---
title: "Your first invoice · EenFactuurMaken.nl"
description: "Step by step from an empty draft to a finalised invoice that you email to your customer with a PDF and an e-invoice."
url: "https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/getting-started/first-invoice"
markdown_url: "https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/getting-started/first-invoice.md"
language: "en-GB"
---

# Your first invoice

Step by step from an empty draft to a finalised invoice that you email to your customer with a PDF and an e-invoice.

Here's how to make and send your first invoice. It takes a few minutes. Haven't filled in your [business details](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/getting-started/business-details) yet? Do that first: without them you can create a draft, but you can't finalise it.

## 1\. Start a new invoice

Go to **Invoices** and click **New invoice**. You can also use the button on your dashboard.

## 2\. Choose your customer

Search for an existing customer, or type a new name and choose **New customer**. From the customer we automatically take:

- the payment term and invoice language (if you set them on the customer),
- the VAT treatment: a business in another EU country with a VAT number gets _EU customer_, for example. See [Choosing a VAT treatment](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/vat/treatments).

## 3\. Fill in the lines

For each line you enter a description, quantity, unit, price excluding VAT and VAT rate. **Pick a product** fills in a saved [product](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/products). Totals and VAT per rate update immediately. Everything about lines, discounts and units is in [Create an invoice](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/invoices/create).

## 4\. Check dates and payment term

The invoice date is today and the due date follows from your payment term (14 days by default). Did you deliver before today? Fill in the **delivery date**, or a period if you're invoicing a month of work, for example.

## 5\. Look at the preview

On the right (or via **Toggle preview**) you see the PDF as you type. A draft has a "DRAFT" watermark.

Click **Save as draft** (or press ⌘ S or Ctrl S). From then on your changes are saved automatically.

> **Your free invoices**
>
> On the Free plan you have 5 invoices a month. An invoice counts as soon as you save the draft. If you delete a draft that was never finalised, you get it back. Credit notes and the example invoice from the welcome guide never count. Neither do invoices you make without an account in the [free invoice generator](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/invoice-generator): they never reach our servers.

## 6\. Finalise the invoice

Click **Finalise** (or ⌘ Shift Enter, Ctrl Shift Enter on Windows). EenFactuurMaken.nl:

1. checks that everything the law requires is on it. If something is missing, you see exactly what and where to fix it. See [Invoice checks](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/invoices/checks);
2. gives the invoice the next number in your sequence, for example `2026-0001`;
3. locks the invoice. After that you can't change it. You fix a mistake with a [credit note](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/credit-notes).

More in [Drafts and issuing](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/invoices/issue).

## 7\. Send the invoice

Click **Send**. We fill in your customer's email address and a default message. The PDF and (if you like) the e-invoice in UBL format are attached. Your customer's replies go to your own mailbox. See [Sending by email](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/invoices/sending).

Prefer to send it yourself? Download the PDF or the UBL via **More actions**. Or share the [online invoice](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/invoices/online-invoice).

## 8\. Mark it as paid

Has your customer paid? Choose **Mark as paid** and enter the date. If the invoice is past its due date, you'll see **Overdue** and can [send a reminder](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/reminders).

> **Keep your invoices**
>
> On the Free plan we keep your invoices for 60 days. So download them, or upgrade to Pro. See [Storage and retention](https://eenfactuurmaken.nl/en/docs/retention).

Last updated on 13 October 2026