Invoicing

Ideal for: Billing a named customer for itemised work or goods — professional services, B2B orders, anything that needs a document with line items, tax and a due date. Create and send invoices without code on the merchant dashboard, or use the API below to automate it.

Invoice or payment link?

Both send a customer a request to pay, but an invoice is a document and a payment link is a door.

	Payment Link	Invoice
What the customer receives	A URL you share however you like	An invoice, emailed to them by SeerBit
Addressed to	Anyone who opens it	One named customer
Line items	None — a single amount	Itemised, with quantity, rate and tax per line
The amount	Fixed, or entered by the customer	Calculated from the line items
Timing	Optional expiry date	An explicit `dueDate`
Reuse	Many payments from one link	One invoice, one payment
The record	Appears in your transaction list	Gets an invoice number (`SBT-INV-000092`) you can look up by number, order or customer email
Best for	Donations, social selling, event tickets	Professional services, B2B billing, anything needing a paper trail

Use an invoice when the customer needs a document — something with your line items on it that they can file, forward to their finance team, or reconcile against a purchase order. Use a payment link when they just need to pay. Sending many invoices at once? See Bulk invoicing.

How it works

You post the customer, a due date and the line items. SeerBit calculates the total, assigns an invoice number, and emails the invoice to customerEmail with a payment link inside it. The customer pays through SeerBit’s hosted page, and you can look the invoice up at any time by its number, your order number, or the customer’s email — or re-send it if they lost it.

Authentication

Invoicing calls are authenticated with a bearer token, generated from your public and secret keys.

POST https://seerbitapi.com/api/v2/encrypt/keys

Authentication

How to generate the token, and which credential every other SeerBit API expects.

Creating and sending an invoice

For the full specification, see our API Reference POST

https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/create

Request Sample

The code snippet below shows an example request for creating and sending an invoice All body parameters are required

curl --location 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/create' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ENCRYPTED_KEY' \
--data-raw '{
    "publicKey":"YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY",
    "orderNo": "333333221321",
    "dueDate": "2022-10-23",
    "currency": "NGN",
    "receiversName": "Jane Smith",
    "customerEmail": "janesmith@emaildomain.com",
    "invoiceItems": [
        {
            "itemName": "Bluetooth Pods",
            "quantity": 1,
            "rate": 25000,
            "tax": 7.5
        },
        {
            "itemName": "Quest 10",
            "quantity": 4,
            "rate": 100000,
            "tax": 7.5
        }
    ]
}'

var request = require('request');
var options = {
  method: 'POST',
  url: 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/create',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    Authorization: 'Bearer TOKEN',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    publicKey: 'YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY',
    orderNo: '333333221321',
    dueDate: '2022-10-23',
    currency: 'NGN',
    receiversName: 'Jane Smith',
    customerEmail: 'janesmith@emaildomain.com',
    invoiceItems: [
      {
        itemName: 'Bluetooth Pods',
        quantity: 1,
        rate: 25000,
        tax: 7.5,
      },
      {
        itemName: 'Quest 10',
        quantity: 4,
        rate: 100000,
        tax: 7.5,
      },
    ],
  }),
};
request(options, function (error, response) {
  if (error) throw new Error(error);
  console.log(response.body);
});

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/create',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS =>'{
    "publicKey":"YOUR_PUBLIC_KEY",
    "orderNo": "333333221321",
    "dueDate": "2022-10-23",
    "currency": "NGN",
    "receiversName": "Jane Smith",
    "customerEmail": "janesmith@emaildomain.com",
    "invoiceItems": [
        {
            "itemName": "Bluetooth Pods",
            "quantity": 1,
            "rate": 25000,
            "tax": 7.5
        },
        {
            "itemName": "Quest 10",
            "quantity": 4,
            "rate": 100000,
            "tax": 7.5
        }
    ]
}',
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Content-Type: application/json',
    'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN'
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);
echo $response;

Response Sample

The code snippet below shows an example response for creating and sending an invoice

{
  "message": "Invoice created successfully ",
  "payload": {
    "InvoiceID": 92,
    "InvoiceNo": "SBT-INV-000092"
  },
  "code": "00"
}

Parameter description

All body parameters are required.

Name	Type	Description
publicKey	`string`	Your SeerBit public key, from Settings > API Keys.
orderNo	`string`	Your own order reference. Use it to look the invoice up later.
dueDate	`string`	Date the invoice falls due, `YYYY-MM-DD`.
currency	`string`	Currency for the invoice, e.g. `NGN`. See currency codes.
receiversName	`string`	Name of the customer the invoice is addressed to.
customerEmail	`string`	Where SeerBit sends the invoice.
invoiceItems	`array`	The line items. At least one. See below.

`invoiceItems` object

Field	Type	Description
`itemName`	`string`	What the line is for, as it appears on the invoice.
`quantity`	`number`	How many units.
`rate`	`number`	Price per unit, before tax.
`tax`	`number`	Tax rate applied to the line, as a percentage — `7.5` means 7.5%.

The invoice total is calculated from the line items; you do not send an amount.

Response fields

Name	Type	Description
code	`string`	`00` on success. See status codes.
message	`string`	Human-readable result.
payload.InvoiceID	`number`	Internal numeric identifier.
payload.InvoiceNo	`string`	The invoice number, e.g. `SBT-INV-000092`. Use it to look up or re-send the invoice.

Re-send an Invoice

For the full specification, see our API Reference GET

https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/send/{{InvoiceNo}}

Request Sample

curl --location 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/send/{{InvoiceNo}}' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \

var request = require('request');
var options = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/send/{{InvoiceNo}}',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer TOKEN',
  },
};
request(options, function (error, response) {
  if (error) throw new Error(error);
  console.log(response.body);
});

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/send/{{InvoiceNo}}',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',

  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN'
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);
echo $response;

Response Sample

The code snippet below shows an example response to resend an invoice

{
  "message": "Invoice has been sent successfully",
  "code": "00"
}

Get invoice by customer email

For the full specification, see our API Reference GET

https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/customer/{{customerEmail}}

Request Sample

curl --location 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/customer/{{customerEmail}}' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \

var request = require('request');
var options = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/customer/{{customerEmail}}',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer TOKEN',
  },
};
request(options, function (error, response) {
  if (error) throw new Error(error);
  console.log(response.body);
});

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/customer/{{customerEmail}}',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',

  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN'
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);
echo $response;

Response Sample

The code snippet below shows an example response to get invoice by customer email

{
    "payload": [
        {
            "invoiceId": 66,
            "invoiceNo": "SBT-INV-000066",
            "totalAmount": 529.75,
            "subTotal": 500.00,
            "tax": 29.75,
            "dueDate": "2022-10-22",
            "currency": "NGN",
            "invoiceItems": [
                {
                    "itemName": "Bag",
                    "unitPrice": 100,
                    "vat": 5.95,
                    "amount": 100,
                    "quantity": 4
                },
                {
                    "itemName": "Bag",
                    "unitPrice": 400,
                    "vat": 23.80,
                    "amount": 400,
                    "quantity": 4
                }
            ],
            "customer": {
                "externalIdentify": "289276",
                "businessName": "Jane Smith Ent",
                "customerName": "Jane Smith",
                "customerEmail": "js@emaildomian.com",
                "businessId": "00000051",
                "id": 19
            },
            "billingCycle": false,
            "payButtonOnInvoices": false,
            "enableAdvancedOptions": false,
            "partialPayment": false,
            "status": "DRAFT",
            "createdAt": "2022-10-18T17:23:13.259"
        },
        {
            "invoiceId": 67,
            "invoiceNo": "SBT-INV-000067",
            "totalAmount": 529.75,
            "subTotal": 500.00,
            "tax": 29.75,
            "dueDate": "2022-10-23",
            "currency": "NGN",
            "invoiceItems": [
                {
                    "itemName": "Bag",
                    "unitPrice": 100.00,
                    "vat": 5.95,
                    "amount": 100.00,
                    "quantity": 4
                },
                {
                    "itemName": "Bag",
                    "unitPrice": 400.00,
                    "vat": 23.80,
                    "amount": 400.00,
                    "quantity": 4
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "code": "00"
}

Get invoice by InvoiceNo

For the full specification, see our API Reference GET

https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/{{InvoiceNo}}

Request Sample

curl --location 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/{{InvoiceNo}}' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \

var request = require('request');
var options = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/{{InvoiceNo}}',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer TOKEN',
  },
};
request(options, function (error, response) {
  if (error) throw new Error(error);
  console.log(response.body);
});

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/{{InvoiceNo}}',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',

  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN'
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);
echo $response;

Response Sample

The code snippet below shows an example response to get an invoice by invoice number

{
  "payload": {
    "invoiceId": 54,
    "invoiceNo": "SBT-INV-000054",
    "totalAmount": 556.0,
    "subTotal": 556.0,
    "externalBusiness_id": "00000051",
    "discount": 0.0,
    "dueDate": "2022-10-12",
    "currency": "NGN",
    "invoiceItems": [
      {
        "itemName": "Ada Ada iyoo",
        "unitPrice": 556.0,
        "vat": 0.0,
        "amount": 556.0,
        "quantity": 278
      }
    ],
    "customer": {},
    "billingCycle": false,
    "payButtonOnInvoices": false,
    "enableAdvancedOptions": false,
    "partialPayment": false,
    "status": "DRAFT",
    "createdAt": "2022-10-12T10:27:45.732"
  },
  "code": "00"
}

Get invoice by orderNo

For the full specification, see our API Reference GET

https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/order/{{orderNo}}

Request Sample

curl --location 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/order/{{orderNo}}' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN' \

var request = require('request');
var options = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/order/{{orderNo}}',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer TOKEN',
  },
};
request(options, function (error, response) {
  if (error) throw new Error(error);
  console.log(response.body);
});

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => 'https://merchant.seerbitapi.com/invoice/{{publicKey}}/order/{{orderNo}}',
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => '',
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',

  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    'Authorization: Bearer TOKEN'
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);
echo $response;

Response Sample

The code snippet below shows an example response to get an invoice by invoice order

{
  "payload": {
    "invoiceId": 54,
    "invoiceNo": "SBT-INV-000054",
    "totalAmount": 556.0,
    "subTotal": 556.0,
    "externalBusiness_id": "00000051",
    "publicKey": "SBPUBK_TCDUH6MNIDLHMJXJEJLBO6ZU2RNUUPHI",
    "testKey": "SBTESTPUBK_4v0JR58modUFJjF1Es206pveBQjOLxe2",
    "supportEmail": "ts@greentechng.com",
    "customerEmail": "qwertypoiuy@mailinator.com",
    "businessName": "Green Technological Concepts",
    "discount": 0.0,
    "dueDate": "2022-10-12",
    "currency": "NGN",
    "invoiceItems": [
      {
        "itemName": "Ada Ada iyoo",
        "unitPrice": 556.0,
        "vat": 0.0,
        "amount": 556.0,
        "quantity": 278
      }
    ],
    "customer": {},
    "billingCycle": false,
    "payButtonOnInvoices": false,
    "enableAdvancedOptions": false,
    "partialPayment": false,
    "status": "DRAFT",
    "createdAt": "2022-10-12T10:27:45.732"
  },
  "code": "00"
}

Notes

Store the InvoiceNo you get back. It is how you re-send, look up or reconcile the invoice afterwards — InvoiceID is internal.
Tax is per line, not per invoice. Each item carries its own tax percentage, so mixed-rate invoices work without extra fields.
Re-sending does not create a new invoice. It emails the existing one again, so the invoice number and amount stay the same.
Confirm payment server-side before you treat an invoice as settled — see Verify a payment.
Invoices created with test keys only work in test mode. See Test and live modes.

Get Started

Accept Payments

Payment Methods

After a Payment

Payouts & Wallets

Platforms & Marketplaces

In-Store Payments

Reference

Invoice or payment link?

How it works

Authentication

Authentication

Creating and sending an invoice

Request Sample

Response Sample

Parameter description

`invoiceItems` object

Response fields

Re-send an Invoice

Request Sample

Response Sample

Get invoice by customer email

Request Sample

Response Sample

Get invoice by InvoiceNo

Request Sample

Response Sample

Get invoice by orderNo

Request Sample

Response Sample

Notes

​Invoice or payment link?

​How it works

​Authentication

Authentication

​Creating and sending an invoice

​Request Sample

​Response Sample

​Parameter description

invoiceItems object

​Response fields

​Re-send an Invoice

​Request Sample

​Response Sample

​Get invoice by customer email

​Request Sample

​Response Sample

​Get invoice by InvoiceNo

​Request Sample

​Response Sample

​Get invoice by orderNo

​Request Sample

​Response Sample

​Notes

Invoice or payment link?

How it works

Authentication

Creating and sending an invoice

Request Sample

Response Sample

Parameter description

`invoiceItems` object

Response fields

Re-send an Invoice

Request Sample

Response Sample

Get invoice by customer email

Request Sample

Response Sample

Get invoice by InvoiceNo

Request Sample

Response Sample

Get invoice by orderNo

Request Sample

Response Sample

Notes