New Invoicing - Reduce number of steps and clicks
New invoicing has introduced more clicks, taps, steps at almost every level.
Please remove the added friction as it increases processing time.
The "new invoicing" messages are full of comments regarding where these pressure points have been added.
We are paid subscribers, and beta testing/seeking feedback is wonderful, but being forced onto an inferior model is.. suboptimal.

Hi everyone, thanks for continuing to share and keep us informed of the differing flows and actions that could be improved in how you invoice with Xero. All feedback through these forums and across Xero Central discussions has been shared with our product team and will be carefully considered as we continue to build on your invoicing experience.
About a month ago we changed the behaviour of how defaults are applied, so now when you copy an invoice for the same Contact their defaults will automatically be applied to the new draft invoice.
Most recently, and as you may have noticed we've released a new line item grid (where you enter the details of your invoice). Many changes that come with the new grid are based on feedback we've received from our customers the most prominent for this idea being that we've optimised padding, font size and column widths to reduce the need to scroll. All fields will now wrap text so you can read your full account code, tracking or tax rate. Other changes that we've wrapped into this release include being able to manually add rows, and shift these where you'd like them placed in your invoice, and seeing more of your inventory items in the dropdown menu. We know some customers were having trouble with the options they'd selected in the hide/show columns reverting, and this has also been resolved with this release.
With many changes delivered to reduce clicks and steps since this idea was originally raised, we are going to move this to delivered. We understand and appreciate there are further points within invoicing our customers would like to see a reduction in steps and clicks, and this will remain a focus for our teams as we continue developments.
Below I've listed some ideas that have been raised through your feedback and we encourage you to create ideas for the specific points you'd like to see these sort of improvements.
- New Invoicing - Add Payment details on invoice screen
- New invoicing - copy to bill
- New Invoicing | Copy to - Purchase order
- New invoicing - Option to use Xero Network
- New Invoicing - Add line number
- New Invoicing - Select default for 'Approve' Button e.g not 'Approve & Email
- New Invoicing - Add Expected Invoice Payment Date within Invoice
- New Invoicing - Allow manual typing of a Date in 'Add Payment' screen
- New Invoicing | Files - Ability to attach files before adding contact
- New Invoicing - History to include if invoice is resent
- New Invoicing - Option to switch Autosave off
- New invoicing - Ability to turn off auto suggestions
- New invoicing - Assign next number in sequence when number removed
- Invoicing - Show attachment option at the top of the page
- New Invoicing - Remove the zeros from the amount field
- New Invoicing - Allow manual typing of a Date in 'Add Payment' screen
- New Invoicing -Option to Add Multiple New Lines at once (5, 10, 15 or 20)
We want to keep working with our community to grow on this experience and make things even better for you. Thank you for your input and please keep sharing with us through ideas on the site here.
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Pyroclassic Fires commented
I agree with the saving, Printing and emailing. It is now taking extra time which I don't have to complete invoicing and not in the best interests of our business. Time is money so is XERO going to pay us for the extra time needed to complete tasks that took little time before? Or is it time for us to move away and find another user friendly app with support who listen to us?
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Susannah Morgan commented
Agree with this comment. Now you have to create the invoice, save and exit, go back into the draft to approve and then email. Before you could do this all on the same page. Quite frustarating!
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Ted Stovin commented
Refusing to use new invoicing for as long as possible. Tell the people in charge there's no need to change something that's already working. I need to know inventory, new invoicing is completely ignoring this... will get a new software if you force new terrible invoicing on me.
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Kathy Skinner commented
Time Xero admitted they have STUFFED UP BIG TIME with the new invoicing and stop the conversion over to it till it actually works like the classic with maybe some improvements.
Your users are telling you what's wrong but you are basically ignoring that and doing what suits you with these so called fixes or upgrades.
This is even worse than the new look GST reports and the fact you took away the ability to Publish them was a big failure as well.
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Paul Fowler commented
Based on today, The new invoicing is a downgrade. It's hard to imagine who this new version benefits and how it got released. They removed the ability to tab though fields, tab now sends you to completely non helpful areas and we have to move to the mouse to select the next field. I'm really baffled that we'll have to use it soon.
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Bee Hesketh commented
Any updates for repeating invoices? Of course not.
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Rachel Osborn commented
I am trialing your new invoicing and every time I do, I wonder who in the world you have working for you to make changes that create more key strokes and therefore take more time to process and potentially create errors.
I am just sending invoices out to be paid - your screen says they are awaiting payment. They can't be awaiting payment as they haven't been sent. So, please change this.
Then if you chose send an invoice, please send it. Don't bring up another page that you then have to hit send invoice on again to send it. A complete waste of time and effort.
It makes me laugh when your GM releases a press release on our data saying we need to work smarter not harder in NZ to get efficiency gains and yet you continue to make changes that create more work and take longer to process??
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Jane Phillips commented
It does take a lot longer to enter an invoice and it includes a lot more movement between the mouse and keyboard
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Keith Tan commented
I have tried to work with the new invoice that will be in full implementation soon and I immediately noticed it adds a few more steps for me when I input amount paid in the invoice. On the new format, I still have to click "add payment" on the upper right corner of the page and wait for a (slow) window to pop up and finally put in payment details such as date, etc.
With the previous format, I just scroll down the page to find the payment info and options are already there before I finally click "Add payment". It is not as fluid as the previous format. Also, after putting in amount paid, the page goes to the the main page / list of invoices. And then I try to search the page for the next invoice to me to update an invoice that was already paid, it won't instantly search under the "All" invoices tab but under "Paid" tab. So again it's another step for me to click on the "All" invoice tab and then search for the invoice number before I can make payment updates on it.
I hope you can make the new format as fluid as the old one. It simply takes longer to do work and is a step back.
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Helen King commented
The point made by Leanne McCormack, Jill Fechner and others, regarding the missing tracking of an invoice when it's been emailed, has not been addressed. This is a vital feature and you are running out of time to fix it before September. Please advise when this will be fixed.
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Antony Parsons commented
Edit exchange rate!!
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Jill Fechner commented
FYI
https://productideas.xero.com/forums/939198/suggestions/45640063
Requested email addition to new invoicing notes in March 2023 !! -
Jill Fechner commented
Yes, Belinda. Post to LinkedIn and here. I think this thread is hidden until you become a customer, but it's too late by then.
Xero, an update on the thread for these requested fixes would be appreciated.
Our firm builds applications, and our response time if an issue like this was found would be immediate, with an apology, as it would negatively impact our clients. -
Belinda Johnson commented
Exactly Jill. It's beyond embarrassing Xero seems to have ignored the fact tacking correspondence is imperative for auditing and debt collection purposes.
This isn't something that should be in their "we'll get to it later with everything else we don't deem important".
An entire team of incompetent programmers who clearly aren't bookkeepers or accountants and have no idea what we actually do.....I'll say it again, we MUST openly declare these issues on their socials as they as ignoring our complaints and investing their resources in marketing and luring in new business trapping them here with us.....
See you all in the comments section!
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Antonia Barbic commented
I was pleasantly surprised today when I went to create a new draft invoice and
a 'keep the previous Contact when using Copy' was now an option. Unfortunately dismay followed rather quickly when Xero advised that 'Contact and Item defaults will not reapply to the new invoice. If you want to reapply defaults, remove and reselect the Contact or Item after the invoice is copied.' So in short my whole point of copying and keeping a contact is to also keep all the default settings/preferences for that contact. I don't quite understand the logic behind the change. -
Jill Fechner commented
Thanks for noting that issue, Leanne, I confirmed by doing a test that this is the case. Note displays as edited not set and no email. Tracking when an invoice is sent and to whom is crucial.
What an embarrassing oversight, Xero!!
The correct information displays if the send occurred from old invoicing.
This must be fixed asap. -
Leanne McCormack commented
The new invoicing no longer records when an invoice is sent and who it is sent to. It incorrectly records this action as invoice edited. This is a critical function for accounts receivable. All tracking is lost. Will this be fixed? Also please bring back the old email button, rather than requiring extra clicks to send an invoice.
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Zak Labanca commented
Creating a credit note from a previously paid invoice/bill really needs to be addressed.
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Bruce McInnes commented
Hi Kelly M.
it has been mentioned elswhere but we really need to have an additional field added for both invoicing and billing.
for invoicing please add Customer P/O and keep customer reference.
To - Issue date - Due date - Invoice number - Customer P/O - Reference - Branding themefor Billing we need to include a field showing the Purchase order number as well as the supplier invoice number.
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Melissa Fowler commented
New invoicing lost features, please understand how bookkeepers use Xero
1. When re-sending an invoice it now doesn't show that you simply emailed the invoice again, instead it shows that you have 'updated' the invoice which isn't the case. Not helpful when reviewing the invoice history during account receivables processes.
2. Can no longer add an expected payment date when viewing an invoice, you now have to go to the 'awaiting payment' section of bills. Meaning more steps involved and lost functionality.