InvoiceLite – Free Invoicing Software

How to install InvoiceLite on your website

InvoiceLite is a stand-alone PHP application. It is not installed through the WordPress plugin screen. You upload it to your hosting in its own folder, for example yourdomain.com/invoice.

1. Download the ZIP

   Click the download button on this page and save invoicelite-1_5_1-complete.zip to your computer.

2. Create a database

   Log in to cPanel (or your host's control panel) and open MySQL Databases. Create a new database, create a database user with a strong password, then add the user to the database with All Privileges. Note down the database name, user and password.

3. Upload the files

   Open File Manager and go to public_html. Create a new folder named invoice (or use a subdomain such as invoice.yourdomain.com). Upload the ZIP into that folder and click Extract. The extraction creates an inner invoicelite folder. Move all the files from inside it up into invoice, so that install.php sits directly in public_html/invoice.

4. Set folder permissions

   Make the invoice folder writable (permission 755, or 775 if your host asks for it) so the installer can create config.php. Make sure the uploads folder inside it is also writable (755/775) for your logo and signature images.

5. Run the installer

   In your browser open https://yourdomain.com/invoice/install.php. Enter the database host (usually localhost), database name, user and password. Then enter your name, company name, admin email and a password of at least 8 characters, and click Install.

6. Delete install.php (important)

   After the installer finishes, delete install.php from the folder using File Manager. This stops anyone from re-running the installer. Then set the folder permission back to 755.

7. Log in and set up

   Open https://yourdomain.com/invoice/login.php and sign in with the admin email and password you chose. Go to Settings and fill in:

   • Company & GST: your GSTIN, state, PAN, address, phone and email
   • Branding: logo, colour and the invoice template
   • Email: the "Send emails from" address and SMTP details, then use Send a test email
   • Online payments (optional): your Site URL and Razorpay keys, plus a UPI ID for the QR code
   • Reminders (optional): switch on and add the daily cron job shown at the bottom of Settings

8. Create your first invoice

   Add a client under Clients, add items under Products, then click + New invoice from the Dashboard. Share the invoice with your client through WhatsApp, email or the copy-link option.

Updating to a newer version

Take a backup first, then extract the new ZIP over the existing folder. Your config.php and uploads folder are not part of the ZIP, so they stay safe. Check the README.md in the ZIP for any database update file to run.

Security tips

• Always use HTTPS and a strong admin password.
• Keep regular backups of your database and files.
• On Nginx servers, block access to config.php, schema.sql, inc/ and PHP files in uploads/. Apache is already protected by the included .htaccess files.