How to Create PDF Invoices in WooCommerce: Step-by-Step Guide

Imagine your customer places an order on your WooCommerce store, and a few days later, they need to check some details about their order. It could be the product details, pricing, or maybe even warranty information. 

But where do they look? Searching emails for an invoice can be frustrating,  and a missing invoice can lead to confusion for both you and your customer.

This is where PDF invoices in the Woocommerce store come in. These clear and professional documents provide a central location for all your order information.  

With PDF invoices, your customers can easily access their purchase information anytime, right in their accounts. So, no more digging through emails, it’s all there at their fingertips.  

And for you? You’ll have a polished document for accounting or customer service inquiries.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know, from the benefits to the different ways to create PDF invoices in Woocommerce. So, get ready to smooth your operations, improve customer satisfaction, and give your WooCommerce store a professional edge.

Importance of PDF Invoice in WooCommerce

PDF invoices offer several important benefits for WooCommerce stores. Here’s a breakdown of the importance of PDF invoices in WooCommerce. 

Improved Customer Experience: 

Imagine buying something online and not getting a receipt! A PDF invoice  acts like a digital Woocommerce billing receipt for your customers. It shows them exactly what they bought, how much they paid, and other important details. This builds trust and makes things convenient for them, since they can access it anytime from their account.

Record Keeping and Taxes: 

Both you and your customers may need invoices for tax purposes or expense reports. PDF invoices offer a reliable and organized format for record keeping.

Reduced Errors and Disputes: 

A clear invoice with all the details helps avoid confusion about what was ordered and how much it cost. This means fewer headaches for you and your customers – no arguments about what someone bought or how much they owe.

Organized Order Management: 

WooCommerce invoice PDF generator plugins can automate invoice generation and distribution based on order status. This saves you time and ensures invoices are sent promptly.

Professional Brand Image: 

Offering PDF invoices shows your customers that you take your business seriously. It gives a professional and reliable impression, which can go a long way in building trust.

How to Create PDF Invoices in WooCommerce?

Though Woocommerce provides many handy features to set up your store with ease, unfortunately, it doesn’t come with a pre-built feature to create PDF invoices.

So, if you want to add PDF invoices to your WooCommerce store, you’ve got 2 options. One is manual, and the other is automation (plugins). 

Surely, you can create PDF invoices manually one by one – but it’s not only a time-sucker, but also an error prone process.

So, plugins are your best bet here. These tools do the hard work for you, automatically creating professional invoices for every order. 

They’re fast, easy, and keep things mistake-free. Plus, happy customers get clear purchase records, and you get more time to focus on running your awesome store.

How to create PDF Invoices via Installing and Activating WooCommerce PDF Invoices Plugin

Now, if you are going to use plugins to create PDF invoices, you’ll find several plugins on the market. However, the PDF Invoice plugin- Challan for Woocommerce stands out among them. 

Webappick- a reported softway company that mainly develops e-commerce plugins, has launched this plugin- Challan. With plenty of excellent features in the free version and even more impressive functionality in the premium version, it’s a top choice among the available plugins. 

Now, let’s check out what Challan offers you and you can smooth down the process of creating PDF invoices for your Woocommerce store with this plugin.

Introduce Challan plugins for generating PDF invoices in WooCommerce

Woocommerce PDF invoice Plugin-Challan is an excellent plugin for automatically generating PDF invoices and packing slips. It’s super easy to use, with clear options to set up. 

Just a few clicks and Challan will automatically create professional-looking PDF invoices and packing slips for every order you get. You will love how effortlessly it will generate all the PDF invoices as well as packing slips for you.

To benefit from Challan’s excellent features and generate automatic PDF invoices, you’ll need to install the plugin first. Installation is straightforward, similar to most WordPress plugins.

Provide step-by-step instructions for installing and activating the Challan plugin

Before creating PDF invoices for your Woocommerce store with Challan plugin, first install and activate it in your site. Just follow the steps, and you’re ready to go.

Login to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New.

Search for “Challan” in the search bar.

Hit on Install and finally activate the plugin.

Provide step-by-step guidelines on how to generate PDF invoices by using Challan Plugin.

Settings Options

The Challan plugin does a great job creating PDF invoices right out of the box. But to make them truly shine, you can spend just a few minutes customizing them.

Once you activate Challan, a new menu called “Challan” will appear on your WordPress dashboard. Click on it to access the Settings section, where you can personalize your invoices and packing slips.

Challan’s customization options are super easy to find. They’re all organized into clear tabs for your convenience.

The first thing you’ll see is a settings section where you can turn the invoicing on or off, and choose other options.  

If you’re an international seller, then making custom language PDF invoices is a must. With Challan, you can easily set the document language according to your customer. Again, rather than choosing one single font for every brand, you can also choose the most suitable font that goes with your brand.

For example, if you’re running a clothing brand, you can choose a font like Sun-Exta to more evaluate your brand’s identity. Or, you can just keep it Default.

Now, the most handy feature lets your customers download their invoices directly from their account section in your store. 

It’ll make things easier for your customers. This way, they can get their receipts whenever they need them, without having to wait for an email. 

You can still be in control by choosing when invoices can be downloaded. For instance, you can allow downloads only for finished orders. Again,  just enable the Always Allow option to let your customers download the invoice in any situation.

Now, if you scroll down, you’ll find the following sections. 

Through, your customers can download their invoices any time from My account section, still you can send through their mails. 

Here, you can select several stages when you want to send them mails. You can also attach packing slip with the orders just by enabling the option.

Here, are some additional options to make the invoice for your customers more valuable. You can add Barcode or QR code to the invoices. 

Now, scroll down to the pagination setting. Here, you can add the page number, font size of the PDF invoices.

Now, click on the Save Changes button and move to the next tab Invoice.

Invoice:

Under Invoice tab, you can customize the invoice layout. It comes from selecting pre-made invoice templates to add a brand’s sign.

Challan provides 6 pre-built templates for the invoices. Two of them are totally for free and the other four are available in the pro version. You can choose any of them. 

Again, you can enable paid stamps to make the PDF invoice for your Woocommerce customers more eye catchy and satisfying.

Bonus:

If you don’t like the default stamp, you can make a paid stamp that reflects your brand and upload it here.

You can add your signature or your brand’s sign here. Again, to make the invoice look more professional, you can add your store’s picture with name and logo as the Invoice Background Image.

Scroll down and set the other Woocommerce invoice settings accordingly, and save the changes.

Packing slip:

This plugin isn’t just about invoices! It gives you even more control over your WooCommerce orders. You can design, customize, and print packing slips to go along with your invoices. 

Need a packing slip for a single order? No problem! 

Do you have a bunch of orders to fulfill and want to print them all at once? 

This plugin lets you batch print packing slips based on a date range. It’s even flexible enough to print packing slips for specific products within an order, giving you ultimate control over your packing process.

Next, go to the Static Files tab.

Here, you can supercharge your invoices. In addition to the invoice itself, you can upload up to 3 extra files, like your return policy or terms & conditions. These files will be sent automatically along with the Woocommerce email invoice. 

The best part? 

You can choose exactly when these files get attached. For instance, you can send the return policy only with invoices for completed orders, ensuring customers have all the information they need at the right time.

Seller & Buyer:

Here, you’ll get two sections. One if for the sellers (You) and other is for buyers (Your customers). 

In the seller section, you can add your company logo image and company name. Again, you can add up to your company vat number.

In the buyer section, you can show up your buyer’s shipping address, phone number and email addresses. This’ll not only enhance your brand’s identity but also allow your customers to check the info details and contact them if there are any issues.

Now, go to the next tab Bulk Download. It is one of the most amazing features of Challan. 

This plugin offers a dedicated Bulk Download tab where you can easily download all invoices for a specific date range. Simply select your desired start and end date, and the plugin will compile all invoices within that period for a quick and convenient download.

What if you don’t want to download all orders, just want to have a specific order status within the period?

Well, it’s just a matter of seconds. Just change the order status from All to your preferred status. There, you’ll find other order status to select.

Shipping Label:

The Premium version of Challan offers a professional feature known as Shipping Label, which enhances the shipping process. In this section, you can tweak things like how many columns you want per row, how many rows you need.

Again, you can adjust what size paper to print on, and even give your label a catchy title. Plus, you can set a date range to print labels for specific shipments. It’s all about making your shipping game smooth and professional.

Upload Fonts:

What if you use a specific font for all the documents on your site, but can’t find that font for invoices in the available font options here?

In this case, you’ve a preferred font for your PDF invoices, that is also possible with Challan. 

In the upload font section, you can easily upload your preferred font for the PDF invoices. Just choose the file and upload it. And you’re done.

Highlight Key Features And Customization Options Of Challan:

Now,  you’ve created PDF invoices in Woocommerce. Let’s discuss the key features of Challan plugin here:

• A dedicated admin panel menu coupled with an intuitive user interface streamlines navigation and usability.
• The system seamlessly attaches invoices and packing slips to order confirmation emails, automating the process for enhanced efficiency.
• Users can effortlessly generate invoices, packing slips, credit notes, and shipping labels within the platform.
• Vital elements such as company and client information, product lists, and pricing details are easily incorporated into documents.
• Advanced Woocommerce invoice customization options, including the addition of CSS and background images, provide tailored branding opportunities.
• Additional personalization features such as signatures and custom footer notes add a touch of professionalism and individuality to documents.
• The platform supports WooCommerce PDF invoices and enables the inclusion of custom fields for product and order metadata.
• A diverse selection of pre-made template layouts offers flexibility in document design and presentation.
• Users can include product attributes such as SKU, category, and descriptions directly within invoices for comprehensive documentation.
• Static files such as terms and conditions documents can be conveniently attached as needed, ensuring compliance and transparency.

Conclusion

WooCommerce itself doesn’t offer built-in PDF invoice creation. However, with the help of plugins like Challan, you can easily streamline your order documentation process. From invoices and packing slips to credit notes and shipping labels, you can manage everything in one place. It provides advanced customization features and the ability to include essential product information. This PDF invoice for the Woocommerce plugin ensures clear communication and a professional touch for your customers.