Manage Finance Templates
Review invoice and estimate templates, clone templates, and choose defaults.
Finance templates control customer-facing invoice and estimate layouts.
Treat finance templates as production assets. A default template affects the documents customers see, so preview changes before using them on live invoices or estimates.
Open Finance Templates
Open Settings > Finance Templates to manage finance document templates. The template list shows template previews, name, description, system/default badges, and active state.
Review templates in the same context customers will see them: invoice PDF, estimate PDF, public payment page, and email attachment when applicable. A template can look fine in the list but still need spacing, branding, or variable review in the final document.
Template Actions
Depending on the template, you can:
- Edit a custom template.
- Clone a template.
- Set a template as default.
- Delete a custom template.
- Seed default templates when defaults are missing.
System templates can be cloned and set as default, but they are not edited directly.
Clone Before Customizing
Clone a system template when you need a branded or specialized layout. Rename the clone so admins can tell why it exists, such as "Default invoice - US services" or "Estimate with signature block".
Keep the original system template available as a clean reference. This makes it easier to compare layout issues or recover from a confusing customization.
Create a clone for experiments instead of editing the production default. Use the clone for testing until the PDF, public page, and email attachment all look correct.
Template Review Checklist
Before using a custom finance template, create a test invoice and estimate that include:
- long customer and company names
- multiple line items
- discounts and tax
- notes and terms
- attachment or signature behavior when relevant
- payment instructions
Preview the PDF and public page. Finance templates are successful only when the final customer-facing documents are readable.
Defaults
Set a default template when invoices or estimates should start from a specific layout. Review defaults before sending customer-facing finance documents.
A default usually affects new documents, not documents already created. After changing the default, create a test invoice or estimate and preview the PDF before sending anything to a customer.
Tell the finance team when the default changes. Recurring invoices, workflows, and team habits may still assume the previous default until someone reviews the next generated document.
After changing a default, create a new draft invoice and estimate. Existing drafts may keep their previous template, so a fresh draft is the best default test.
Delete Or Disable Carefully
Delete only custom templates that are no longer needed. Before deleting, check whether the template is used by recurring invoices, saved workflows, or internal team instructions.
If you are unsure, rename the template as archived or inactive first and remove it from defaults. This keeps a review trail while your team confirms no active process depends on it.
Before deleting, search team instructions and recurring billing processes for references to the template name. A template may be used operationally even when it is not the current default.
Change Ownership
Assign an owner for finance template changes. The owner should coordinate with finance before changing defaults, deleting templates, or updating customer-facing terms. This prevents layout work from accidentally changing billing language.