Generate Invoices from Airtable

Generate professional invoices from Airtable records with line items, automatic PDF delivery, and email distribution.

What You’ll Build

By the end of this guide, you will have an automation that:

Generates a branded PDF invoice from an Airtable record
Includes line items pulled from a linked table
Saves the PDF back to your Airtable record
Optionally emails the invoice to your client

Prerequisites

A DocsAutomator account (sign up here)
An Airtable account with a base containing your invoice data
A Google account for creating the template

Step-by-Step Setup

Create the Google Doc Template

Create a new Google Doc that will serve as your invoice template. Add placeholders using the {{placeholder}} syntax for fields that will be filled dynamically.Example template placeholders:

Section	Placeholder	Purpose
Header	`{{company_name}}`	Your company name
Header	`{{image_company_logo}}`	Company logo
Invoice details	`{{invoice_number}}`	Unique invoice ID
Invoice details	`{{invoice_date}}`	Date of invoice
Invoice details	`{{due_date}}`	Payment due date
Client info	`{{client_name}}`	Client’s name
Client info	`{{client_email}}`	Client’s email
Client info	`{{client_address}}`	Client’s address
Totals	`{{subtotal}}`	Sum before tax
Totals	`{{tax}}`	Tax amount
Totals	`{{total}}`	Final amount due

Line items table:Add a table row with line item placeholders:

{{line_items_1}}{{description}}  {{quantity}}  {{unit_price}}  {{amount}}

Browse the Template Gallery for pre-built invoice templates you can use as a starting point.

Prepare Your Airtable Base

Structure your Airtable base with two tables:Invoices table (primary):

Invoice Number (formula using RECORD_ID() or custom numbering)
Client Name (single line text or linked record)
Client Email (email field)
Client Address (long text)
Invoice Date (date)
Due Date (date)
Subtotal, Tax, Total (formula/currency fields)
PDF (attachment field for generated documents)
Document Name (formula: e.g., "Invoice-" & {Invoice Number})

Line Items table (linked):

Description (single line text)
Quantity (number)
Unit Price (currency)
Amount (formula: {Quantity} * {Unit Price})
Invoice (linked record to Invoices table)

Create the Automation in DocsAutomator

Click New, then New automation in your DocsAutomator dashboard
Give it a name like “Client Invoices”
Select Airtable as the data source
Connect your Airtable account if not already connected

Configure the Template

Select your Google Doc invoice template, or choose one from the Template Gallery. DocsAutomator will scan the template and detect all placeholders automatically.

Select Base, Table, and Configure Output

Choose your Airtable Base and Invoices table as the primary table
Set the Document Name field (e.g., your “Document Name” formula field)
Set the Attachment field to your “PDF” field where generated invoices will be saved
Enable Overwrite attachment if you want regeneration to replace existing PDFs

Map Fields and Line Items

Primary field mapping:Map each template placeholder to its corresponding Airtable field. For example:

{{invoice_number}} to the Invoice Number field
{{client_name}} to the Client Name field
{{total}} to the Total field

Use the AI Field Mapping button to automatically suggest mappings based on placeholder and field names.

Line item mapping:

Select the linked field connecting to your Line Items table
Choose the view that determines sort order
Map line item placeholders to columns:
- description to Description
- quantity to Quantity
- unit_price to Unit Price
- amount to Amount

Generate a Preview

Select an existing Airtable record and click Preview to generate a sample invoice. Verify that:

All placeholders are replaced correctly
Line items appear in the table
Formatting looks correct (currency, dates, etc.)

Configure Output Actions

Set up post-generation actions:

Save PDF to Airtable: Already configured via the attachment field
Send Email (optional): Enable email sending, set the recipient to {{client_email}}, customize the subject line (e.g., Invoice #{{invoice_number}} from {{company_name}}), and write your email body with placeholders
Save to Google Drive (optional): Choose a Drive folder for archival

Use conditional email sending to only email invoices when a specific field (e.g., “Status”) equals “Approved”.

Set Up the Trigger

Choose how invoices are generated:

Button Field (Free Plan)
Automation Script (Paid Plan)

Copy the webhook URL from DocsAutomator and paste it into a Button field in your Invoices table. Clicking the button generates the invoice instantly.

Example Template Layout

Here is a simplified view of how your invoice template might look:

{{company_name}}
{{image_company_logo}}

INVOICE
Invoice #: {{invoice_number}}
Date: {{invoice_date}}
Due: {{due_date}}

Bill To:
{{client_name}}
{{client_address}}

| Description | Qty | Unit Price | Amount |
|-------------|-----|------------|--------|
| {{line_items_1}}{{description}} | {{quantity}} | {{unit_price}} | {{amount}} |

Subtotal: {{subtotal}}
Tax: {{tax}}
Total: {{total}}

Next Steps

Nested Line Items

Add sub-items within line items for detailed breakdowns

Grouping + Calculations

Group line items by category with subtotals

Conditional Content

Show or hide sections based on data values

E-Signatures

Add signature fields for client approval

Getting Started

Integrations

Features

Use Cases

Account & Billing

Resources

Generate Invoices from Airtable

What You’ll Build

Prerequisites

Step-by-Step Setup

Example Template Layout

Next Steps

Nested Line Items

Grouping + Calculations

Conditional Content

E-Signatures

​What You’ll Build

​Prerequisites

​Step-by-Step Setup

​Example Template Layout

​Next Steps

Nested Line Items

Grouping + Calculations

Conditional Content

E-Signatures

What You’ll Build

Prerequisites

Step-by-Step Setup

Example Template Layout

Next Steps