The source-to-bill workflow

Once a product is added to a design board and the client approves it, that item carries its identity through every downstream step — purchase order, delivery, invoice, credit, and margin reconciliation — without being re-entered. The designer reviews and sends both the PO and the invoice; nothing is auto-sent to a vendor or client.

Source identity

A sourced item keeps its identity throughout the loop. The same spec-board line that the client chose becomes a purchase-order line, then an invoice line. Cost and client price are not recalculated after approval: both are snapshotted at the moment the client accepts the board decision and stored immutably with the item record.

The client decision

The designer presents a branded board (token-based, no login required) that shows the client each item with the client price. Cost, vendor, and markup are hidden. The client can approve or reject individual items with optional notes. An approval locks the snapshots and creates the traceable lineage that the rest of the workflow follows.

Purchase order

Approved items can be grouped into a purchase order against a vendor. The designer reviews the PO, sets quantities, and sends it. The PO is issued as a branded PDF, emailed to the vendor, and recorded in the project timeline. Line-item statuses track partial delivery, and the order state transitions through placed, confirmed, shipped, partially received, received, and cancelled.

Delivery

As items arrive, the designer records partial or complete receipts against each PO line. The delivery timeline logs each event. Delivered-but-unbilled items stay visible in the Margin Rail until they appear on an invoice.

Product invoice

When delivered (or ready-to-bill) items need to be charged to the client, the designer generates a snapshot draft from approved products, reviews and adjusts it, then sends it. Sending produces a branded PDF, emails the client, and surfaces the invoice in the client portal. A Stripe pay link is included only when client payments are enabled; otherwise the invoice is sent without one and can be reconciled with a manual payment record. The invoice status drives the Margin Rail from “Drafted not sent” to “Billed.”

Credits and returns

A return or cancellation against a billed item creates a credit that the designer can apply to a future invoice or reconcile against the current outstanding balance. Credits are tracked per firm and reference the original invoice.

The Margin Rail — five buckets

Every approved dollar sits in exactly one of five lifecycle stages, visible on the project and dashboard as the Margin Rail:

• Awaiting client — board sent to client, not yet approved or rejected.
• Approved not ordered — client approved, no PO raised yet.
• Ordered not billed — PO sent, items not yet invoiced (includes delivered-not-billed).
• Drafted not sent — invoice generated but not yet sent to the client.
• Billed — invoice sent, regardless of payment status (sent, viewed, partially paid, paid, overdue).

A cancelled PO or invoice release moves the item back into the appropriate unbilled state so the Margin Rail reflects current reality, not stale records.

Transitions that require designer action

The designer reviews and sends every PO and every invoice. Nothing is auto-sent to a vendor or auto-charged to a client. Draft generation is a user-initiated action; the resulting draft is reviewed before send. The only automatic transition is the portal: once sent, the invoice or board is immediately visible (with the appropriate status) on the client’s token-based portal.