoice to send outside Xero
Approve & print PDF	Creates a PDF copy to print
Approve & view next	Approves and opens the next draft awaiting approval

SMS sending is available in Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK. In the Send email window you can schedule the email for 9am the next business day or a custom time. You can bulk approve from the Draft or Awaiting Approval tab, but check everything first: Xero only lets you edit or void approved invoices one at a time.

If you connect Stripe, an international customer can choose to pay in their own currency. Stripe sets that exchange rate, it includes a variable fee, and your customer pays the fee as part of the invoice. You can switch the dual-currency view off from your Stripe dashboard.

Setting due dates and payment terms

Set a default due date in Sales settings, then Invoice settings, then Default Settings, under Payment Terms. You can set a separate default for an individual contact under Sales defaults, and the contact's due date wins over the organisation's. Xero's own examples show how the options behave:

Invoice sent	Due date setting	Due on
15 July	6 days after the end of the invoice month	6 August
20 November	31 of the current month	30 November
Any date	0, or blank, days after the invoice date	The invoice date

Entering 31 always lands on the last day of a shorter month. One trap: if you leave the Due field blank and pick of the following month or of the current month, Xero won't set a default due date at all.

Invoice templates are called branding themes

In Xero, invoice templates are called branding themes, which is why searching for templates in the app can come up short. There are three kinds. Standard templates are the recommended starting point and you can add up to five; they bring a colour palette built from your logo, custom column names and a pay-now QR code if you have a payment service. The catch is that the standard template currently only applies to invoices, so quotes and purchase orders fall back to the legacy theme. Standard (legacy) templates have no limit. Advanced templates are custom DOCX files edited in Microsoft Word, with a limit of 15 per organisation, and they can't be used for receipts or remittance advice.

Repeating invoices: what Xero won't carry over

Create a repeating invoice from the Repeating tab with New Repeating Invoice, or open a paid or awaiting-payment invoice and select Repeat from its menu. All fields are mandatory except End Date and Reference. For an annual invoice, enter 12 and select Month(s), or 52 and Week(s) to repeat on a particular weekday. Before you rely on one, know what it leaves out:

1. Attachments on the template aren't added to each new invoice; you add them every time.
2. Delivery addresses aren't included, even with the delivery address setting turned on.
3. If you update an item's selling price, the new price won't flow through to new repeating invoices.
4. Templates with tracked inventory items can't use the Approve option.
5. Your pricing plan sets how many transactions you can approve each month; hit the limit and repeating invoices set to approve are saved as drafts.

That last one is worth checking against your plan on my breakdown of Xero's plans before you automate a big run of invoices.

Recording a payment and chasing late ones

In the Sales menu, open the invoice from the Awaiting Payment tab and fill in Record payment underneath. Xero pre-fills the full amount and today's date, so change them for a part payment, then click Record payment. If the payment's already in your bank feed, use find and match during reconciliation instead and Xero applies it for you. To get paid sooner, add a payment service so customers can click Pay Now, turn on invoice reminders, and run the Aged Receivables Summary with the Email and Mobile columns added to build a chase list.

My verdict on Xero invoicing

I'd use Xero invoicing as it comes if you send a modest number of invoices and want them tied straight into your books. Set due dates per contact, build one standard branding theme, and turn on reminders on day one. For repeating invoices, always set a future first date or create the first one by hand. Skip leaning on repeating invoices if every bill needs attachments or delivery addresses, because you'll be editing each one anyway. Still choosing software? My Xero versus QuickBooks comparison covers the wider picture.

Invoicing is one of the first places a small team wins back hours, especially once reminders and repeating invoices are doing the chasing. I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.

Frequently asked questions

Why didn't my Xero repeating invoice send?

With Approve for Sending, Xero only emails the first invoice automatically if the invoice date is in the future. If it's today or in the past, the first invoice is approved but not sent, so create that one by hand.

Can I copy several Xero invoices at once?

Yes. Pick the status tab, tick the invoices and use Copy to. Xero creates one draft invoice with every line item from the originals. You can't copy from the list of all invoices.

What are Xero invoice templates called?

Branding themes. You can add up to five standard templates, unlimited standard legacy templates and up to 15 advanced DOCX templates per organisation.

Who can approve and send invoices in Xero?

Users with the Administrator, Standard, Sales and purchases, or Sales role.

Can I send a Xero invoice by text message?

Yes, with Approve and SMS, in Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK. It needs a connected payment service.