--- title: "Use the billing calendar" description: "See invoices on the days they're created, due, and paid, plus what automatic invoicing will create next and whether each is emailed or kept as a draft." type: guide updated: 2026-10-10 canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/billing/billing-calendar roles: ["super_admin", "center_admin"] platforms: [web, ios, android] --- The billing calendar shows your billing as dates instead of settings. Every invoice appears on the day it was created, the day it is due, and the day it was paid. Next to them, dashed entries show what [automatic invoicing](/owners/billing/auto-invoice-generation) will create and when those invoices will be due. Use it to check that your settings do what you expect, before a family gets a bill. ## Open the billing calendar **On the web:** 1. Go to **Invoices & Finances → Invoices**. 2. Click **Billing calendar** in the switch above the invoice list. **Invoice list** takes you back. **In the iPhone or Android app:** 1. Tap **ADMIN**, then **Invoices**. 2. Tap **Billing calendar** next to **Create invoice**. Owners and center admins can open it. A center admin assigned to one center sees only that center's invoices. ## Read the month Each day shows one entry per kind of event, with how many invoices and their total: | Entry | What it means | |---|---| | **Created** (blue) | Invoices made that day, by hand or automatically | | **Due** (amber) | Invoices due that day | | **Overdue** (red) | Due that day and still not paid | | **Paid** (green) | Payments that came in that day | | **Will be sent** (blue, dashed) | Automatic invoices that will be created and **emailed** to the family that morning | | **Will be drafted** (gray, dashed) | Automatic invoices that will be created as **drafts**. Nobody is emailed until you send them | | **Will be due** (amber, dashed) | When those upcoming invoices will be due | Solid entries are real invoices. Dashed entries are a forecast: nothing exists yet, and you can still change the outcome. The totals above the calendar cover the month you are looking at. Upcoming amounts are **before family credits**, because credits are applied when the invoice is created. ## Sent or drafted, and why Click a day to see its invoices underneath the calendar. Every upcoming invoice shows **Will email** or **Draft**. A draft also says why it won't be emailed: ![The November 1 list: each family's invoice will be created as a draft, with the reason First automatic run, held as drafts for your review](/screenshots/owners/billing/billing-calendar-day.png) - **Auto-Send is off, so you send it yourself.** Turn on **Auto-Send to Families** in the Auto-Invoice Generation panel if you want invoices emailed automatically. - **First automatic run, held as drafts for your review.** The first run after you turn on automatic invoicing or Auto-Send is always kept as drafts, so a week you already billed some other way is never billed twice. Later runs are emailed as normal. - **Already billed by hand for this period.** The family already has a tuition invoice you made for that period (the invoice number is shown). The automatic one waits as a draft so you can decide which to keep. To stop it being created at all, [skip that family for that run](/owners/billing/upcoming-invoices#skip-one-familys-invoice-for-one-run). - **Billed by attendance, so it waits for you to check the hours.** Invoices from [hourly](/owners/billing/bill-by-the-hour) or [daily-rate](/owners/billing/drop-in-daily-rates) plans are always drafts. Their amount shows as **Set by attendance** until the period ends. A family you skipped for a run appears under **Skipped by you**, so a missing invoice reads as your decision, not a mistake. ## Preview before you turn on automatic invoicing You don't need automatic invoicing turned on to use the calendar. While it is off, the calendar shows a **Preview**: dashed entries show exactly what it would create, and when, if you turned it on with your current settings. Change **Generate Ahead** or **Due After** in the Auto-Invoice Generation panel and the calendar shows the new dates. This is the safest way to set up automatic invoicing. Look at the next two months, check that each family's amount and due date look right, then turn it on. ## Open an invoice Click **Open** on any real invoice to see it in the usual side panel, where you can send it, mark it paid, remind the family, or void it, without leaving the calendar. Upcoming invoices don't exist yet, so they link to the family's account instead. In the apps, tap an invoice to open it. ## On your phone ![The billing calendar in the iPhone app: a month grid with colored dots under each day, plan filters, and month totals](/screenshots/owners/billing/billing-calendar-phone.png) The phone version shows the month as a grid with a small dot under each day for each kind of event, using the same colors (dashed dots are upcoming). Tap a day to see its invoices underneath. Tap **Today** to jump back to the current month. ## Troubleshooting **The calendar is empty this month.** Check the month and filters at the top. If a plan or family is selected, only their invoices show. With only monthly plans, most activity sits on the 1st and on the due date, so the rest of the month is quiet. **No upcoming invoices show.** Upcoming invoices reach 60 days ahead. If none appear at all, the children likely have no billing plan on their enrollment; the coverage warning in the Auto-Invoice Generation panel counts them. See [Create a billing plan](/owners/billing/create-a-billing-plan). **Everything is a draft, but Auto-Send is on.** It is probably your first run since turning it on, which is always held for review. Click the day to see the reason on each invoice. **An upcoming amount looks wrong.** Fix it at the source: the family's billing plan, discounts, or subsidies. The calendar updates right away, because the forecast is worked out the same way as the real run. **An invoice shows under "No plan".** It was made by hand with typed line items rather than a billing plan, so it has no plan to filter by.