Invoice Creation Guide
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This guide explains how to create invoices using the Meow Billing API, from setting up products and customers to sending professional invoices with multiple payment options.

Prerequisites

A Meow account with billing capabilities enabled
An API key with the following permissions:
- billing:products:read and billing:products:write for product management
- billing:customers:read and billing:customers:write for customer management
- billing:invoices:read and billing:invoices:write for invoice creation
- billing:accounts:read for viewing collection accounts

Invoice Creation Workflow

Creating an invoice involves five main steps:

Create or retrieve a product to invoice for
Create or retrieve an invoicing customer
Check available payment method types for your entity
Select a collection account to receive payments
Create the invoice with line items and payment options

Step 1: Create or Retrieve a Product

Products represent the goods or services you're invoicing for. You can either use existing products or create new ones.

List Existing Products

First, check if you already have the product you need:

curl -X GET "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/products" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "prod_123456789",
      "name": "Monthly Subscription",
      "description": "Premium monthly subscription service",
      "default_price": 99.99
    }
  ]
}

Create a New Product

If you need to create a new product:

curl -X POST "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/products" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Consulting Services",
    "description": "Professional consulting at hourly rate",
    "default_price": 150.00
  }'

Note the product id from the response - you'll need it when creating invoice line items.

Step 2: Create or Retrieve an Invoicing Customer

Customers represent the entities you're invoicing. Each customer can have multiple invoices over time.

List Existing Customers

Check your existing customers:

curl -X GET "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/customers" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Create a New Customer

To create a new invoicing customer:

curl -X POST "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/customers" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "nickname": "Acme Corporation",
    "email": "billing@acme.com",
    "address": {
      "street_line_1": "123 Main Street",
      "street_line_2": "Suite 100",
      "city": "San Francisco",
      "state": "CA",
      "postal_code": "94105",
      "country": "US"
    }
  }'

Save the customer id from the response for invoice creation.

Step 3: Get Available Payment Method Types

Check which payment methods are available for your entity:

curl -X GET "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/payment-method-types" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response:

{
  "payment_method_types": [
    "BANK_TRANSFER",
    "CARD",
    "ACH_DIRECT_DEBIT",
    "INTERNATIONAL_WIRE"
  ]
}

Note: The only type enabled by default is bank transfers. Card, ACH, and USDC payment types (USDC_ETHEREUM, USDC_SOLANA, USDC_BASE) have to be enabled for your business.

Step 4: Select a Collection Account

Collection accounts are where invoice payments will be deposited. List your available accounts:

curl -X GET "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/accounts" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Example response:

{
  "accounts": [
    {
      "id": "acct_987654321",
      "display_name": "Primary Operating Account",
      "account_number_mask": "••1234",
      "status": "open",
      "is_primary": true,
      "banking_product": "GRASSHOPPER"
    }
  ]
}

Choose the appropriate account id for receiving payments.

Step 5: Create the Invoice

Now combine all the information to create your invoice:

curl -X POST "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/invoices" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "customer_id": "cust_123456789",
    "line_items": [
      {
        "product_id": "prod_987654321",
        "quantity": 10,
        "price": 150.00,
        "description": "10 hours of consulting services",
        "discount_percentage": 10,
        "discount_description": "10% early payment discount"
      }
    ],
    "invoice_date": "2025-06-20",
    "due_date": "2025-07-20",
    "payment_method_types": [
      "BANK_TRANSFER",
      "CARD",
      "ACH_DIRECT_DEBIT"
    ],
    "send_email_on_creation": true,
    "additional_recipient_emails": ["accounting@acme.com"],
    "note": "Thank you for your business!",
    "name": "INV-2025-001",
    "collection_account_id": "acct_987654321",
    "show_contact_address": true
  }'

Key Invoice Fields

Field	Description
`customer_id`	The ID of the invoicing customer
`line_items`	Array of products/services being invoiced
`invoice_date`	When the invoice is issued (YYYY-MM-DD)
`due_date`	Payment due date (YYYY-MM-DD)
`payment_method_types`	Enabled payment methods (BANK_TRANSFER is always included)
`send_email_on_creation`	Whether to email the invoice immediately
`collection_account_id`	Account where payments will be deposited

Complete Example: Creating an Invoice from Scratch

Here's a complete example that creates a product, customer, and invoice:

# Step 1: Create a product
PRODUCT_ID=$(curl -X POST "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/products" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Website Development",
    "description": "Custom website development services",
    "default_price": 5000.00
  }' | jq -r '.id')

# Step 2: Create a customer
CUSTOMER_ID=$(curl -X POST "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/customers" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "nickname": "Tech Startup Inc",
    "email": "finance@techstartup.com"
  }' | jq -r '.id')

# Step 3: Get collection account (using first available)
ACCOUNT_ID=$(curl -X GET "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/accounts" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.accounts[0].id')

# Step 4: Create the invoice
curl -X POST "https://api.meow.com/v1/billing/invoices" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"customer_id\": \"$CUSTOMER_ID\",
    \"line_items\": [
      {
        \"product_id\": \"$PRODUCT_ID\",
        \"quantity\": 1,
        \"description\": \"Website development - Phase 1\"
      }
    ],
    \"invoice_date\": \"$(date +%Y-%m-%d)\",
    \"due_date\": \"$(date -d '+30 days' +%Y-%m-%d)\",
    \"payment_method_types\": [\"BANK_TRANSFER\", \"CARD\"],
    \"send_email_on_creation\": true,
    \"collection_account_id\": \"$ACCOUNT_ID\"
  }"

Understanding the Invoice Response

A successful invoice creation returns comprehensive details:

{
  "id": "inv_123456789",
  "name": "INV-2025-001",
  "customer_id": "cust_123456789",
  "line_item_ids": ["line_987654321"],
  "invoice_date": "2025-06-20",
  "due_date": "2025-07-20",
  "payment_method_types": ["BANK_TRANSFER", "CARD", "ACH_DIRECT_DEBIT"],
  "send_email_on_creation": true,
  "additional_recipient_emails": ["accounting@acme.com"],
  "note": "Thank you for your business!",
  "collection_account_id": "acct_987654321",
  "created_at": "2025-06-20T10:30:00Z",
  "updated_at": null
}

Best Practices for Invoice Creation

Product Management: Create reusable products for items you invoice frequently rather than using custom descriptions each time.
Customer Data: Keep customer information up-to-date, especially email addresses for invoice delivery.
Payment Methods: Only enable payment methods you're prepared to accept. Remember that customer consent is required for CARD and ACH_DIRECT_DEBIT.
Testing: Test your invoice flow in the sandbox environment before going live.
Recurring Invoices: Use the recurring_schedule field with RFC 2445 RRULE format for subscription-based billing. A tool like the following may be useful: RRule Generator.
Line Item Details: Provide clear descriptions and use discount fields for transparency.

Advanced Features

Recurring Invoices

Create recurring invoices using RRULE format:

{
  "recurring_schedule": "FREQ=MONTHLY;INTERVAL=1;BYMONTHDAY=1",
  // ... other invoice fields
}

Custom Line Item Pricing

Override product defaults for specific invoices:

{
  "line_items": [
    {
      "product_id": "prod_123",
      "quantity": 5,
      "price": 99.99,  // Override default price
      "description": "Special pricing for bulk order"
    }
  ]
}

Support

If you need help or have questions:

Email: support@meow.com
Support Portal: https://support.meow.com
API Status: https://status.meow.com

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Prerequisites

Invoice Creation Workflow

Step 1: Create or Retrieve a Product

List Existing Products

Create a New Product

Step 2: Create or Retrieve an Invoicing Customer

List Existing Customers

Create a New Customer

Step 3: Get Available Payment Method Types

Step 4: Select a Collection Account

Step 5: Create the Invoice

Key Invoice Fields

Complete Example: Creating an Invoice from Scratch

Understanding the Invoice Response

Best Practices for Invoice Creation

Advanced Features

Recurring Invoices

Custom Line Item Pricing

Support

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Invoice Creation Guide
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