invoicing

invoicing — noun

1. the work of preparing and sending bills that show customers what they need to pa

1.nounB2
Definition

the work of preparing and sending bills that show customers what they need to pay for goods or services

Example

Eri handles invoicing for the small design studio every Friday afternoon.

handle invoicing for + business

The bakery moved its invoicing online after opening a second shop.

move invoicing online

Common collocations
  • electronic invoicing
  • monthly invoicing
  • invoicing system
  • invoicing team
  • handle invoicing
Synonyms
  • billing

    the closest business synonym; often used a little more broadly for the whole payment-request side of a business

  • bookkeeping

    much broader and includes many financial records beyond sending invoices

Grammar Patterns

handle invoicing

monthly invoicing

invoicing for + customer/company

Usage Note

Usually uncountable in business English. It refers to the process or duty of preparing and sending invoices, not to one document by itself.

Common Mistakes

Please send me the invoicing for this order.
Please send me the invoice for this order.
'invoicing' is the process, while the document itself is an 'invoice'.
The invoicing are ready.
The invoicing is ready.
this sense is usually treated as an uncountable process noun.

invoicing — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Billing is the closest everyday synonym when you mean sending customers requests for payment. It often covers the whole payment-request side of a business, while invoicing is slightly more formal and points more directly to producing and sending invoices. Bookkeeping is broader: it includes recording many kinds of financial information, not just invoices. Accounting is broader still and covers reporting, tax, and financial planning. Charging can overlap in speech, but it often means deciding or applying a price, not preparing the document that asks for payment. A shop may charge a customer at the counter, but its office staff handle invoicing later.

billing ↗bookkeeping ↗accounting ↗charging ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • handle invoicing
  • automate invoicing
  • invoicing customers for services

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Invoicing is built from invoice and the English -ing ending. Invoice came into English through French from late Latin business vocabulary connected with sending or listing goods and payment details. The -ing form later developed both as the verb form used in sentences such as 'We are invoicing clients' and as a noun for the business process of preparing and sending invoices.

First known use

1560

1560, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Verb