How to send invoice texts with SMS Manager in WHMCS
Notify customers when an invoice is created or paid using separate PD SMS Manager triggers. These are billing-event messages, with invoice-specific merge fields; a bulk SMS campaign is a different workflow.
Prepare Billing Texts and templates
Open SMS Manager → Client Preferences and review Billing Texts. Apply the intended profile choices and check the test client’s effective mobile number. A hidden billing category prevents its automatic messages even if a trigger is enabled.
Create two enabled templates under Templates. A new-invoice notice can use Hi {first_name}, invoice {invoice_id} for {invoice_total} is due on {invoice_due}. Please check your client area. A paid-invoice notice can use Hi {first_name}, invoice {invoice_id} is now marked paid. Thank you from {company_name}.
Use the invoice number customers recognise, and inspect the rendered amount with its currency. A preview with sample data does not prove that every real invoice context is correct. Rehearse the intended event in a controlled test workflow through Test / Debug Log only before choosing a live gateway.
Create each trigger
- Open SMS Manager → Triggers → New trigger.
- Choose Invoice created, select the new-invoice template and an explicit Send via gateway, then choose Create trigger.
- Create a second trigger for Invoice paid, using the paid-invoice template.
- Review both rows for the correct template, gateway and enabled state.
Invoice created follows invoice creation; Invoice paid follows the invoice being marked paid. A paid-invoice SMS is not a separate test of payment-gateway settlement, provisioning success or an external bank transaction.
These events cover renewals as well as initial invoices. Do not describe every paid-invoice text as a new order confirmation. Check for an existing trigger for the same event to avoid duplicate notifications.
Diagnose a missing notice
Confirm the original event occurred, the client has the intended mobile number and Billing Texts allows the message. Check that the selected template and trigger are enabled. Review pending work, quiet hours and normal cron operation before expecting a History attempt.
If History says Sent, inspect the gateway and initial result. It does not prove phone delivery. Use the provider reference and separately configured delivery evidence where available. A timeout marked Unknown should be reconciled before a manual repeat. Do not create or mark a real invoice paid merely to test the notification.
Several SMS modules on one installation
PD SMS Manager takes precedence as the manager of shared client-profile fields when several PD SMS modules are enabled. Follow any Client Preferences message identifying the managing module. Review each sending module’s own category rules, phone source and gateway routing separately; the shared profile summary does not prove every enabled module’s sending configuration.
Interpret the selected gateway
A real gateway’s initial success is separate from later phone delivery. For Custom HTTP Webhook, Sent means its configured HTTP success rule matched; it is not an imported delivery report. A Test / Debug Log only record can succeed without sending a text. Keep the selected gateway and any provider message reference with the action time when investigating a result.
See the PD SMS Manager WHMCS guide for related tasks, or explore PD SMS Manager.