Invoicing

Invoices are generated from delivered bookings. Select the bookings you want to invoice, and Sessional creates a numbered invoice with line items, amounts, and organisation details automatically.

Invoice numbers follow the format SES-YYYYMMDD-XXXXXX using a cryptographically random suffix to prevent guessing.

1. Draft: invoice created but not yet sent
2. Issued: invoice sent to the organisation
3. Acknowledged: organisation has confirmed receipt
4. Paid: payment received
5. Overdue: payment not received by due date
6. Void: invoice cancelled

Use the filters at the top of the Invoices page to narrow your view:

• Status: filter by invoice state (draft, issued, acknowledged, paid, overdue, void)
• Date range: set a start and end date to view invoices created or due within a specific period
• Organisation: show invoices for a specific organisation

Filters work together, so you can view all overdue invoices for a particular organisation within a given quarter.

Export your invoice data as a CSV file for use in spreadsheets or accounting software. The export respects your current filters, so you can export all invoices or just a filtered subset. The CSV includes invoice number, date, organisation, amount, status, and payment date where applicable.

Move invoices through statuses as payments progress. The dashboard shows you at a glance how many invoices are outstanding, overdue, or awaiting acknowledgement.

Payment tracking is available on the Basic plan and above.

Under HMRC rules, self-employed sole traders must keep tax records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year (gov.uk/self-employed-records). Limited companies must keep records for 6 years from the end of the company financial year (Companies Act 2006 s.388). Use the CSV export feature to download your records regularly. If you delete your account, all invoice data is removed after 30 days.

Downloaded invoice PDFs include all the information organisations need to process payment:

• Your name, email, and billing address
• Registration number
• UTR number (self-employed) or company registration number (limited company)
• Bank details: bank name, sort code, and account number
• Organisation name and contact details
• Line items with actual booking type, date, and amount
• Payment terms (from the booking's agreed terms)
• Payment reference and any notes

All of these are optional. They appear on the PDF only when you have filled them in on your profile.

You can bundle multiple delivered bookings from the same organisation into a single invoice. Go to the Bookings page→, use the checkboxes to select the bookings you want, and click "Invoice N bookings". All bookings must be from the same organisation.

Invoices are immutable once generated. This is an HMRC requirement. If you need to correct details (wrong organisation contact, rate, etc.), the process is:

1. Void the invoice: click "Void and regenerate" on the invoice. This marks the invoice as void and returns the linked bookings to "delivered" status.
2. Update booking or profile details: correct the organisation contact, rate, or bank details on your profile.
3. Generate a new invoice: the bookings are now available for invoicing again with the corrected details.

The voided invoice remains in your records for auditing purposes but is marked as void and no longer counted in your outstanding totals.

Once an invoice is issued, click "Send to organisation" to email it directly to the organisation contact. The email includes:

• Invoice PDF attached
• Line items summary and total
• Your payment terms and bank details

The organisation can reply directly to your email. Replies go to your address, not to Sessional. After sending, you can track delivery status (Sent, Delivered, Opened) on the invoice card.

Some NHS organisations require invoice submission via their procurement portal (e.g. NHS SBS). The email is a convenience. Also submit via the organisation's usual channel if applicable.

If a booking is cancelled and your agreed cancellation terms apply, you can generate a cancellation fee invoice. The invoice includes the cancellation terms from the booking. You can also waive the fee if you choose not to charge.

Every invoice carries a payment reference that shows on the PDF so the organisation knows what to quote when they pay. Three ways to set it, in order of precedence:

1. Per-invoice override: type a reference directly into the Payment reference field when creating the invoice.
2. Profile template: set a default template on your profile→ in the Billing tab. Sessional substitutes placeholders at invoice creation time. Supported placeholders: {invoiceNumber}, {year}, {month}, {initials}. Invoice numbers are generated as SES-YYYYMMDD-XXXXXX, so a template like {initials}-{year}{month} produces a tidy reference such as AC-202605, while {invoiceNumber} on its own resolves to the full SES-20260514-A3F7K2.
3. Fallback: if you leave both blank, Sessional uses the invoice number itself as the payment reference.

Typos in placeholder names appear verbatim on the PDF (for example, {yr} renders literally) so you can spot the mistake immediately rather than silently producing malformed references.

By default an invoice has one line per delivered booking, plus one line for mileage if you have added any. You can add further ad-hoc line items on the invoice form (“Additional line items” with an “Add line” button). Each extra line carries a free-form description and a positive amount. Good uses:

• Retainer or block-booking fees separate from the session rate
• Consumables or equipment costs passed through
• Out-of-scope hours at a different rate (e.g. emergency callout)
• Training or induction time billed alongside clinical work

Extra lines are not tied to a specific booking. They appear on the PDF and in Xero syncs just like the session and mileage lines. Up to 20 per invoice.

Basic (free) accounts can create up to 5 self-invoiced invoices per calendar month, with the same 5-per-month cap on session creation. Plus and Pro accounts have unlimited sessions and unlimited invoicing plus auto-chasers at day 14, 21, and 28.

HMRC requires every invoice you issue to a UK organisation to include: your trading name and address, the buyer’s name and address, a unique invoice number, the supply or invoice date, a description of the work, and the amount charged. Sessional fills all six fields automatically from your profile and the linked bookings.

If you want to draft a one-off invoice without signing in, the free invoice template tool→ walks through the same checklist with a soft warning banner whenever a required HMRC field is missing.