PHP Invoice Generator (No Database)

A simple, modern, and self-hosted invoice generator web app built with PHP and Tailwind CSS. No database required—data is stored in JSON files for easy setup and portability.

Features

• Create, edit, and delete invoices
• Add multiple items per invoice (description, quantity, price)
• Option to include or exclude tax (18%)
• Manage multiple company profiles ("Invoice From")
• Product & Service Catalog with autocomplete selection when creating invoices
• Add and display company banking details on invoices and PDFs
• Client data reuse for quick invoice creation with returning clients
• All data stored in JSON files (no SQL or DB setup needed)
• Export invoices as PDF (using dompdf)
• Responsive UI with Tailwind CSS
• Edit invoices at any time
• List and manage all invoices from the dashboard
• Pagination for better performance with many invoices
• Currency displayed as Rs. throughout the app and PDF (for Indian Rupees)
• No database required—just PHP and file permissions

Requirements

• PHP 7.4 or higher
• Composer (for PDF export)
• Web server (Apache, Nginx, XAMPP, etc.)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/amigodheena/php-invoice-generator.git
   cd php-invoice-generator
   

2. Install dependencies:

   composer install
   

3. Set permissions: Ensure the data/ directory is writable by the web server:

   chmod 755 data
   

4. Access the app: Open your browser and go to http://localhost/path-to/php-invoice-generator

Usage

• Create Invoice: Click "Create New Invoice", fill in details, add items, and save.
• Reuse Client Data: Select existing clients from the dropdown to quickly fill client details.
• Manage Products: Click "Products" in the navigation to add, edit, and organize your product catalog.
• Select Products: When creating invoices, search for products using the autocomplete field to quickly add them.
• Edit Invoice: Click the edit icon next to any invoice in the dashboard.
• Export PDF: Click the PDF icon to download a PDF version of any invoice.
• Manage Companies: Add or edit your own company profiles under "Manage Companies". You can now add banking details for payment info.
• Navigate Pages: Use pagination controls to browse through invoices when you have many.
• No Database: All data is stored in /data as JSON files. You can back up or move your data easily.

Advanced Features

Pagination

• The dashboard (index.php) now supports pagination for the invoices list. By default the dashboard shows 10 invoices per page to keep the list fast and easy to navigate.
• Use the page query parameter to navigate pages.
• The pagination control shows previous/next, first/last buttons and a range of page numbers (up to 5 visible at once). The current page is highlighted.
• If you want to change the number of invoices per page, edit the $perPage variable in index.php (search for $perPage = 10;). You can also update the getInvoices() call signature in includes/functions.php if you need more advanced control.

Client Data Reuse

• When creating or editing invoices, you can now select from previously used clients to quickly fill in client details.
• The system automatically extracts unique clients from your existing invoices based on email address.
• Select a client from the dropdown at the top of the client information section to auto-populate the client name, email, and address.
• You can still manually enter client details for new clients or to modify existing information.

Product & Service Catalog

• Maintain a catalog of products and services that you frequently include in invoices
• Organize products by categories to find them easily
• Set default prices for each product to ensure consistent pricing
• When creating or editing invoices, use the autocomplete search to quickly find and add products
• Product details (description and price) are auto-filled when selected
• Add SKUs/product codes for better inventory tracking

Notes:

• Pagination is implemented server-side by slicing the JSON invoice array. For very large datasets you may want to switch to a database-backed approach for better performance.
• Client data reuse is based on unique email addresses across all invoices.
• Product catalog supports unlimited number of products and categories.

File Structure

• /index.php — Dashboard (list invoices)
• /create_invoice.php — Create new invoice
• /edit_invoice.php — Edit existing invoice
• /view_invoice.php — View invoice details
• /download_pdf.php — Export invoice as PDF (with banking details and Rs. currency)
• /manage_companies.php — Manage company profiles and banking details
• /manage_products.php — Manage products/services catalog
• /delete_invoice.php — Delete invoice
• /includes/functions.php — Core PHP logic
• /data/ — JSON data storage (invoices, companies, products)
• /vendor/ — Composer dependencies (dompdf, etc.)
• /assets/ — CSS, JS, and static files
• /ajax/ — AJAX endpoints for dynamic data loading

Development

• All business logic is in includes/functions.php.
• UI is styled with Tailwind CSS.
• PDF export uses dompdf.
• No database required—just PHP and file permissions.
• Currency is consistently shown as Rs. for Indian Rupees in all views and PDFs.

.gitignore

• /data/ and /vendor/ are ignored by default (see .gitignore).

Contributors

• Lead Developer: AmigoDheena

License

MIT License. Free for personal and commercial use.

Credits

This project was developed by AmigoDheena. If you find this project useful, please consider starring the repository on GitHub or contributing to its development.