How to send a WhatsApp invoice in the UK (and get paid from the chat)

If the job was agreed in WhatsApp, the invoice should not vanish into an email address the customer last checked in 2019. Homeowners already have the thread open. They can see the photos of the leak, the extra radiator they approved, and the “yes, go ahead”. Putting the bill in that same chat is not informal. It is the one place they will actually look.

This is a standalone guide. InvoiceAdept does not currently have a working /features/whatsapp/ page, so everything you need to send a proper UK invoice over WhatsApp — legally, practically, and with a payment link attached — is here.

InvoiceAdept Pro (£7.99 a month excl. VAT, checked 28 August 2026 on our pricing page) sends the invoice through WhatsApp from the app. Free users can still raise an invoice and share a PDF by hand. Other apps can do the DIY version too. The difference is whether the send is a logged delivery with a pay link, or a file you hope they download.

Why WhatsApp, not because it is trendy

UK domestic work runs on WhatsApp whether software vendors like it or not.

The customer texts a photo of a boiler error code at 7am. You quote a call-out in the chat. They send a voice note saying do it. You send a picture of the old part. Three days later you email a PDF to the Gmail they created for Argos. It sits under a shopping receipt. You chase on Friday. They swear they never got it. You resend. They ask you to WhatsApp it. You should have done that on Tuesday.

Contractor work is different. A site manager may live in WhatsApp; the accounts payable clerk does not. Limited companies with purchase orders still want an email, often to a shared inbox, with the PO number in the reference. Use the channel the payer uses, not the channel the person on site uses.

A useful split:

• Domestic and small commercial, job sold in chat — WhatsApp.

• Main contractor, agency, or anyone who says “put it through accounts” — email, PDF, PO number.

• Both — WhatsApp a copy to the person who approved the work, and email the same invoice to accounts so nobody can claim they were not billed.

WhatsApp does not replace a real invoice. It is a delivery method. The document still needs the usual UK contents: who you are, who they are, a unique invoice number, the date, what you did, what they owe, and when. If you are VAT-registered, it also needs the VAT shown properly. HMRC’s starting point is invoicing and taking payment from customers. A screenshot of a calculator app in the chat is not that.

Is a WhatsApp invoice legal in the UK?

Yes, if the invoice itself is a proper invoice. HMRC does not require you to use Royal Mail. Electronic invoices are normal. VAT-registered businesses already had to give invoices for business-to-business supplies; the format can be digital.

What you must not do is strip the invoice down to “£480 please mate” because it is going in a chat. The customer still needs a document they can pay against, query, and keep. You still need a sequential number and a date for your own records. Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, that digital record is the point — see HMRC’s who and when page if you are a sole trader over the relevant threshold.

A WhatsApp message can carry:

1. A short note (“Invoice INV-0184 for the bathroom extractors, due in 7 days”).

2. The invoice as a PDF, or a link that opens the invoice on a phone.

3. A pay link so they can settle by card without asking for your sort code in the chat.

The third item is what changes payment speed. People will tap Apple Pay in a thread. They will not, on a Saturday, log into internet banking, copy a 22-character reference, and reconcile it to INV-0184.

Bank transfer remains cheaper. Stripe’s published UK rate for standard UK cards on 28 August 2026 is 1.5% + 20p (Stripe pricing). InvoiceAdept does not add a platform percentage on top of that. If the customer is happy to pay Faster Payments, put the bank details on the invoice as well as the card button. Let them choose.

What InvoiceAdept actually sends

On Pro and Pro+, you raise the invoice in InvoiceAdept as usual: customer, line items, VAT if you charge it, due date. When you view that invoice there is a WhatsApp control. You send from there. The customer gets a message with a way to open the invoice and pay. You are not copying a URL into a personal chat on a cracked screen while standing in someone’s porch, although that method still exists as a fallback.

What sits behind the tap:

• The invoice is the same document you would have emailed — number, dates, lines, total.

• On Pro, a Stripe payment link can sit on that invoice. The customer pays by card. Funds typically arrive in about two working days, which is Stripe’s settlement, not Instant Payout. InvoiceAdept can mark the invoice paid when the payment comes through.

• Reminders still work on Pro. WhatsApp delivery does not mean you have to remember to nudge them. If they pay, reminders stop.

Free plan (5 invoices a month, £0, no card required) includes email delivery and PDF download. It does not include in-app WhatsApp send. If you are testing the product, email the invoice or download the PDF and attach it in WhatsApp yourself. That is good enough to see whether the template looks right. It is not the Pro workflow.

Pro is £7.99 a month excluding VAT. Pro+ is £12.99 and adds CIS, bank reconciliation and the rest; WhatsApp send is already on Pro, so you do not need Pro+ just to bill in chat. CIS invoices are a Pro+ feature if you need the deduction calculated in the app.

How to send one, step by step

This is the Pro path. The DIY path is underneath if you are on Free, or using something else.

1. Finish the job, then write the invoice before you drive off.
The customer is still in “this is sorted” mode. An hour later they are in Tesco. Add labour and materials as separate lines. If they approved extra work in the chat, put that extra as its own line with a short description, not a silent bump to the labour total. When they open the invoice in WhatsApp they will compare it with the messages above.

2. Check the legal bits once, then stop checking them every time.
Your name or trading name, address, their name, unique invoice number, date, description, amount, payment terms. VAT number and VAT split if you are registered. The VAT threshold is £90,000 of taxable turnover; charging VAT because it looks professional, when you are not registered, is a mess. Do not.

3. Set a due date a human will notice.
“Due on receipt” in a WhatsApp thread often means they will pay that evening. Net 30 on a domestic boiler service is how you fund their central heating for a month. Pick the terms you actually want to live with. For a main contractor, match the contract, not your domestic habit.

4. Send via WhatsApp from the invoice screen (Pro).
Use the number you already chat to them on. Sending the invoice to a different mobile “because it’s the accounts phone” is how it dies in a family group. If they have WhatsApp Business on a work handset, that is the one.

5. Write one sentence in the chat, not a speech.
“Invoice INV-0184 attached for Tuesday’s work — you can pay from the link or by bank transfer, due 4 September.” Then stop. Do not apologise for billing. Do not add an emoji. Do not put the sort code in the chat as well as on the invoice; keep payment details on the document so you are not leaking bank details into every forward.

6. Watch the status, do not watch the ticks.
Blue ticks mean they opened WhatsApp, not that they opened the invoice, not that they paid. InvoiceAdept’s paid status is the one that matters. If they viewed and did not pay, the reminder sequence on Pro does the boring follow-up without you typing “just a nudge” at 21:40.

DIY version (any tool, including InvoiceAdept Free): create the invoice, download the PDF, open the existing WhatsApp thread, attach the PDF, type the sentence in step 5. If the tool gives you a payment link, paste that on its own line so it is tappable. This works. You lose automatic logging of the WhatsApp send, and you will eventually attach last month’s PDF because both files are called invoice.pdf.

Pay links: what the customer sees, and what you pay

A pay link is a hosted Stripe page. The customer stays on their phone, which is the whole point of WhatsApp delivery. They confirm the amount, pass 3-D Secure if their bank asks, and you get paid without reading a card out loud in a kitchen.

Fees, checked 28 August 2026:

• Stripe, standard UK cards: 1.5% + 20p. EEA cards 2.5% + 20p. International cards more. stripe.com/gb/pricing.

• InvoiceAdept: no extra platform fee on top of Stripe. That is on our pricing FAQ.

• InvoiceFree, if you use their Stripe links instead: 1% platform fee plus Stripe, per invoicefree.uk. Bank transfer there is free. They do not offer in-app WhatsApp send; you would paste the link yourself.

On a £600 invoice paid with a standard UK card through InvoiceAdept, Stripe’s cut is 1.5% × £600 = £9, plus 20p, £9.20. You keep £590.80, before any refunds or disputes. On the same invoice through InvoiceFree’s link, add another £6 (1%). On bank transfer, both products cost £0 in payment fees.

Tell the customer the card option is there for speed, not because you refuse BACS. Some will still pay by bank and paste “paid” in the chat. Mark it paid when the money lands, not when they say they have done it. “Paid mate” and a pending Faster Payment are not the same event.

InvoiceAdept’s invoicing page says card funds typically land within two business days. That is not the same afternoon. If you need the money to buy materials tomorrow, you still need a deposit before you start, sent by bank transfer. A pay link on the final invoice does not float the job.

WhatsApp versus email, in practice

Email is not obsolete. It is the grown-up path for anyone who will put your invoice through a purchase-ledger. WhatsApp is the grown-up path for anyone who hired you from a Facebook group and has never issued a PO in their life. Most trades need both. Pro includes both.

Automatic reminders pair better with email than with a pile of manual WhatsApp nudges, but they can sit alongside WhatsApp delivery: send the invoice in chat on the day, let email reminders catch the ones who still have not paid. That is less awkward than becoming the tradesperson who messages “any update on this?” six times.

InvoiceAdept sends the invoice. Yoley captures the lead.

These two get mixed up because both sit in a UK trade’s phone and both mention WhatsApp.

Yoley is a broader trades app (quotes, job diary, expenses, invoices). Its WhatsApp feature, described in the Yoley user guide and FAQ, is an enquiry inbox. Pro at £9.99 a month can pull new job enquiries from WhatsApp (and other channels) into a pipeline so you quote without losing the lead in DMs. That is useful if your problem is inbound work vanishing in chat.

Yoley’s FAQ also says you can share a payment link via SMS, WhatsApp or email when you collect, and that the core app is iPhone-only at the time of writing (iOS 16+, no Android). Card links there are priced at 1.49% on their FAQ; that is Yoley/Monek, not Stripe.

InvoiceAdept’s WhatsApp feature is delivery of the finished invoice. You already have the customer. The job is done. You need them to open a bill and pay it in the same app they used to say yes. Pro is £7.99 excl. VAT. Android and iOS are both in play on InvoiceAdept’s invoicing pages. We do not import your WhatsApp leads into a pipeline.

You could use both. Plenty of people will not. If your bottleneck is “I quoted in chat and never billed”, InvoiceAdept. If your bottleneck is “new jobs arrive in WhatsApp and die there”, look at Yoley’s enquiry inbox, or a WhatsApp Business workflow, and still send a proper invoice from somewhere when you finish.

Do not expect either product to be your accountant. InvoiceAdept does not file Making Tax Digital updates to HMRC. Yoley’s FAQ says it does not submit CIS returns either. Chat is for getting paid. GOV.UK is for the scheme rules.

How not to send a WhatsApp invoice

Do not bill in a group chat. Family groups and site groups forward everything. Your prices, your bank details, and the customer’s address do not belong there. Send to one person.

Do not use a personal chat full of unrelated photos as the archive. WhatsApp is not your books. If the phone dies, the invoice must still exist in InvoiceAdept (or wherever you raise it). MTD is unimpressed by “it was in the backup I never made”.

Do not send a photo of a handwritten invoice. It is unreadable on a phone, it has no pay link, and you will not have a digital record with a stable number. Photographing a pad was a 2014 workaround.

Do not dump your sort code in the first message you ever send a stranger. Put payment details on the invoice. If you have not met them and they found you on a marketplace, take a deposit via a proper link, not a personal transfer to a name that does not match the trading name.

Do not WhatsApp a CIS invoice to a contractor’s personal mobile and assume accounts have it. CIS deductions need to be right on the document, and the person who pays you needs the PDF. Email accounts, then if you must, ping the site manager a copy. CIS calculation in InvoiceAdept is on Pro+, not on Pro.

Do not argue about the extra works in the invoice thread without tying it to the invoice line. If they query £180, point at the message where they approved it and at the line that matches. That is why WhatsApp billing is strong: the evidence is already in the chat. Use it. Do not re-explain the whole job.

Privacy, numbers, and WhatsApp Business

You already process the customer’s mobile number. Sending them an invoice on that number, for work they asked you to do, is a normal part of performing the contract. It is not a marketing blast. Do not then add them to a broadcast list of “spring boiler service deals” unless you have a lawful basis and they would not be surprised. That is a different conversation from billing.

WhatsApp Business is worth using if this is how you take work. A business profile, a greeting, and labels for “quoted / done / billed” keep the unpaid ones visible. You still should not run your ledger in labels. InvoiceAdept is the ledger. WhatsApp is the postman.

If two of you share a van, do not send invoices from whichever personal phone is unlocked. Customers will pay the wrong person, or reply with more work to a labourer who has left. Pro on InvoiceAdept allows up to three users; Pro+ is unlimited users. That is the way to share billing. Forwarding the company WhatsApp to a personal SIM is how jobs get lost.

A domestic example, with the numbers visible

You replace a consumer unit. Labour £420, materials £190, no VAT because you are under the £90,000 threshold and not voluntarily registered. Invoice total £610. You send it on WhatsApp at 16:10 from the drive.

The customer pays by card the same afternoon through the Stripe link.

• Stripe on a standard UK card: 1.5% of £610 = £9.15, plus 20p = £9.35.

• InvoiceAdept platform fee: £0.

• You receive £600.65, typically within two working days.

• If they had paid by bank transfer: £610 in your account, often in minutes, and you mark it paid when you see it.

If you had used a tool that adds a 1% platform fee on the same card payment, that would be another £6.10. On one job it is lunch. On a year of homeowners tapping Apple Pay it is the reason Pro’s £7.99 can be cheaper than “free invoicing” with a percentage. There is a full breakdown in InvoiceAdept vs InvoiceFree.

If they do not pay that afternoon, a WhatsApp invoice still helped: they cannot claim they never received it, and you are not waiting for them to find a laptop. Reminders on Pro then do the chasing without souring the chat with six manual pokes.

Fitting this around MTD and CIS

Sending on WhatsApp does not change what you owe HMRC. It changes whether you get paid in time to have the cash.

If Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to you — sole trader or landlord, Self Assessment, qualifying income over the threshold for the year — the invoice still has to live in digital records. HMRC’s software list is for products that create records, send quarterly updates, and submit the return. InvoiceAdept does the records and the export. We do not file. Do not treat a green WhatsApp tick as an HMRC submission. The longer version is in MTD invoicing software for UK trades.

If you are a CIS subcontractor, the chat with the site manager is not a substitute for a CIS invoice. Labour and materials split, deduction at 20% or 30% as GOV.UK sets out, net payable clear. Send that document to whoever pays you. WhatsApp can carry it. WhatsApp cannot invent the right rate.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send a WhatsApp invoice on the InvoiceAdept free plan?

Not from the in-app WhatsApp control. Free includes email and PDF, with a cap of 5 invoices a month. Download the PDF and attach it in the thread if you want. In-app send is Pro (£7.99 excl. VAT) and Pro+.

Does the customer need WhatsApp Business?

No. They need WhatsApp on the number you already use. You can use WhatsApp Business on your side to look less like a personal account. The invoice is still the InvoiceAdept document, not a WhatsApp template.

Can they pay in the chat without opening a banking app?

If you included a Stripe pay link (Pro), they open the link and pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. That is still a browser or Stripe page, not a WhatsApp payment. WhatsApp is not the acquirer. Stripe is. Bank transfer remains available on the invoice for anyone who prefers it.

Is it unprofessional to bill on WhatsApp?

It is unprofessional to bill with a blurry photo and no invoice number. A clean PDF or payment page, delivered in the app the customer already uses, is how a lot of UK domestic trade actually gets paid. For a plc’s facilities team, email remains more professional because that is where their process lives.

What if they dispute the invoice in the chat?

Keep the discussion tied to numbered lines and to the messages where they approved extras. Do not delete the invoice and quietly send a lower one without a credit note trail. Your records — and theirs — should show what happened. If you reduce the bill, issue the adjustment properly.

How is this different from Yoley?

Yoley’s paid WhatsApp tool is for capturing incoming enquiries into a job pipeline. InvoiceAdept’s is for sending the invoice you already raised. Different problem. Yoley’s public FAQ also lists iPhone only and a 1.49% card link rate; InvoiceAdept uses Stripe with no extra platform fee and ships a WhatsApp send on Pro.

Do I still email a copy?

If there is any chance accounts, a landlord, or a warranty file will want it, yes. WhatsApp the person who cares. Email the inbox that pays. Same invoice number both times, not two different bills.

Will InvoiceAdept publish a WhatsApp feature page?

Possibly. Until it exists, use this guide and the send control in the Pro app. Do not wait on a marketing URL. The button on the invoice is the feature.

Raise the invoice while you are still on site, send it in the thread they already read, and give them a pay link that works on a phone. That is the entire trick. Pro starts at £7.99 a month excl. VAT, with a 14-day trial of paid features, and you can see whether they pay faster before you argue about software in the abstract.