Products
Manage your product catalog for invoicing
Products in SettleWise represent the services or items you bill customers for. Using a product catalog speeds up invoice creation, keeps line items consistent, and powers category-based reporting.
Products vs. Custom Line Items
When creating an invoice, you have two options:
| Products from catalog | Custom line items | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Auto-filled from default price (can be overridden) | Entered manually |
| Reports | Included in category-based reports | Not categorized |
| AI assistant | Can be referenced by name | Must be described fully |
| QuickBooks sync | Synced as Items in QB | Created as ad-hoc line items |
| Best for | Recurring services, standard pricing | One-off charges, custom work |
Use products when you bill for the same things regularly. Use custom line items for one-off or unique charges.
Product Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | Product or service name (e.g., "Premium License", "Fishing Guide - Half Day") |
| Description | No | What the product includes — appears on the invoice |
| Type | Yes | Product or Service |
| Default Price | No | Standard price, auto-applied when adding to an invoice (can be overridden per invoice) |
| Currency | Yes | Default: USD |
| Category | No | Group for organization and reporting (e.g., "Licenses", "Boutique") |
| Tags | No | Flexible labels for filtering (e.g., "seasonal", "premium"). Multiple tags per product. |
| Tax Rate | No | Default tax rate applied to this product |
| SKU | No | Stock keeping unit, for internal reference |
| Favorite | No | Mark frequently used products for quick access during invoice creation |
| Active | Yes | Inactive products don't appear in invoice creation but remain on existing invoices |
Managing Products
Adding a product
- Navigate to Products
- Click Add Product
- Fill in name, type, and price
- Optionally assign a category and tags
- Save
Categories
Categories are organization-specific groupings (e.g., "Fishing Licenses", "Boutique Items", "Event Services"). They're used for:
- Organizing the product list
- Filtering in invoice creation
- Revenue by Category reports — categories drive the breakdown in sales reports
Create categories from the Products page or assign them when editing a product.
Tags
Tags are flexible labels you can attach to products for filtering and search. Unlike categories (one per product), a product can have multiple tags (e.g., "seasonal", "premium", "new").
Active vs. Inactive
- Active products appear in the product selection during invoice creation
- Inactive products don't appear in the selection, but they remain on any existing invoices where they were used
- Use this to retire products without losing historical data
Using Products in Invoices
When creating an invoice (manually or via AI):
- Start typing a product name in the line item field
- Select from matching products
- Default price, description, and tax rate are auto-filled
- Override the price per invoice if needed (e.g., seasonal discount)
The AI assistant can also look up products:
"Facturar a Pérez por 2 licencias Premium y 1 Setup"
QuickBooks Sync
Products sync to QuickBooks Online as Items:
- Products are synced automatically when used in an invoice that syncs to QB
- The product name in SettleWise maps to the Item name in QuickBooks
- If a matching Item doesn't exist in QB, it's created automatically
Keep product names consistent between SettleWise and QuickBooks. If you rename a product in SettleWise, the QB Item is updated to match.
Best Practices
- Use products for recurring charges — standardized names make reports and search reliable
- Set default prices — saves time during invoice creation and reduces errors
- Organize with categories — categories power the Revenue by Category report
- Mark favorites — frequently used products appear first in the selection
- Deactivate instead of deleting — preserves historical invoice data