These three settings shape every invoice you will ever send. Settle them before real billing starts and your invoices stay consistent, compliant, and easy to trace.
Confirm your base currency
Open the Currencies area and confirm the base currency your firm bills in. For most Canadian firms this is the Canadian dollar. The base currency is what quotes and invoices default to, so confirming it early keeps every amount reading the same way across your records. If you occasionally bill in another currency, you can add it, but keep one clear base so totals and reporting stay coherent.
Set up your taxes
Open the Taxes area and define the tax rates that apply to your work. In Canada this usually means GST, PST, or HST depending on your province, and sometimes a combination.
- Add each rate you charge. Give it a clear name and the correct percentage, for example GST at its current rate for your province.
- Name rates so they are unmistakable. A label like GST 5 percent is easier to pick correctly on an invoice than a bare number.
- Decide your usual default. Set the tax you apply most often as the default so invoice lines start correct and you adjust only the exceptions.
Tax rules vary by province and by the type of legal service. Confirm the correct rates for your jurisdiction with your accountant. The system applies whatever rates you enter, so accuracy here is on you, and it needs to be defensible.
Invoice numbering
Open the Invoice settings to control how invoices are numbered. A clean, predictable numbering scheme makes your billing easy to reference on the phone with a client and easy to reconcile at year end.
- Prefix. An optional set of characters in front of the number, such as INV, so an invoice reads INV-000123 rather than a bare figure.
- Next number. The number the next invoice will take. If you are moving from another system, set this to continue your existing sequence so there is no confusing gap or overlap.
- Padding and format. Options that keep numbers a consistent length, so 7 shows as 000007 and your invoices line up neatly in a list.
If you are switching from another system mid year, set the next number just above your last issued invoice. Continuing the run keeps your records seamless for accounting and for any audit.
Do this before real invoices exist
Currency, tax, and numbering are far easier to set when no invoices sit on top of them. Once you have issued real invoices, changing the numbering scheme or base currency creates history you then have to explain. A few minutes now avoids that entirely.
Staff hourly rates decide the amounts on each line, while these settings decide the currency, the tax, and the number on the whole invoice. They work together, so it is worth setting rates and these three in the same sitting.