How to Create Invoices With Claude: Prompt, File and Connector

Claude can draft a clean invoice in a normal chat if you give it every detail, and it can hand it back as a PDF or a Word document you download. What it does not do on its own is keep your invoice numbers in sequence, know which invoices are paid or chase late clients. For that, Claude needs to be connected to a system that holds those records.

This guide covers both: Claude on its own (a prompt, a file, a checklist and the privacy settings), then Claude connected to an invoicing system through a connector (MCP), with the setup for Clodou and requests to try. Everything said here about Claude was checked on Anthropic's help pages on November 7, 2026 (sources at the end); features change often, so follow the links.

Looking for the invoice for your own Claude subscription? Anthropic explains where to find it in its Paid plan billing FAQs (Pro, Max and Ultra: Settings > Billing, under Invoices) and its Team plan billing FAQs (an organization owner, under Organization settings > Billing).

Can Claude make an invoice?

Yes, as a draft. It lays out the parties, line items, subtotal, tax and total from the details you type, and it can save the result as a file. Treat it as a drafting tool rather than an invoicing system: none of the Anthropic help pages listed at the end describe invoice numbering, invoice statuses or payment tracking, so those stay your job unless you connect Claude to software that does them.

Step 1: Use a prompt that leaves nothing to guess

Claude only knows what you tell it, and a missing detail is where invented text creeps in. Our guide on how to make an invoice as a freelancer explains each field. Paste this into a new chat and replace everything in brackets:

Create an invoice as a PDF I can download.
Use exactly these details. Do not invent anything; if a detail is missing, ask me first.

From: [Your name or business], [address], [email], [tax number if you have one]
Bill to: [Client legal name], [company], [billing address], [email]
Invoice number: [INV-0042]
Issue date: [November 7, 2026]. Due date: [December 7, 2026] (net 30)
Currency: [USD]
Line items:
- [Website development], [14] hours at [$95] per hour
- [Hosting setup], 1 item at [$250]
Tax: [none / sales tax 8.25% / VAT 20%]
Payment instructions: [bank transfer details or payment link]
Note: [Thank you for your business.]

Before you make the file, show each line amount, the subtotal, the tax and the total
in the chat, with your arithmetic.

The two instructions that matter most are "do not invent anything" and "show your arithmetic". For a day rate, write "[3] days of [consulting] at [$1,500] per day"; for a fixed fee, one line with quantity 1; for copy billed by the word, the word count and the rate per word.

Step 2: Turn the draft into a file

Anthropic's file creation feature lets Claude create PDF files, Word documents (.docx), Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx) and PowerPoint presentations, which you download from the conversation or save to Google Drive. It is available on every plan, Free included, on the web, in Claude Desktop and in the mobile apps.

• Turn it on. On Free, Pro, Max and Ultra, the toggle is in Settings > Capabilities, called "Code execution and file creation" (or "Create and edit files" in the updated layout). On Team and Enterprise it is on by default, and the organization owner can turn it off.
• Pick the format. A PDF to send as is, or a Word document to edit first. You can also ask for a plain table and paste it into your own template, which keeps the layout identical every time.
• Mind your usage. Creating files uses more of your plan's usage limit than a normal chat.

Open the file and read it before you send it: Anthropic says you may need to review and refine what Claude produces.

Reusing your setup: projects and skills

• A project. Projects are available on every plan (up to five on Free). Project instructions apply to every chat in the project, and files in its knowledge, such as a past invoice as a reference, are used across its chats. Anthropic notes that context is not shared across a project's chats unless it is in the project knowledge, so do not count on Claude to know last week's invoice number.
• A skill. Skills give Claude specialized knowledge and workflows. They are available on every plan and need code execution switched on. Anthropic's built-in skills, including PDF and Word document creation, are used automatically when relevant. You can also upload your own skill as a ZIP folder in Customize > Skills to teach Claude your invoice layout and checks: a simple Claude skill for freelancers who invoice every month. Anthropic advises installing skills only from trusted sources.

Step 3: Check before you send

• Every line and the total. Recompute them. Anthropic says Claude can occasionally produce incorrect or misleading responses and should not be relied on as a single source of truth.
• The invoice number. The next one in your sequence, not one you already used.
• The tax. The rate and the word (sales tax, VAT, GST) come from you. Anthropic advises scrutinizing high-stakes advice from Claude, so ask your accountant if unsure. This is general information, not tax advice.
• Names, dates and currency. The client's legal name and address, the due date and the currency symbol.
• That it was really sent. Anthropic notes that Claude has no access to email or other software that is not explicitly connected, and can wrongly claim to have sent an email. You send the invoice.

Privacy: what you paste into Claude

An invoice holds your client's name, address and what they pay you. As Anthropic describes it on November 7, 2026:

• Training on Free, Pro, Max and Ultra. Your chats are used to improve Claude if you allow it, with the "Help improve our AI models" switch in Settings > Privacy. If you allow it, Anthropic may keep that data de-identified for up to 5 years. Chats flagged for safety review can still be used for safety work.
• Team and Enterprise. By default, inputs and outputs from these commercial plans are not used for training.
• Feedback. A thumbs up or down stores the whole conversation for up to 5 years and may be used for training.
• Incognito chats. Not saved to your history or memory, not used for training, kept for 30 days by default. In the new Claude experience they cannot create files.
• Memory. On by default on Free, Pro, Max and Ultra; turn it off for one chat in the "+" menu before your first message.

What Claude on its own leaves to you

Job	What Anthropic documents	What you do
Numbering invoices in order	No numbering feature	Keep a log and give the next number each time
Knowing what is paid	No invoice status or payment tracking	Track it in a spreadsheet or an invoicing tool
Chasing late clients	Scheduled tasks (paid plans) run a saved prompt on a schedule; no list of your unpaid invoices	Send reminders yourself, or connect a system
Choosing the tax to charge	Not covered; high-stakes advice should be scrutinized	Check your local rules or ask an accountant

For one or two invoices a month, that is fine. It becomes work once you have several clients. Our payment reminder email templates help with the follow-up either way, and the same method for ChatGPT is in how to create an invoice with ChatGPT.

What a Claude connector is

A connector lets Claude use another app's tools and data inside your conversation. Custom connectors run on the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which Anthropic describes as an open standard, created by Anthropic, for AI applications to connect to tools and data. The app runs an MCP server at a web address; you add that address to Claude, sign in, and Claude can read and act in the app with your permissions.

What Anthropic says about custom connectors today:

• Plans. Claude, Cowork and Claude Desktop, on Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team and Enterprise. Free users are limited to one custom connector.
• Where. On an individual plan, in Customize > Connectors. On Team and Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner adds it for the organization, then each member connects with their own sign-in.
• Devices. The web and Claude Desktop are the primary path (installing on mobile is in beta), and a connector added there is available in the iOS and Android apps the next time you sign in. You switch connectors on per conversation from the "+" button.
• Trust. Custom connectors reach services Anthropic has not verified, so connect only to servers you trust. With an OAuth sign-in, Claude never sees your password, and you can revoke access by disconnecting. Click "Allow always" on a tool approval request only for a server and tool you trust to run unsupervised.
• Training. The chat data Anthropic may use for training does not include raw content from connectors, including remote MCP servers, though data may be included if it is copied directly into your conversation.

How to connect Claude to Clodou

Clodou runs an MCP server at https://clodou.com/api/mcp.

In Claude (web or desktop): open Customize > Connectors, click "+ Add", then "Add custom connector". Name it Clodou and paste that URL. If Claude asks how it identifies itself to the server (OAuth client), choose "Register automatically": Clodou does not support the "published identity" option. Then connect it: Claude sends you to Clodou, where you sign in, pick the workspace and click Allow. There is no token to copy, and the connection shows in Clodou under Settings > Connect an AI assistant, where you can revoke it.

In Claude Code: create a personal token in Clodou under Settings > Connect an AI assistant (it is shown once), then run:

claude mcp add --transport http clodou https://clodou.com/api/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer cld_your_token"

A token works in one workspace and acts as you. It lasts 30, 90 or 365 days, you can hold up to 10 at a time, and you can revoke one at any moment. Tokens also work in Claude Desktop's configuration file (through the mcp-remote bridge, which needs Node.js), in Cursor and in other Streamable HTTP clients, though in Claude Desktop the connector is simpler. The Clodou MCP server page has every configuration and the full list of tools.

What to ask Claude once Clodou is connected

Claude gets the same tools as the Clodou chat, in your real workspace. Prices and amounts come from you, so put them in the request.

You type in Claude	What happens in Clodou
"Create an invoice for Atlas Design: 3 days of consulting at $1,500 a day"	Claude finds or adds the client, then creates the invoice in your sequence
"Which invoices are overdue?"	Lists the overdue invoices
"Draft a polite reminder for INV-0003"	Drafts a payment reminder for you to send
"Send a payment reminder for INV-0003"	Creates a proposal that waits for approval
"Log 2 hours on the Website redesign project today"	Logs the time
"Invoice Brightside for this month's unbilled hours"	Turns the unbilled hours into a draft invoice
"Log a $45 expense for printer ink today"	Records the expense
"Atlas paid $2,000 on INV-0004"	Creates a payment proposal that waits for approval

If you bill by the hour, our guide to tracking billable hours helps every hour reach an invoice.

What still needs a person

• Approvals. Emailing a client, recording or marking a payment, deleting a task or a draft, and a few admin changes only create a proposal. Claude gets a "NOT DONE YET, waiting for approval" answer, and an owner or admin approves it in Clodou, from the bell or under Activity > Waiting for approval.
• Undo. Undo is a button on the cards in the Clodou chat, where most changes can be undone for 10 minutes. It covers what Clodou did there, not what Claude did through the connector. Every action still appears in Clodou's Activity log.
• Your rights, nothing more. The connection acts as you, and the database's access rules apply to every request. Tokens are stored hashed.
• Allowance and limits. Calls from Claude count as AI actions in the workspace's monthly allowance, like chat messages: 20 on Free, 400 on Solo, 1,500 on Team, 150 during the 14-day trial. One request can take several calls (finding the client, then creating the invoice). Each token is limited to 120 requests a minute.

What Claude reads from Clodou is then processed by Anthropic under its own terms.

Worked example

Lena Ortiz, a freelance developer, is billing Bluefin Bakery for 14 hours of website development at $95 an hour and a $250 hosting setup, with no tax to add in her case.

Claude on its own. Lena fills in the prompt with INV-0012, the next number in her spreadsheet. Claude shows 14 × $95 = $1,330, plus $250, total $1,580, and makes the PDF. She recomputes the total, emails the invoice herself and marks it unpaid in her spreadsheet.

Claude connected to Clodou. Lena types "Invoice Bluefin Bakery for 14 hours of website development at $95 an hour and a $250 hosting setup, no tax." Claude finds the client in her workspace (or adds it) and creates the invoice, numbered in the workspace's sequence, for the same $1,580. She asks Claude to email it: the email waits for approval, and she approves it in Clodou. After the due date, "Which invoices are overdue?" lists it if Bluefin has not paid.

How Clodou helps

Clodou is an AI back office for freelancers and small teams: clients, quotes, invoices, expenses, projects, time tracking and retainers, run from a chat with an AI agent, or from Claude through the MCP server.

• One sentence per invoice. Clodou finds or adds the client, numbers the invoice in your workspace's sequence (INV-0001, INV-0002…), applies the tax rate you set and makes a PDF with your logo and business details. If an amount is missing, it asks.
• After it goes out. It knows which invoices are draft, sent, paid and overdue and prepares reminders for you to approve. Automatic reminders exist on the Team plan, only if the workspace switches them on. Logged hours and quotes turn into invoices, and partial payments show the remaining balance.

It is not accounting software: no bank feeds, bookkeeping, tax filing or card payment processing (more in what an AI back office assistant can and can't do). Every new workspace starts with a 14-day trial of Team, no card required; then the Free plan includes up to 5 clients and 20 AI actions a month, and Solo is $29 and Team $79 a month per workspace.

Frequently asked questions

Can Claude create a PDF invoice?

Yes. With code execution and file creation on, Claude creates PDF and Word files you download from the conversation, on every plan. Check the totals and the number before you send it.

Is there a Claude invoice generator?

Not as a separate feature. Claude drafts an invoice from your details and saves it as a file. Numbers, statuses and payments need your own records or a connected invoicing system.

Can Claude chase unpaid invoices?

On its own, Claude can write a reminder but holds no list of unpaid invoices and has no email access unless a connected service provides it. Connected to Clodou, it can list overdue invoices and draft reminders; sending one waits for an owner or admin's approval in Clodou.

Does connecting Clodou to Claude cost extra?

The MCP server is included on every Clodou plan, Free included, and Claude's calls share the workspace's monthly AI actions. On Claude's side, custom connectors are available on every plan, with one on Free.

Sources

Anthropic pages, checked on November 7, 2026:

• Paid plan billing FAQs
• Team plan billing FAQs
• Create and edit files with Claude
• How can I create and manage projects?
• Use skills in Claude
• Claude is providing incorrect or misleading responses. What's going on?
• Claude is producing links that don't work and falsely claiming that it has sent emails or produced external documents
• Is my data used for model training? (Free, Pro, Max)
• Is my data used for model training? (commercial products)
• How do I change my model improvement privacy settings?
• How long do you store my data?
• Use incognito chats
• Schedule recurring tasks in Claude Cowork
• Use connectors to extend Claude's capabilities
• Get started with custom connectors using remote MCP
• Connect Claude Code to tools via MCP