> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.fikatrade.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Invoicing overview

> What an invoice represents in FikaTrade, and when it's created.

An invoice is FikaTrade's record of an amount a customer owes you for a specific order.

## One order, one invoice

Every invoice belongs to exactly one order, and an order can never have more than one active invoice — FikaTrade won't let a second invoice be created for an order that already has one. There's no consolidated or batched invoicing across multiple orders.

## When an invoice is created

An invoice is created the moment an order is approved — either because you select **Approve** on the order, or because the order belongs to a customer with auto-accept enabled. See [Orders overview](/supplier-guide/orders/overview) for how orders reach that point, and [How invoices are created](/supplier-guide/invoicing/how-invoices-are-created) for what happens at that moment.

You can't create an invoice on its own, separately from an order — there's no manual "New invoice" action anywhere in FikaTrade.

## Where you find an invoice

There's no separate, browsable list of your invoices. You reach an invoice through its order — open the order from your order list, and its invoice (if it has one) is shown as part of the order's detail page. See [View and manage an invoice](/supplier-guide/invoicing/view-and-manage-an-invoice).

## Xero is optional

Connecting Xero is entirely optional. If you haven't connected Xero, your invoices are created and managed inside FikaTrade only. If you have, new invoices are automatically created in Xero too, as part of the same order-approval step — see [Connect FikaTrade to Xero](/supplier-guide/invoicing/connect-to-xero) and [Sync invoices with Xero](/supplier-guide/invoicing/sync-with-xero).

## A simple lifecycle

```text theme={null}
Order approved
  → Draft invoice created (in FikaTrade, and in Xero if connected)
  → Invoice finalized as part of approval
  → Payment collected, or marked paid manually
```

See [Payments overview](/supplier-guide/payments/overview) for how payment collection itself works.

## Related guides

* [How invoices are created](/supplier-guide/invoicing/how-invoices-are-created)
* [Invoice statuses](/supplier-guide/invoicing/invoice-statuses)
* [Connect FikaTrade to Xero](/supplier-guide/invoicing/connect-to-xero)
* [Payments overview](/supplier-guide/payments/overview)