The quick chooser
Money in — selling
Quote → (Sales order) → Invoice → Payment. Take a deposit with a proforma and advance. Reverse a mistake with a credit note.
Money out — buying
Purchase order → Bill → Vendor payment. Capture ad-hoc costs as expenses straight from a receipt.
Anything that changes your books — an invoice, a payment, a bill — is drafted by Tia and recorded only when you reply
confirm. That’s the two-step on books rule.Money in — the selling flow
Quote (estimate)
What it is: a priced offer. Not a demand for payment and nothing lands on your revenue — it’s the number you’re putting in front of the customer. When to use it: whenever someone asks “how much?”. Send it, then chase it. Ask “which quotes are going stale?” and Tia lists the ones that have expired or gone quiet. A quote moves through draft → sent → accepted / declined / expired, and once you bill it, invoiced. What’s next: when the customer says yes, convert the quote — straight to an invoice, or to a sales order first if you want a confirmation step in between.Proforma
What it is: a quote dressed up to collect money against — the document you send when a customer needs something to pay a deposit on, before any goods or work have changed hands. It looks like an invoice but it isn’t a tax invoice, so it doesn’t hit your books as revenue. When to use it: you want a deposit before you start. Send a proforma, attach a payment link, and when the customer pays, Tia turns the receipt into an advance (below).Advance / retainer invoice
What it is: the invoice that records money taken before delivery — a deposit or a retainer. Because you’ve received cash, this is a real accounting document (unlike the proforma that requested it). When to use it: it’s usually created for you — when a deposit against a proforma is paid, Tia records the advance automatically. You can also record one directly: “record a 20k advance from Carpenco”. Later, when you raise the final invoice for the full job, the advance is applied to it — the final invoice shows the deposit already paid and only bills the balance.Sales order
What it is: the confirmed, agreed version of a deal — after the quote is accepted but before (or as) you deliver and invoice. It’s the internal “yes, this is happening” record. When to use it: it’s optional. Reach for it when there’s a gap between winning the deal and billing it — you’re fulfilling over time, delivering in stages, or you just want a confirmed order on the books before the invoice. Small, bill-on-the-spot jobs can skip it and go quote → invoice. What’s next: convert the sales order to an invoice when you’re ready to bill. Anything carried on the order — including which project it belongs to — flows through to the invoice, so job costing stays intact.Tax invoice
What it is: the bill you send the customer, and the document that records revenue and any tax you charge. This is the real financial record — the thing your customer pays against. When to use it: when you’ve delivered (or reached a billing milestone) and it’s time to get paid. Create it from a quote, from a sales order, or from scratch: “invoice Carpenco 85k for the JBR fit-out”. It moves through draft → sent → partial → paid, and flags overdue on its own so it surfaces in your morning brief.Credit note
What it is: the reverse of an invoice — it cancels or reduces one you already issued, backing out the amount and any tax. When to use it: you over-billed, the customer returned something, or you need to void an invoice that’s already gone out. “credit invoice 1042” mirrors the original so the numbers unwind cleanly. A fully-credited invoice is marked credited rather than silently deleted, so the history stays honest.Customer payment
What it is: the record that money came in against an invoice. When to use it: every time a customer pays. “Carpenco paid 18k on invoice 1042” applies it and updates the balance; one payment can be split across several invoices. If a customer pays online through a payment link, Tia records the payment for you.Money out — the buying flow
Purchase order
What it is: your commitment to buy — sent to a supplier before the goods or the bill arrive. It puts the obligation on your books early, so nothing is a surprise later. When to use it: you’re ordering ahead — stock, materials, a subcontractor. “raise a PO to Plumbus for 5,000 of pipe fittings” creates a numbered order you can track from draft → sent → billed. One purchase order can be billed across several bills as deliveries come in.Bill
What it is: a supplier’s invoice to you — money you owe. It’s the payables mirror of your own tax invoice. When to use it: when a formal invoice arrives from a vendor and you want it tracked as something owed, with a due date and a running balance. Bills often flow in from your connected accounting system, and can link back to the purchase order they fulfil. Ask “what bills are outstanding?” to see everything due.A bill is a formal invoice from a supplier that sits in your payables until it’s paid. An expense (below) is a quick cost capture from a receipt. Use a bill when you’re tracking a debt over time; use an expense for a cost that’s already settled or too small to formalise.
Vendor payment
What it is: the record that you paid a supplier — the money-out counterpart of a customer payment. When to use it: when you settle a bill. “paid Plumbus 4,800 against their bill” logs it and clears the balance. One payment can cover several bills.Expense
What it is: a cost captured straight from a receipt, a supplier PDF, or a voice note — with the vendor, amount, tax, and category read off automatically. It’s the fastest way to keep your books current. When to use it: for the everyday spend that doesn’t warrant a formal bill — fuel, materials bought on the spot, a supplier receipt from a site visit. Forward it to Tia, check the draft, replyconfirm. Expenses go through pending → confirmed → posted, and can be tagged to a project so job costs stay accurate. Full detail lives on the Finance page.
How they connect at a glance
Quote vs proforma vs invoice
Quote vs proforma vs invoice
All three can look similar, but they play different roles. A quote offers a price and commits nothing. A proforma is a quote formatted to collect a deposit against — still not a financial record. A tax invoice is the real bill that records revenue and gets paid. Rough rule: quote to win the deal, proforma to collect a deposit, invoice to get paid.
Proforma vs advance
Proforma vs advance
A proforma requests a deposit. An advance invoice records that deposit once the money has actually arrived, and is later applied against the final invoice so you don’t double-bill. One asks; the other books.
Do I need a sales order?
Do I need a sales order?
Only when there’s a meaningful gap between winning a deal and billing it — staged delivery, fulfilment over time, or a formal order confirmation your customer expects. Otherwise go straight from quote to invoice.
Purchase order vs bill vs expense
Purchase order vs bill vs expense
A purchase order is what you commit to buy, before anything arrives. A bill is the supplier’s invoice you owe, tracked until paid. An expense is a quick receipt capture for a cost that needs no formal invoice. PO → bill → paid is the formal path; receipt → expense is the fast path.
Reference numbers
Every document Taskezy issues gets a clean, sequential reference so you and your team can point to the exact one. References reset each year.What’s next
- Sales — capture leads, send quotes, and win deals.
- Finance — expenses, receivables, payables, and daily cash.
- Connect Zoho Books — keep these documents in step with your accounting system.