Retention Track supports two ways to add an invoice to a contract:
Manually logged invoices — typed in by hand. Use this when the contract’s company isn’t linked to Xero.
Xero-synced invoices — imported from your linked Xero organisation. When a company is linked to Xero, manual logging is hidden and invoices are imported from Xero instead.
Open the contract
From the left sidebar, click Contracts.
Click the contract you want to add an invoice to.
The contract page opens on the Payments tab by default. Invoices live here, alongside Xero invoices, retention payments and retention used.
Manually logging an invoice
In the Invoices section, click Log Invoice.
Fill in the invoice details:
Invoice Number — your reference for the invoice (e.g. INV-001).
Date Lodged — the date the invoice was issued. Future dates aren’t allowed.
Net Invoice Amount — the face value of the invoice including sales tax (GST/VAT). For UK contracts with VAT Reverse Charge applied, this field switches to excluding sales tax automatically. The label shows an
inclorexclpill so the convention is always explicit.Retention in Invoice (optional toggle, excl. sales tax) — retention deducted as a line item on the invoice face. Use this when the retention is shown as a deduction on the invoice itself.
Retention Withheld (optional toggle, excl. sales tax) — retention withheld by the head contractor from payment. Use this when the invoice is raised for the full amount but the HC pays only the balance.
CIS Deduction (UK only, optional toggle, excl. sales tax) — income tax deducted under the Construction Industry Scheme.
Invoice Comments — any free-text notes.
A live Invoice Preview updates as you type, breaking down the gross amount, sales tax, retentions, CIS, and the amount payable.
Click Log Invoice at the bottom of the dialog to save.
Adding a payment to a manually-logged invoice
Open the invoice from the Invoices table and click Add Payment to record a payment against it.
Importing a Xero invoice
If the contract’s company is linked to Xero (see Connecting to Xero) , the manual Log Invoice button is hidden — invoices are imported from Xero instead. The Payments tab shows a separate Xero Invoices section.
Click Import Xero Invoice, search for the invoice by its Xero invoice number, review the preview, and confirm to import it. Any credit notes attached to the invoice in Xero are imported alongside it.
Note: You will need to enter the exact Xero invoice number including the prefix for your invoice to appear. Xero does not allow us to search through your invoices.
Xero invoices are read-only in Retention Track — payments come through from Xero automatically, so the Add Payment dialog isn’t available for Xero invoices.
A note on amounts and sales tax
Invoice and contract values throughout Retention Track are stored and displayed excluding sales tax (GST in AU/NZ, VAT in the UK). Fields are labelled with incl or excl pills so the convention is always explicit.
The exception is Net Invoice Amount on the Log Invoice form, which is the face value of the invoice including sales tax — except when VAT Reverse Charge is applied, in which case it switches to excluding.