Zero-Total Invoices

Keito can issue ordinary invoices whose total is exactly zero in your invoice currency: £0.00, $0.00, or the equivalent. Use this for pro bono services, fully discounted work, or a reconciliation document with nothing left to charge.

Create and issue a zero-total invoice

  1. Go to Invoices > New Invoice, select the client, and add the work you want to document. You can also edit an existing draft.
  2. Set the relevant unit prices to zero, apply a full discount, or use appropriate adjustment lines. Check the final total, including taxes: it must be exactly zero, with zero due.
  3. Save the draft. A zero-due draft does not require payment setup.
  4. Choose Send Invoice to email it to the client, or Mark as sent to issue it without emailing. In the guided view, choose Looks good, continue first.
  5. Download the PDF, share the public invoice link, or use Resend invoice when you need to deliver the issued document again.

Issuing the invoice assigns its invoice number and records when it was sent. Resending keeps that issued identity.

What “Paid” means on a zero-total invoice

An issued zero-total invoice shows Paid and zero due because there is nothing to collect. Keito does not create a payment record or a paid date. This status does not mean that money was received.

You do not need to record a payment to issue the document. It has no bank or online payment instructions, and clients have no payment action. Payment reminders and payment thank-you emails are unavailable for it.

Reconciliation and prepaid retainer credit

An ordinary invoice with charges offset by an appropriate credit line can be issued when its total and amount due are exactly zero. It can give the client a record of the work and the adjustment, but it does not consume or reconcile a Keito retainer balance.

If you are applying funds already received, continue reconciling that credit against your existing records. A positive-value invoice settled with a recorded payment, or a supported linked retainer draw for time and expenses, represents a different financial workflow. Do not invent a payment for a discount or pro bono work, and do not record the same prepaid funds twice.

Invoices that fund a retainer must still have a positive total. Retainer-linked invoices cannot use this zero-total issuance workflow, and negative invoice totals remain unsupported.

Copying to Xero or QuickBooks

Invoices made from genuinely zero-priced lines can be copied to Xero or QuickBooks when the integration is configured.

Copying a zero-total invoice that relies on an invoice-wide discount or offsetting credit is currently blocked. Those adjustments are not fully represented by the accounting copy, so the external invoice could otherwise show money owing. If automatic copying is enabled, Keito can still send the invoice and will show a copy warning. No payment is created in the accounting system to make the balance zero.