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Draft orders and invoices

Create an order on behalf of a customer with custom products, shipping, and payment settings

Alex avatar
Written by Alex
Updated this week

Some customers, especially B2B buyers, prefer placing orders by phone or email.

You can create such orders for them via your X-Cart Admin: add the customer’s details, the products they want, and their preferred payment and shipping methods. Then send an invoice or set payment terms. Once payment is received or terms are confirmed, the draft turns into an active order on your Orders page.

Here we walk you through how it works, why it’s useful for your business, and what your customers see when paying through a draft order.

Why to draft orders for customers

Draft orders let you create and manage orders that start outside your online store—like phone, in-person, or email requests. You can:

  • Build a custom order and send an invoice with a secure payment link.

  • Recreate orders from other sales channels.

  • Offer discounts or wholesale pricing.

  • Combine online and retail sales in one workflow.

In the automotive and aftermarket space, many buyers confirm part compatibility or request quotes before paying. Draft orders help you build tailored orders, add the right parts, and send an invoice when ready. They’re also ideal for B2B sellers or repair shops bundling labor and parts together.

How it works

You start by creating an order draft. Each draft has its own ID (for example, Draft #0003), separate from regular orders, so it’s easy to track:

Drafts don’t have fulfillment or payment statuses until they’re sent to the customer.

As you add products and choose a shipping method, X-Cart automatically calculates the subtotal, shipping cost, and grand total.

When you save the draft, X-Cart automatically (or manually) splits it into shipments based on your Order Routing rules.

Once you send the order and the customer pays, the draft is converted into an active order and appears on your Orders page.

Create a draft order and add products

  1. Go to Orders › Orders.

  2. Click New order to open order draft page.

  3. Click Add products, under General info tab of the order draft page.

  4. Adjust price, core charge and quantity in the respective fields, if needed.

  5. Repeat the process for other items.

  6. Click Recalculate totals.

  7. Click Save draft.

Always recalculate totals after changing product quantities or adding or removing items.

Delete products in a draft order

  1. Hover over products in the product table.

  2. Click on the trashcan to the right of the item to delete the last entry.

  3. Click Recalculate totals.

  4. Click Save draft.

Only products not assigned to a shipment an be removed

Add customer details

On General Info tab of your draft order details page:

  1. Click Change customer.

  2. In the popup select customer you'd like to assign for the specific order.

  3. Click Change customer.

  4. Click Save changes.

If the customer profile includes a shipping address, it will be displayed. The same address is used as the billing address by default.

Adjust shipping and billing information

After adding customer details from their profile you can adjust their their shipping and billing addresses and set payment method.

  1. Click Change address, in the right column below Customer section.

  2. Apply your changes in the popup and click Save changes.

  3. Change Payment method to the one required.

  4. Click Recalculate totals.

  5. Click Save changes.

Select shipping method

  1. Go to the Shipments tab to assign shipments to each product.

  2. Select a shipping method and rate for each shipment.

  3. Click Save draft to apply the changes.

Apply discount, sales tax, and shipping cost

  1. Go to the General Info tab and locate the Discount, Sales Tax, and Shipping Cost fields.

  2. Click any of these fields to apply or adjust the corresponding amount.

  3. Use the Actual shipping cost line below Shipping to view the shipping cost from the Shipments tab.

  4. Click Recalculate totals.

  5. Click Save draft.

Send an order to a customer

  1. When the order is ready, click Create order.

  2. Review all details carefully — no changes can be made afterward.

  3. Click Create to open the draft invoice preview.

  4. Click Send to email the invoice to the customer.

Once sent, the draft converts into an active order. The customer receives an email with the invoice and a payment link.

Delete a draft order

Deleting a draft order works the same way as deleting a regular order:

  1. Go to Orders › Orders.

  2. Find the draft order you want to delete.

  3. Click the trash can icon next to it to delete a single draft.

  4. To delete multiple drafts, select them using the checkboxes and click the trash can icon at the bottom of the list.

Customer experience

When the order is created, the customer receives a notification:

Subject: New invoice #%invoice_number%

Body:

Hey [First name Last name],

As promised, here's an invoice for your order. Please check it to make sure everything is correct and proceed with payment.

Note: the order must be paid within 24 hours, otherwise it will be automatically canceled.

Link: Pay for the order (above the invoice number, leading to the payment page)

Can't find answers you're looking for?

Email us at support@x-cart.com. We will be happy to help!

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