How to copy an invoice in QuickBooks

Copying suits a customer whose invoices repeat, or a set of charges you want to bill to more than one customer. You change only what's different instead of entering every line twice. Quotes copy the same way, and a copied quote stays a quote.

If the same customer needs the same invoice regularly, Intuit points to recurring transactions instead of copying by hand each time. The how-to on setting up recurring invoices covers that.

Treat the copy as a draft to check. It carries over the original's information, and Intuit says the Invoice Date updates to today's date. If you're sending it to someone new, have that customer's details ready, particularly their email address.

1. Go to All apps, select Sales & Get Paid, then select Sales transactions.
2. Find the invoice, or the quote, that you want to copy.
3. In its Action column, open the dropdown and select Duplicate.
4. If the copy is for another customer, choose that customer from the list, then check their details are right.
5. Look at the Invoice date, now set to today, along with the Due date and Terms. Enter different ones if this invoice needs them.
6. Go through the lines and change whatever differs this time, such as the Qty or Rate. Select Add product or service if you need an extra line.
7. Select Save or Save and close.

You now have a new invoice alongside the one you copied, holding the same charges under the customer you chose and dated the day you made it.

Saving the copy doesn't email it. When it's ready to go, open it and select Review and send, or keep it until later; Save and close is Intuit's way to hold an invoice for sending another time.

If you changed anything under Manage while working on the copy, such as the layout, that change isn't limited to the copy. QuickBooks applies Manage choices to your existing invoices and to future ones.

If you saved a copy you don't need, it's a separate invoice, so the how-to on deleting an invoice covers removing it.

If you can't find Duplicate, check you're on the Sales transactions list under Sales & Get Paid, and open the dropdown in the invoice's own row of the Action column. Intuit lists Duplicate there.

If the copy shows a date you didn't expect, that's because the Invoice Date moves to the current date when you duplicate. Type in the date you need before you save.