Public links & views
Every sent invoice gets an unguessable public pay page. Copy the link, preview as the client, regenerate it, and see when it's been viewed.
When you send an invoice, Hoursmith creates a public page your client can open without logging in — and tells you when they've looked at it.
- Role
- OwnerAdminManager
Copying and previewing the link is manager-tier. Regenerating the share token is Owner/Admin only.
The public pay page
Every Sent invoice has an unguessable public page at /i/[token]. It shows a branded
snapshot of the invoice plus:
- A Pay button (when Stripe is connected).
- A Download PDF button.
- A QR code for the pay link, handy for printed invoices.
No login is required — the link itself is the access. For the bigger picture, see Public invoice links.
Share and manage the link
From the invoice detail page:
- Copy share link — copy the
/i/[token]URL to send however you like. - Preview as client — open the page exactly as your client sees it.
- Regenerate — mint a new token. The old URL stops working immediately, so use this if a link was shared too widely.
Regenerate invalidates the previous link right away. Anyone with the old URL will hit a dead page, so only the newest link will work after you regenerate.
View tracking
Hoursmith records a view the first time the public page renders for a visitor, with a one-hour dedupe window so a quick refresh isn't counted twice. The detail page shows how many times the invoice has been viewed and when it was last opened, so you know your client has seen it.
What happens next
- If the client pays by card, the invoice flips toward Paid automatically — see Accept card payments.
- If they pay offline, record the payment when it lands.
Troubleshooting
- The link shows a broken or missing page. It may have been regenerated or the invoice was cancelled (cancelling revokes the token). See Invoice link broken.
- The client can't pay. See Client can't pay.