Invoice PDF
Generate, customize, and share PDF invoices with customers
Overview
Invoice PDFs provide a finalized, shareable format for customer invoices. Unlike the dynamic view that shows detailed usage calculations, the PDF represents the official invoice document for sharing, sending, and record keeping.
Dynamic View Vs. PDF View
Vayu provides two ways to view invoices:
Dynamic View
The dynamic view displays:
- How the invoice was calculated
- Usage consumption for each product over the invoice period
- Usage accumulation throughout the billing period
- Detailed charge breakdowns
- Usage growth patterns and spikes
- Activity drawer with an email delivery timeline
- Per-integration ERP sync tabs and product-mapping dialogs
- Inline-editable invoice number, issue date, and due date
- Feature-flagged per-invoice FX override
Use the dynamic view to understand billing calculations and analyze customer consumption patterns.
PDF View
The PDF view provides:
- Finalized invoice format for official records
- Clean, professional layout for customer sharing
- Printable and archivable document
- Optional clickable links, such as Pay Now buttons
- Simplified line item display options
The PDF does not include clickable contact email addresses or phone numbers, and it does not include support links for quick access to help resources.
Use the PDF view for customer communication, payment collection, and accounting records.
Generating Invoice PDFs
Invoice PDFs are automatically generated when an invoice is finalized. You can:
- Navigate to Invoices
- Select an invoice
- Select Show Invoice
- Click View PDF or Download PDF
- Share the PDF directly with customers or download for your records
Customizing PDF Appearance
Configure PDF formatting in Invoice Preferences:
- Line Item Visibility — Decide whether or not to Show zero-value line items (displaying all line items, even those with zero totals), or Hide zero-value line items (removing items with no charges).
Hiding zero-value items reduces visual clutter and makes invoices easier to scan.
- Line Item Detail Level — Choose the level of detail for each line item, either with a Full breakdown (quantity, unit price, and total for each item), or Total only (only the total amount for each line item).
Branding and formatting customization for invoice PDFs does not exist in this documentation flow. The invoice PDF cannot be customized with custom logo placement, custom colors, custom styling, custom footer text, instructions, or payment terms from this flow.
Accessing Invoice Payment Status Via API
Retrieve invoice payment status programmatically using the API:
GET /invoices/{invoiceId}/payment-statusThe response includes invoice payment fields such as billing status, amount due, amount paid, total, due date, and paid date.
PDF Storage and Retrieval
Invoice PDFs are:
- Automatically stored - Generated and saved when invoices are finalized
- Permanently accessible - Available for historical invoices
- Version controlled - Original PDFs preserved even if invoice data changes
- Securely hosted - Protected with authentication and access controls
Sharing Invoice PDFs
Send PDFs to customers through:
- Email - Attach PDF to invoice notification emails
- Customer portal - Make PDFs available for customer download
- Direct download - Generate download links for specific invoices
ERP sync does not include PDF URLs when syncing invoices to accounting systems.
Best Practices
- Review before sending - Always preview the PDF to ensure accuracy before sharing with customers
- Customize appropriately - Balance detail with clarity based on your customer needs
- Maintain consistency - Use the same PDF format across all invoices for professional appearance
- Archive systematically - Store PDFs according to your record retention policies
- Test interactive elements - Verify that clickable links work correctly in the PDF