If your invoices come out of a bespoke system, a Power Apps build or a spreadsheet, you can still have them chased and collected automatically by sending them to Adfin by email. Adfin reads each invoice, can add a payment link, and its collection agents follow it up until it's paid. A consistent invoice layout, a unique number on every invoice and a regular export of paid status back to your system are what keep it running smoothly.
In this article
The short version
- Invoices from any system that sends email can reach Adfin by Bcc or a forwarding rule.
- Files can be uploaded as PDFs or a CSV or Excel export instead.
- One invoice per email or PDF, with a unique number and clear due date, keeps reading accurate.
- Export Adfin's Payments view as a CSV to update paid status in your own system.
- Mark invoices paid in Adfin when customers pay you directly.
How invoices from your own system reach Adfin
Plenty of businesses bill from something they built themselves: a job system written years ago, an app in Microsoft Power Apps, or a spreadsheet that produces a PDF. It works, but chasing tends to sit outside it, in someone's inbox and memory.
Adfin's invoice from email feature brings invoices in from any system that can send an email. You'll find your dedicated Adfin address in Settings, under Invoice settings and then Invoice from email. From there you have a few options:
- If your system emails invoices to customers, add the Adfin address as a Bcc on those emails.
- If it emails from a shared mailbox, set a rule in Outlook or Gmail that forwards each invoice email to the Adfin address.
- If it only produces files, upload the PDFs to Adfin, or a CSV or Excel export with the customer, invoice number, amount and due date.
Once an invoice arrives, Adfin reads it and gives it to a collection agent, adding a payment link if you choose. Customers can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, pay by bank or bank transfer, and Adfin's collection agents chase over email, SMS and WhatsApp within rules you approve. Essential credit control is free, and Enhanced, which tailors timing and tone to each customer and sends from your own email address, costs 0.3% of a paid invoice only where it's used.
If your system also sends its own reminders, switch them off for invoices Adfin is chasing, so customers hear from one place.
Make every invoice easy to read
Adfin's AI reads the invoice for you, so the clearer and more consistent the document, the less you'll need to check. A homemade template is often where small inconsistencies creep in. Before you switch the email route on, look at a handful of recent invoices and check that each one has:
- one invoice per email or PDF, and not a statement or a batch of several
- an invoice number printed clearly, and never reused, because a repeated number looks like a duplicate
- the customer's full business or personal name, written the same way every time
- an email address for the person who pays, not just the person who ordered
- an issue date and a due date, both printed, so the chasing schedule starts from the right day
- the total, with VAT shown separately if you charge it
These are close to what any UK invoice needs anyway: a unique number, your details and your customer's, a description, the supply date, the invoice date, the amounts, any VAT and the total. If your template lacks one of them, fixing it helps your customers as much as it helps the chasing.
References that let payments match
Matching breaks down when a payment arrives with a reference nobody recognises. Adfin avoids most of that because customers pay through the link on their invoice, so each payment belongs to an invoice from the start. Bank transfers go to bank details unique to each customer, in your business's name, so a transfer is tied to the right customer even when the reference is wrong.
The invoice number does the rest. Use the same number in your system, on the PDF and in the email subject line, and keep customer names identical across invoices. A customer called one thing on Monday's invoice and something slightly different on Friday's can end up as two customers.
How paid status gets back into your system
Adfin knows when an invoice is paid. Your own system won't, unless something tells it, and this is the step to plan before you start.
The simplest route is Adfin's exports. From the Payments view you can export your invoices to CSV, with each invoice's ID, status, received amount, unpaid amount and the time it was paid. From the Payouts view you can export each payout with the payments inside it. Import the Payments file into your system on a schedule, or use it to update a spreadsheet with a lookup on each invoice, and your records catch up in one pass.
Payouts arrive every weekday, gross, with Adfin's fee invoiced separately, so each payout in your bank matches the payments listed for it.
When a customer pays you outside Adfin, by transfer to your usual account or by cheque, Adfin can't see that payment. Record it in your system, then select the invoice in Adfin's Payments view and mark it as paid so the chasing stops.
If you're thinking of moving to a mainstream ledger anyway, Xero and QuickBooks sync with Adfin both ways, so paid status goes back without any export.
Related guides
- Does Adfin replace SAP or work alongside it?
- How to create an invoice from a PDF, spreadsheet or photo
- Invoicing for UK businesses: a complete guide
- Payment reconciliation: a complete guide
Common questions
Can Adfin chase invoices from a system it doesn't integrate with? Yes. Invoices from any system can reach Adfin by email or upload, and Adfin's collection agents chase them like any other invoice.
What format should my invoices be in? One invoice per email or PDF, with a unique invoice number, the customer's name and email, an issue date, a due date and the total printed clearly.
Can I send invoices from a spreadsheet? Yes. Email the PDFs to your Adfin address, or upload them or a CSV or Excel file with the customer, invoice number, amount and due date.
How do I get paid status back into my own system? Export the Payments view from Adfin as a CSV, which shows each invoice's status, amount received and paid time, and import it or match it against your own records.
What if a customer pays me directly? Mark the invoice as paid in Adfin's Payments view so the reminders stop, and record the payment in your own system.
Will my customers get two sets of reminders? Only if your own system keeps sending them. Switch those off for invoices Adfin is chasing.
Sources
- Adfin - Changelog: product updates (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.adfin.com/resources/changelog
- Adfin Help Centre - Export your data from Adfin (accurate as of November 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/12629244-export-your-data-from-adfin
- Adfin Help Centre - My customer paid outside Adfin: how do I stop reminders? (accurate as of November 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/15082098-my-customer-paid-outside-adfin-how-do-i-stop-reminders
- GOV.UK - Invoicing and taking payment from customers: what invoices must include (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.gov.uk/invoicing-and-taking-payment-from-customers/invoices-what-they-must-include
