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

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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

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Prerequisites

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

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Step-by-Step Setup

1

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:
SectionPlaceholderPurpose
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.
2

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)
3

Create the Automation in DocsAutomator

  1. Click + New Automation in your DocsAutomator dashboard
  2. Give it a name like “Client Invoices”
  3. Select Airtable as the data source
  4. Connect your Airtable account if not already connected
4

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.
5

Select Base, Table, and Configure Output

  1. Choose your Airtable Base and Invoices table as the primary table
  2. Set the Document Name field (e.g., your “Document Name” formula field)
  3. Set the Attachment field to your “PDF” field where generated invoices will be saved
  4. Enable Overwrite attachment if you want regeneration to replace existing PDFs
6

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:
  1. Select the linked field connecting to your Line Items table
  2. Choose the view that determines sort order
  3. Map line item placeholders to columns:
    • description to Description
    • quantity to Quantity
    • unit_price to Unit Price
    • amount to Amount
7

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.)
8

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”.
9

Set Up the Trigger

Choose how invoices are generated:
Copy the webhook URL from DocsAutomator and paste it into a Button field in your Invoices table. Clicking the button generates the invoice instantly.

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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}}

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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
Last modified on February 10, 2026