COMPLETE USER GUIDE

Beast Invoices – Invoicing & Payment Requests

Beast Invoices Pro extends the Beast Invoices Free plugin with online payment gateways, recurring billing, automation, advanced reporting, transaction operations, customer-portal features, and Pro email templates.

For merchantsNo coding required for normal setupWordPressPro v1.0.0
How to use this guide: Follow the setup steps in order. You can start with Quick Start, then return to individual sections whenever you need a specific task.

1. Requirements

Beast Invoices Pro is an add-on to the Free plugin, so both components work together.

Before installing Pro

  • WordPress should be installed and working normally.
  • Install and activate Beast Invoices Free.
  • Then install and activate Beast Invoices Pro.
  • Use HTTPS on your real website, especially for customer payment pages and gateway callbacks.

Gateway accounts

  • For PayPal and Stripe, prepare provider credentials and webhook information.
  • For WooCommerce, keep WooCommerce active and enable at least one WooCommerce payment gateway.
  • For manual methods, configure payment accounts or instructions inside Beast Invoices.

2. Quick start

A simple first-time setup for a non-technical merchant.

Open Beast Invoices → Settings. Enter your business name, email, phone, default currency and invoice numbering preferences.
Configure payment gateways. Set up PayPal, Stripe and/or WooCommerce, then confirm their status.
Add customers. Create customer records so invoices can be assigned correctly.
Create your first invoice. Add the customer, items, dates, payment methods and any taxes or discounts.
Send or share the invoice. The customer opens the secure invoice page and selects a payment method.
Confirm the result. Use Payments, Pro Transactions, Gateway Events and the invoice/receipt to verify the payment lifecycle.
Configure Pro automation. Set up templates, payment notifications, recurring billing and recovery features as needed.

3. Dashboard

The dashboard is the best place to get a quick view of your business.

Core dashboard

  • Revenue and outstanding balance
  • Overdue invoices
  • Customer count
  • Invoice pipeline by status
  • Quick actions for common tasks

Pro dashboard

When Pro is active, the dashboard also shows online payment totals, gateway performance, payment outcomes, daily activity, gateway health and a quick operational insight panel.

DashboardClick image to enlarge
Use the main dashboard as your everyday starting point.
Use the main dashboard as your everyday starting point.
Pro dashboardClick image to enlarge
The Pro dashboard focuses on online payment performance and operational status.
The Pro dashboard focuses on online payment performance and operational status.

4. Customers

Keep customer information in one place so invoices and payment activity stay organized.

Open Beast invoices → Customers. Review the existing customer list.
Click Add customer. Enter first name, last name, company, email, phone, country and address.
Save the customer. The customer can now be selected in Create Invoice.
Add CustomerClick image to enlarge
Customer creation dialog used from the Customers screen.
Customer creation dialog used from the Customers screen.

5. Invoices

Create invoices, search existing invoices, and open the customer payment page.

InvoicesClick image to enlarge
Use the invoice list for searching, filtering and opening invoices.
Use the invoice list for searching, filtering and opening invoices.
Create InvoiceClick image to enlarge
The invoice editor is the main workspace for building a customer payment request.
The invoice editor is the main workspace for building a customer payment request.

Recurring shortcut

When the Create Invoice page is opened with the recurring context, the Make recurring option can already be enabled so you can continue directly into recurring setup.

6. Recurring billing

Pro turns a normal invoice into a scheduled billing plan. The source invoice is used as the template for future invoices.

Open Recurring Billing. Review active schedules, upcoming runs, generated invoices and paused/completed schedules.
Start a recurring invoice. Use Create recurring invoice or open Create Invoice with the recurring context.
Enable Make recurring. Choose interval/frequency, first run date, optional end date and maximum invoices.
Choose automatic email delivery. When enabled, each generated invoice can be emailed using the Beast invoice template.
Manage the schedule. Use Edit, Run now, Pause or Cancel and inspect the generation history.
Recurring BillingClick image to enlarge
The Pro Recurring Billing control center shows active schedules, upcoming runs, generated invoice history and schedule actions.
The Pro Recurring Billing control center shows active schedules, upcoming runs, generated invoice history and schedule actions.
Customer visibility: generated invoices have their own invoice number and secure invoice URL, so customers can see and pay each generated invoice independently.

7. Payments & verification

Beast invoices keeps payment submissions, verification status and online gateway confirmations in one payment workflow.

PaymentsClick image to enlarge
Use the Payments page to review submissions, invoice links, methods, amounts, status and available verification actions.
Use the Payments page to review submissions, invoice links, methods, amounts, status and available verification actions.

Manual payments

Review the customer's reference and proof, then approve, reject or request additional information.

Online payments

Gateway payments are automatically confirmed when the provider returns or sends a valid lifecycle event. Check Pro Transactions and Gateway Events when a status looks unusual.

8. Payment accounts

Payment accounts store reusable instructions for bank transfer, mobile money and other manual payment methods.

Payment AccountsClick image to enlarge
Reusable payment accounts can be selected on invoices.
Reusable payment accounts can be selected on invoices.
Add Payment AccountClick image to enlarge
Fields adapt to the payment account type, including account or wallet information, identifier, network, instructions and QR code URL.
Fields adapt to the payment account type, including account or wallet information, identifier, network, instructions and QR code URL.

9. Payment providers

The provider directory contains informational provider names for P2P and mobile-money platforms. You can also add your own provider.

Payment ProvidersClick image to enlarge
Browse the provider directory or locate a provider by type and country.
Browse the provider directory or locate a provider by type and country.
Add ProviderClick image to enlarge
Add a custom provider with name, slug, type, country, website and description.
Add a custom provider with name, slug, type, country, website and description.

10. Invoice presets

Presets save common invoice configurations so you do not have to rebuild the same invoice setup repeatedly.

Invoice PresetsClick image to enlarge
Saved presets can be selected from Create Invoice to speed up repeat billing.
Saved presets can be selected from Create Invoice to speed up repeat billing.

11. Templates

Free and Pro templates are intentionally managed from one template screen when Pro is active.

Free TemplatesClick image to enlarge
Free/core customer-facing templates remain available in the shared template editor.
Free/core customer-facing templates remain available in the shared template editor.
Pro TemplatesClick image to enlarge
Pro templates appear below the Free templates when the Pro add-on is active.
Pro templates appear below the Free templates when the Pro add-on is active.
Pro template types: Payment Success, Payment Failed, Payment Pending, Refund Issued, Payment Reminder, Payment Recovery, Recurring Invoice, Recurring Payment Confirmation and Recurring Payment Reminder.

Dynamic Pro information

Pro templates can receive values such as gateway name, gateway transaction ID, payment reference and amount, receipt URL, refund information, recurring frequency and next run date.

12. Pro Transactions

The operational center for online gateway transactions.

Pro TransactionsClick image to enlarge
Search, filter and review online gateway transactions.
Search, filter and review online gateway transactions.

Why the table can look empty

The KPI cards show global Pro transaction totals, while the table follows the active filters. For example, selecting Failed hides approved and pending transactions. Use All statuses or the page's clear-all option to see the complete set.

13. Gateway Events

Gateway Events records webhook and lifecycle activity so payment confirmation problems can be investigated.

Gateway EventsClick image to enlarge
Review received, processed and failed gateway lifecycle events with timestamps and transaction context.
Review received, processed and failed gateway lifecycle events with timestamps and transaction context.

14. Payment Analytics

Use this area to understand payment performance, gateway success and daily activity.

Payment AnalyticsClick image to enlarge
The analytics page combines KPI cards, gateway performance, outcome mix and an interactive daily activity chart.
The analytics page combines KPI cards, gateway performance, outcome mix and an interactive daily activity chart.
Which report should I open? Use Payment Analytics for payment-performance questions such as gateway success. Use Financial Reports for money, collections, customer value and outstanding balances.

15. Reports

The standard report area and the Pro Financial Reports provide different levels of reporting.

ReportsClick image to enlarge
The Free/core Reports screen provides standard reporting filters and visual summaries.
The Free/core Reports screen provides standard reporting filters and visual summaries.
Financial ReportsClick image to enlarge
The Pro financial report focuses on collections, gateway revenue, top customers and invoice aging.
The Pro financial report focuses on collections, gateway revenue, top customers and invoice aging.

How to read Financial Reports

  • Total billed: invoice value created in the selected reporting period.
  • Total paid: confirmed payment value.
  • Outstanding: open unpaid balance.
  • Net collected: confirmed collections after recorded refunds.
  • Daily collected revenue: confirmed collections grouped by payment date.
  • Collections by gateway: confirmed collection value grouped by payment provider.

16. Settings

Centralize your business information, invoice numbering and payment configuration.

SettingsClick image to enlarge
Business identity, invoice numbering, payment gateways and notification ownership are managed from Settings.
Business identity, invoice numbering, payment gateways and notification ownership are managed from Settings.
No duplicate notification settings: when Pro automation is active, reminder and customer-notification configuration is managed from the dedicated Notification Automation area.

17. Gateway Health

Gateway Health is your operational dashboard for checking whether each configured online gateway is ready and behaving normally.

Choose the reporting period. Use 7 days, 30 days, 90 days or 1 year.
Read the overall health score. The score combines configuration and payment/webhook signals.
Review each gateway card. Check credentials, webhook availability, success rate, approved/pending/failed counts and last event.
Follow recommended actions. Use Configure or View events when a gateway needs attention.
Gateway HealthClick image to enlarge
Gateway Health summarizes gateway readiness, success performance, webhook processing and recommended operational actions.
Gateway Health summarizes gateway readiness, success performance, webhook processing and recommended operational actions.

18. Gateway Diagnostics

Gateway Diagnostics performs local, non-destructive readiness checks before live payment traffic is enabled.

Check the readiness score. Review how many diagnostic checks passed.
Review gateway configuration. Confirm whether each gateway is enabled, credentialed and has a webhook/checkout endpoint.
Review dependency checks. Confirm Free core, Pro services, REST API, WP-Cron and required database tables are available.
Review scheduled jobs. Confirm reconciliation, recurring billing and notification automation are scheduled.
Gateway DiagnosticsClick image to enlarge
Gateway Diagnostics checks local dependencies, gateway configuration, webhooks/checkout endpoints and scheduled automation readiness without charging a customer.
Gateway Diagnostics checks local dependencies, gateway configuration, webhooks/checkout endpoints and scheduled automation readiness without charging a customer.

19. Notification Automation

Use one dedicated screen to control Pro payment lifecycle emails and scheduled reminders. This avoids duplicate reminder settings in multiple places.

Enable or disable lifecycle notifications. Control payment success, pending, failed, recovery, refund, recurring invoice, recurring payment confirmation and receipt notifications.
Configure reminders. Set the before-due reminder and the overdue reminder interval and maximum number of reminders.
Monitor delivery. Review sent, lifecycle, reminder and failed counts plus recent notification activity.
Notification AutomationClick image to enlarge
Notification Automation is the single source of truth for Pro lifecycle emails and scheduled reminder timing.
Notification Automation is the single source of truth for Pro lifecycle emails and scheduled reminder timing.

20. Revenue Recovery

Revenue Recovery helps customers recover from failed, expired or cancelled online payment attempts without silently charging them again.

Enable revenue recovery. Allow Pro to track failed payment attempts that need follow-up.
Enable smart dunning. Send recovery messages according to your chosen cadence.
Set dunning delays. For example, 1,3,7 means messages are scheduled on those recovery days.
Set maximum attempts. Limit the number of automated recovery messages.
Customers remain in control. Recovery messages send the customer back to the invoice so the customer chooses an available payment method.
Revenue RecoveryClick image to enlarge
Revenue Recovery shows recovery KPIs, smart-dunning controls, recovery performance and the failed-payment recovery queue.
Revenue Recovery shows recovery KPIs, smart-dunning controls, recovery performance and the failed-payment recovery queue.

22. Troubleshooting

Use these quick checks before changing anything else.

Payment is successful but invoice is pending

Check Gateway Events and Pro Transactions for the matching transaction and webhook event.

Transaction table is empty

Check the current filters first. A narrow status, gateway, date or amount filter can intentionally return zero rows.

Recurring invoice did not generate

Check schedule status, next run date, end date, maximum invoice count and WordPress cron operation.

Automated email not received

Check the template, Notification Automation settings and delivery activity, then confirm the customer email and WordPress mail delivery.

WooCommerce payment page has no choices

Confirm WooCommerce is active and at least one WooCommerce gateway is enabled in WooCommerce.

Webhook event failed

Open the Gateway Events entry and compare the provider-side webhook configuration with the endpoint and credentials used by Beast Invoices.

21. Pro Gateway Settings

Configure your hosted online checkout stack from the Payment Gateways screen.

Payment GatewaysClick image to enlarge
Configure Stripe Checkout and PayPal Checkout, view webhook endpoints, and edit the customer success message.
Configure Stripe Checkout and PayPal Checkout, view webhook endpoints, and edit the customer success message.

Stripe

Enable Stripe, choose test/live mode, enter the publishable key and secret key, and add the webhook signing secret. Keep secret keys server-side.

PayPal

Enable PayPal, choose sandbox/live mode, enter Client ID and Client Secret, and provide the webhook ID used to verify lifecycle events.

Gateway Registration StatusClick image to enlarge
The gateway registration status panel shows which Pro gateways are configured and available to customers.
The gateway registration status panel shows which Pro gateways are configured and available to customers.

23. Production launch checklist

Complete this staging checklist before public launch.

Create a small test invoice. Verify customer, amount, currency, due date and payment methods.
Test each gateway you will offer. Verify the complete customer checkout flow.
Confirm webhooks. Check Gateway Events and the matching approved transaction.
Verify receipt/PDF output. Confirm the customer can open and download the receipt.
Test refund behavior. Confirm refund amount, status and history where refunds are supported.
Test recurring billing. Verify generation, email delivery and next-run behavior.
Test payment recovery. Confirm failed-payment messages take customers back to the secure invoice payment flow.
Run Diagnostics and review reports. Confirm expected readiness and financial activity.
Production note: Gateway behavior can also depend on provider credentials, webhook settings, WooCommerce configuration, WordPress cron, hosting email delivery and other site-specific conditions.
Beast Invoices Pro v3.1.1 documentation • Written for non-technical merchants • This documentation is structured so additional screenshots and sections can be added later.