How to send an invoice by text in 2026: the tools, the fees and the rules

To send an invoice by text, use invoicing software that texts the customer a link to the invoice, where they can view it and pay by card. Square, QuickBooks Online, Jobber and Housecall Pro all do it, each with conditions, and the customer should have agreed to get texts from you. Below: how each tool handles it, what card payments cost, what the text should say, and the consent rules, including a new FCC opt-out rule that takes effect on November 25, 2026.

Why text an invoice instead of emailing it?

Because nearly everyone has a phone on them and plenty of people don’t check email. Pew Research found that 98% of US adults own a cellphone and 91% a smartphone (survey fielded January to June 2026). An emailed invoice can sit under a pile of promotions; a text lands on the lock screen.

One caution: you’ll see “texts have a 98% open rate” on a lot of pages. We couldn’t trace that figure to a study with a method, and texts don’t report opens the way email does, so we don’t use it.

Which invoicing tools can text an invoice?

From each company’s own help and pricing pages (QuickBooks from an Intuit reply in its community), checked November 15, 2026:

The pattern: the tools that text from their own system (Square, Jobber, Stack Space) are the easiest. Copying a link into your personal messages works, but as one QuickBooks user put it in that community thread, it doesn’t look professional, and nothing records that it was sent.

What should an invoice text say?

Short and plain. Put these in, in this order:

1. Your business name, early, so they know who it’s from.
2. What it is and the amount: “invoice 1042 for $420.”
3. The link to view and pay.
4. How to opt out, if you want replies like STOP to be the only way people can opt out (more on the rules below).

A text that fits in one message (160 characters) is cheaper and arrives in one piece. Watch for one trap: a single emoji or a curly quote switches the whole text to a different character set with a 70-character limit, so it gets split into several parts (Twilio). Write invoice texts in plain characters.

Example: Hi Dana, here's invoice 1042 from Oak Ridge Plumbing for $420.00. View it or pay here: [link]

Use your own link or your software’s, not a generic public link shortener. The carriers’ industry guidelines (CTIA, May 2023) say a shortened link should belong to the sender alone.

Do I need permission to text an invoice?

Yes, in practice, and it’s easy to get. Ask at booking: “Can we text you the confirmation and the invoice?” Note the yes on their record.

What the rules say, without overstating them:

• The FCC rule (47 CFR 64.1200) requires “prior express consent” for automated texts to a cell phone, and prior express written consent for texts that advertise. An invoice is informational, not an ad, so it’s the lighter of the two, as long as you don’t add a sales pitch to it.
• The carriers’ guidelines (CTIA, above) say informational texts need consent that can be given “over text, on a form, on a website, or verbally,” and that adding a promotional call-to-action can move a text into the stricter promotional category.
• Business texting has to be registered. In the US, “anyone sending SMS/MMS messages over a 10DLC number from an application” must register with the carriers (Twilio). Some invoicing tools handle this for you, others (Housecall Pro) have you get a number approved; texting from your personal phone doesn’t need it but doesn’t scale. If your own registration was rejected, see 10DLC campaign rejected.

This is general information, not legal advice; state laws can add their own rules.

What changes on November 25, 2026?

The FCC’s new opt-out rule takes effect (Federal Register, October 26, 2026). What’s new for invoice texts:

• You can make reply words the only way to opt out (“stop,” “quit,” “end,” “revoke,” “opt out,” “cancel” and “unsubscribe,” all seven accepted), but only if at least one of those words appears in each text. Without that, you have to honor an opt-out made by any reasonable means, like “please stop texting me.”
• An opt-out from informational texts like invoices can be applied to that kind of text only, rather than to every text you send.
• A confirmation text sent within five minutes of an opt-out is presumed covered by the original consent.

Already in force before this rule: an opt-out must be honored within ten business days, and you may send one confirmation text afterwards. Check the details with your attorney if texting is a big part of how you bill.

If you use software to text invoices, check that it stops texting a number the moment it replies STOP, and that the opt-out is recorded.

How does Stack Space text invoices?

Sending an invoice in Stack Space emails it and texts it: the full branded invoice by email, and a text with the link to view and pay it. That covers the Send button, the invoice created when a job is marked done, repeating invoices for maintenance plans, and visit fees. A customer with no email on file still gets the text, and one who replied STOP still gets the email.

The text carries your business name, the invoice number, the balance and the link, in plain characters so it stays short. From your own registered texting number ($15 a month) it greets them by first name when we have it, like the example above, and signs off with your business name; otherwise it goes from our registered number and opens with your business name, so you don’t have to register before you can text a bill. Stack Space treats an invoice as a transactional text about the customer’s own job, so it texts the number on their record without a separate texting opt-in; asking at booking is still the clean way to be sure. It doesn’t add an opt-out line. A STOP reply is handled automatically: that number is never texted again. Any other clear request to stop (“please don’t text me”) is yours to act on. Each text counts toward your plan’s texts (800 a month on Starter, 2,750 on Professional), and a long one counts once for each part it’s split into.

The customer pays by card on your own Stripe account; Stripe’s fees apply and we add none. If the job ran over the estimate the customer approved, the invoice won’t go until you add a reason, and then it goes by email only, because the explanation won’t fit in a text. If you take cash or checks too, you can set a cash discount, and the invoice shows the customer both prices. How the invoice gets created when a job closes is in automated invoicing for service businesses.

Invoicing is one part of the CRM: the AI receptionist books the job, the estimate goes out for e-signature, and the invoice follows when the work is done. Plans are $125 a month (Starter) or $355 (Professional), with no free trial. For recurring customers, see how to auto-charge customers monthly.

Where others fit better: if you already run payments through Square or QuickBooks and just want texted invoices, turn it on there first. Square’s free plan costs nothing until a customer pays.

FAQ

Can you send an invoice through a text message? Yes. Square, Jobber, Housecall Pro and Stack Space text a link to the invoice from their own systems; QuickBooks does when the customer has opted in to texts. You can also text the invoice link from your own phone.

Is it legal to text an invoice to a customer? Generally yes, with the customer’s consent. An invoice is an informational text, which needs prior express consent under the FCC’s rule, and it shouldn’t carry a sales pitch. Honor opt-outs within ten business days, as the FCC requires. From November 25, 2026, you can make STOP-style replies the only opt-out method if each text includes one of those words.

How do I text an invoice from QuickBooks? Only if you use QuickBooks Payments and the customer has opted in to text notifications, and per Intuit (Feb 2025) only on the old invoice layout; then choose Text from the Send menu. Otherwise copy the invoice’s share link into a text.

How long should an invoice text be? One message: 160 plain characters. An emoji or curly quote cuts the limit to 70 characters and splits the text into parts.

Does texting an invoice cost extra? None of the Square, Jobber or QuickBooks pages we read lists a separate charge for the text; card fees apply when the customer pays. In Stack Space each text counts toward your plan’s monthly texts.