Voice to Invoice: Bill a Job Without Writing It Out

What voice to invoice is

A normal Handy Bro job runs estimate, proposal, then invoice. Simple Invoice skips the first two. You already know the price because you did the work, or because the customer agreed to it on the phone. The only missing piece is a document that looks like it came from a company.

AI Input is the microphone on that document. The button sits above PREVIEW INVOICE. On a blank invoice the sheet title is Describe your invoice. You talk, the words land in a text box, and you can correct them before they become line items. That correction matters. The parse runs once from whatever text you submit.

The voice step owns the invoice name, the tasks, tax, the discount, other fees, and the terms. It leaves the dates, the client, the company, the photos, and the template alone. Those are the fields you already know, and they are faster to tap than to dictate.

How contractors use it after the job

A handyman replaces a disposal and a supply line. In the driveway they open Simple Invoice, tap AI Input, and say: disposal replacement, one labor hour at their rate, the disposal, and the supply line. They attach the client, glance at tax, preview, and text the PDF before the next stop. The whole invoice is one conversation with the phone.

A painter uses the second pass more than the first. The first sentence builds “two rooms, labor and paint.” At the truck they remember the closet. They open AI Input again — now titled Change this invoice — and say to add the closet at the same rate and to take 10% off the labor. The lines update. They do not rebuild the invoice by hand.

Use a proposal instead when the customer still has to approve a scope, or when you want them to pay by card from the link. Simple Invoice is the shortcut for “the work is done, send the bill.”

Create and dictate the invoice

These steps are the same on iPhone and Android. The Tools tab is the front door on both phones.

1. 1

   Open Simple Invoice

   In Handy Bro, open the Tools tab, then Billing, then Simple Invoice. The Home screen also shows a banner for it after the account has existed for a day. Tap the add button, or the empty-state button, to start an invoice.

2. 2

   Tap AI Input and describe the job

   On a blank invoice the sheet is titled Describe your invoice. Tap the microphone and say each task with a quantity, a rate, and any materials. You can type instead. Read the words and fix them before you submit. The app turns that into line items.

3. 3

   Fill in what the voice step leaves alone

   Pick the company, the client, the issue date, and the due date. Add photos and choose a template if you want them. Tax, discount, other fees, the invoice name, and the terms can come from what you said. Dates, the client, the company, photos, and the template stay manual.

4. 4

   Preview and send

   Tap PREVIEW INVOICE, check the PDF, then tap SEND INVOICE. You can email, text, send the PDF, copy the link, or share it. When the client opens the link, you get a notification. There is no pay button on this link. Mark the invoice paid yourself from the preview menu when the money arrives.

A useful first sentence sounds like the placeholder in the sheet. Name the task, then the labor, then the materials: “Demolition: remove the old bathtub, 4 labor hours at $60 per hour, plus a $50 disposal fee. Bathtub installation: install a new bathtub, 8 labor hours at $60 per hour, with a $600 bathtub and $75 in plumbing materials.” Separate tasks come out as separate groups on the invoice. A lump of “about eight hundred for the bathroom” comes out vague, because you gave it nothing to split.

You can also add a task by hand, with the add-task button, and skip the microphone. Long-press a task card and drop it on another card to reorder. The PDF prints in that order. Tax, discount, and other fees sit behind the pencil on the summary card at the bottom, if you would rather type them than say them.

Change the invoice with a second pass

Once any task exists, AI Input changes job. The sheet title becomes Change this invoice. You are giving an instruction, and the app returns the whole invoice with that instruction applied. It replaces the items. It does not paste a duplicate set underneath the old ones.

Instructions that work well are specific. “Add two gallons of paint at $45.” “Make the labor 14 hours.” “Drop the cleanup line.” “No tax.” “Give them 10% off.” “Add a $50 trip fee.” “Make the tile fourteen dollars” works because the app can see the current lines and find the tile row. “Make it cheaper” does not, because cheaper has no number.

Read the result before you send. A change pass is allowed to update tax, the discount, other fees, and the terms, because you might have asked it to. If you only meant to add a line, confirm those fields still say what you charge.

Preview, send, and mark it paid

PREVIEW INVOICE builds the PDF from the invoice you just saved. SEND INVOICE opens the same kinds of options as a proposal: the PDF itself, email with the client’s address filled in, a text with their phone filled in, a copied link, the message plus the link, or the phone’s share sheet.

The link is a normal web page. When the client opens it, you get a notification and the invoice shows as viewed. There is no Pay button on that page. If they pay you by check, transfer, cash, or a tap on your iPhone, open the preview menu and tap Mark as Paid. You can mark it unpaid again from the same menu if that was a mistake. A due date in the past shows the invoice as overdue on its own. You do not set an overdue status by hand.

What is different on iPhone

In the list, tap a row to edit the invoice. The row does not open the PDF. Preview is the button at the bottom of the form. A notification that the client viewed the invoice opens the preview, which is the right screen if you only need to resend or mark it paid.

Everything else matches Android: Tools, Billing, Simple Invoice, AI Input, the microphone, long-press to reorder, and SEND INVOICE.

What is different on Android

In the list, tap a row to open the preview. Edit is in the preview menu, and that returns you to the form. On a brand-new invoice, PREVIEW INVOICE replaces the form. Back from that preview returns to the list, so you are not dropped onto a stale draft.

AI Input, Describe your invoice, Change this invoice, and Mark as Paid are the same actions as on iPhone. The microphone is the voice button on the text field. Fix the words, then submit.

Tips for a clean first draft

• Dictate the draft in the driveway, then do one short second pass for the thing you forgot. Two specific sentences beat one long ramble.
• Say the quantity and the price. “Paint” becomes a line with no money. “Two gallons of paint at $45” becomes a line you can send.
• Correct the transcript before you submit. The sheet is there so a misheard “fifteen” does not become the rate.
• Check tax, the discount, and the terms after every voice edit. Those fields are part of what the edit is allowed to change.
• Pick the client before you send. Email and text prefill from that client, which is the difference between a sent invoice and a copied link you still have to paste.
• Use a proposal with online payments when you need a signature or a card payment on the link. Simple Invoice will not grow a pay button.

Frequently asked questions

How do I dictate an invoice in Handy Bro?

Open Tools, then Billing, then Simple Invoice, on iPhone or Android. Create an invoice, tap AI Input, and describe the work. On a blank invoice the sheet is titled Describe your invoice. Fix the transcript if a word is wrong, then submit. The app writes the line items. You still choose the client, company, and dates.

Can I change an invoice by talking?

Yes. Open AI Input again after the lines exist. The sheet is titled Change this invoice. Say what to add, change, or remove — for example, add two gallons of paint at $45, make the labor 14 hours, drop the cleanup line, or add a $50 trip fee. The result replaces the items, tax, discount, fees, and terms with the updated invoice.

Does a voice invoice have a pay link?

No. A Simple Invoice link lets the client view the PDF. It does not take a card. When you get paid, open the preview menu and tap Mark as Paid. If you need the client to pay by card from a link, send a proposal with online payments instead. That switch is in the iPhone app.

Do iPhone and Android work the same way?

The invoice, the AI Input button, the microphone, the preview, and the send sheet are the same idea on both. On iPhone, tapping a saved invoice in the list opens the edit form. On Android, tapping a saved invoice opens the preview, and Edit is in the preview menu. On Android, Preview on a brand-new invoice replaces the form, so Back returns to the list.

What should I say so the lines come out right?

Name each task, then the labor and the materials for that task. The sheet’s own example is: demolition, remove the old bathtub, 4 labor hours at $60 per hour, plus a $50 disposal fee. Say prices out loud. Check tax and the discount before you send, because a later voice edit can change those too.

Can I reorder the lines?

Yes, on both phones. Long-press a task card and drop it on another card. The PDF follows that order.

Is this available in Canada?

Yes. Simple Invoice works for US and Canadian contractors. Amounts follow your currency. Online card payments on a proposal are a separate feature and are US-only.

The bottom line

Open Simple Invoice, tap AI Input, and say the work the way you would explain it to a bookkeeper: task, hours, rate, materials. Preview the PDF, send it, and mark it paid when the money shows up.

Do that on either phone. Use the second voice pass for the correction. Use a proposal when the customer still has to approve the job or pay by card from the link.