Raise a numbered PDF invoice from a finished job or an accepted quote and send it on WhatsApp — with your bank details and an optional pay-now link built in.
15 July 2026 · 6 min read
Getting paid starts with getting the invoice out — and that is exactly the thing that slips when you are busy on the tools. This guide covers how UK tradespeople and sole traders raise and send proper invoices via WhatsApp, get paid faster, and stop chasing late payers by hand.
An invoice should never be typed from scratch. In GraftG you raise one two ways: reply "ACCEPT" to a quote the customer approved, or type "END JOB" after a job you tracked and GraftG turns the logged hours and materials into an invoice. Either way you get a numbered PDF invoice in the chat, ready to send. The quoting half of this is covered in how to send quotes via WhatsApp.
A proper invoice needs: your business name and address, a unique sequential invoice number, the date and a payment due date, the customer's name, a clear description of the work, the amount due with VAT shown separately if registered, and how to pay. GraftG fills all of this in automatically and numbers invoices sequentially so your records stay clean for HMRC. There is a step-by-step in the invoices help guide.
Every invoice prints your sort code and account number so customers can pay by bank transfer for free. On the Pro plan you can also add a pay-now link — the customer taps it and pays by card, and the money settles straight to your own bank account. A small 0.8% platform fee applies only to invoices paid online through that link; bank transfer stays free.
For bigger jobs you can invoice a deposit first — reply "ACCEPT 42 DEPOSIT 50" for a 50% deposit — then invoice the balance when the work is done. It keeps your cash flow healthy on jobs that run over several weeks, without any manual maths.
Late payment is the tax on being too busy to chase. On the Pro plan GraftG's Late Payment Chaser watches your unpaid invoices and sends an escalating, polite-to-firm email sequence at 1, 7, 14 and 21 days overdue — in your name — so you get paid without the awkward phone calls. You can work out what you are owed in statutory interest with the free late payment interest calculator.
When the money lands, text "PAID" with the invoice number (or just tell GraftG "Smith paid") and it marks the invoice settled and stops any chasers. Everything stays tallied for your year-end, which you can export any time from the portal.
You raise an invoice by replying ACCEPT to an approved quote, or by typing END JOB after a tracked job. GraftG generates a numbered PDF invoice with your details and bank information and sends it into the WhatsApp chat, ready to forward to your customer.
Yes, on the Pro plan. A pay-now link can be added to the invoice so the customer pays by card and the money settles to your own bank account. A 0.8% platform fee applies only to invoices paid through that link; paying by bank transfer is free.
Yes. The PDF invoice includes everything a UK invoice needs — your business details, a unique sequential number, the date, a description of the work and VAT shown separately if you are registered. It is a normal PDF invoice; it is just created and delivered through WhatsApp.
On the Pro plan the Late Payment Chaser automatically emails an escalating polite-to-firm reminder sequence at 1, 7, 14 and 21 days overdue, in your name, until the invoice is marked paid.
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