How to Send Invoices on WhatsApp

To send an invoice on WhatsApp, open the customer’s chat, attach the invoice PDF as a document and add a short note with the invoice number, amount and due date. That works in the WhatsApp Business app for a handful of bills a day.

For more than that, or to send invoices straight from your billing system, use the WhatsApp Business Platform (API) with a utility template that has a document header. This guide covers both ways, the category rules Meta applies, sample invoice messages you can adapt, and how it works in Automate AI.

Two ways to send an invoice on WhatsApp

Which one you use depends on how many invoices you send and where they’re made.

Either way, the customer must have agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s Business Messaging Policy asks for opt-in before you message people. See WhatsApp opt-in.

Send an invoice from the WhatsApp Business app

1. Save the invoice as a PDF from your billing or accounting software. Give it a clear name, such as INV-2041.pdf.
2. Open the customer’s chat in the WhatsApp Business app.
3. Tap the attach icon (the paperclip on Android, + on iPhone) and choose Document.
4. Pick the PDF and add a caption with the invoice number, amount and due date.
5. Tap Send. On WhatsApp Web or Desktop you can also drag the file into the chat.

WhatsApp’s help centre says documents in the app can be up to 2 GB, far more than an invoice needs. The catch is time: every invoice is a separate, manual send, and there’s no report across all the invoices you’ve sent. Our guide to WhatsApp Business app limitations explains when it’s time to move to the API.

Send an invoice with the WhatsApp API

On the API, a business can message a customer freely only inside the 24-hour customer service window that opens when the customer messages you. Invoices usually go out later than that, so they’re sent as templates, which Meta reviews before you can use them.

An invoice template has three parts:

• A document header. Meta’s template components allow a media header that is an image, video or a document such as a PDF. You add a sample file when you create the template, and attach the real invoice each time you send it.
• A body with variables, such as {{1}} for the name, {{2}} for the invoice number and {{3}} for the amount. The body can be up to 1,024 characters.
• Buttons, if you want them. A URL button can open your payment page, with one variable at the end of the link so each customer gets their own. A quick-reply button such as “Question about this bill” is useful too.

When you send, you pass the document’s link (or a media ID uploaded to Meta first) and a filename, which is what the customer sees on the attachment. The full request is in how to send a template message with the API.

More on sizes in WhatsApp file size limits.

Utility or marketing? Getting the category right

Meta’s template categorisation guidelines say a utility template must be non-promotional and either specific to the customer, such as their order, account or transaction, or essential to them. Meta’s utility examples include order confirmations, refund notices and billing reminders. An invoice or receipt for the customer’s own purchase fits that description.

Sample invoice messages

Original samples with demo data. Placeholders are in {{ }}. Each one is written as a utility template with the invoice PDF as the document header, and none starts or ends with a variable, which helps approval.

New invoice

• “Hi {{1}}, thank you for your order. Your invoice {{2}} for ₹{{3}} is attached, and payment is due by {{4}}. Reply to this message if anything needs changing.” [Pay online] [Question about this bill]

Receipt after payment

• “Hi {{1}}, we’ve received your payment of ₹{{2}} for invoice {{3}}. Your receipt is attached for your records. Thank you.”

Corrected invoice

• “Hi {{1}}, here is the corrected invoice {{2}}. It replaces the invoice sent on {{3}}, so please use this one for payment.”

Monthly bill or statement

• “Hi {{1}}, your bill for {{2}} from Example Services is attached. The amount is ₹{{3}} and it’s due on {{4}}. Tap below to view your account.” [View account]

Inside an open chat (no template needed)

• “Here’s the invoice for today’s order, Priya. The total is ₹2,340. Let me know if you need it in your company’s name.” (with the PDF attached)

Chasing an unpaid bill is a different message. For due-date and overdue reminders, see payment reminder messages on WhatsApp. More samples by industry are in the WhatsApp template library.

How to send invoices from Automate AI

Automate AI has no built-in connector for accounting software. You create the invoice template once, then send invoices from your own system through the API, or by hand from a chat.

1. Create the invoice template

1. Open Templates and choose Create Template.
2. Pick the Utility category and your language.
3. For the header, choose Document and upload a sample PDF. PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are accepted.
4. Set the Document name, the filename customers see on the attachment, such as Invoice.pdf.
5. Write the body with variables, add a URL button for your payment page if you want one, check the live preview and submit it to Meta.

2. Send each invoice from your billing system

With the REST API, included in the AI + Automation Plan and Series 4, your system sends the approved template to the customer’s phone number when an invoice is created. Along with the body variables it passes header_document, a link to that customer’s PDF, and optionally header_document_filename, such as INV-2041.pdf, so every customer sees their own file name. The number must already be a contact, and the API can add contacts too.

Webhooks then tell your system what happened: message.status.update events report delivery and reads, and message.received tells you when the customer replies.

3. Or send it by hand

In the shared inbox, open the chat and attach the PDF. Inside the 24-hour window that’s a normal message; outside it, send the invoice template from the chat instead. Customer questions about a bill land in the same inbox, so your team can answer them.

Keep invoice files private and safe

• Use links that are hard to guess. The PDF link has to be reachable when the message is sent, so don’t use simple, numbered addresses that anyone could try.
• Keep personal details out of the file name. INV-2041.pdf is fine; a name with the customer’s phone number isn’t.
• Never ask for card or bank details in the chat. WhatsApp’s policy says not to ask people to share full card numbers, financial account numbers or ID numbers. A URL button to your secure payment page does the job.
• Offer a person. WhatsApp’s policy asks for a clear way to reach a human when you use automation, which matters most when money is involved.
• Stop when asked. If a customer asks you to stop messaging them, respect it, as the policy requires.

What it costs to send an invoice

Meta charges for each delivered template message, by category and the customer’s country. Since 1 October 2026, Meta also charges for utility templates sent inside an open customer service window, which used to be free. Normal replies inside the window are service messages, and Meta charges for them only after the first 1,000 a month for each business number.

Keeping invoices genuinely transactional keeps them at the utility rate, which is lower than marketing. Rates by country are in WhatsApp API pricing, and Automate AI’s own rates are on the pricing page.