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Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

Posted on • Updated on

Building a simple invoice generator with Node Js

Why β“πŸ€”

After each online coaching sessions, at the beginning, that was a pain to find a good invoice generator platform as I was not yet ready for a 20€ monthly subscription just for handling the invoice part.

None was enough flexible for my own use πŸ™„ so.. I decided to build my own mini-invoice generator with Node Js βœ… ( that took approx 1h max βŒ›οΈ )

No more talk..Straight to the point πŸ’ͺ🏼

The main parts βš™οΈ:

1. Storing clients in Json :

Yep that one is simple..for now x)

(Note: these are fictional characters of course 😝 )

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2. Creating the route:
Using express router, just create a POST /invoice route.
const router = express.Router();
router.post('/', handleCreateInvoice);

Then add the Joi Schema. Why ? It allows to define schema and validate the schema before calling the controller/handler of invoice creation.

Source: https://joi.dev/

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3. Handling the invoice creation:

I used the module pdf-kit to generate the pdf to be sent to the client.

pdf-kit

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4. Email sending:
A small function using gmail-send npm module which accepts html as an input Image description

Yep..so what about the result ?

A snapshot of my first trials ^^ ( yep that email should be more personnalized and better structure 😊 )

Insomnia POST Call
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Final result 😁
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The pdf:
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Next steps:

  • Front-end ( React πŸ€” )
  • Database πŸ’Ώ
  • make it online x)
  • Iterate πŸ‘€

And you πŸ’ͺ🏼?

Tell us in the comments which mini-project you built πŸ‘€πŸ˜Š

Wanna support me ?

I am blogging during my free time ^^ like most people on this platform 😊 however I'm not against a small coffee if you want to support me πŸ’ͺ🏼 Link below:

https://ko-fi.com/dev_it_out

P.S: I added the sample on Github ( https://github.com/njivaolafpro/invoice-management-sample

Top comments (28)

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laurencioscript profile image
Gabriel Laurencio

i built a mini project for knowing new chapters of mangΓ‘s in site and warn in my channel in discord when has new releases, basically my project did web scraping in specific web page.

github.com/laurencioScript/sakamot...

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olaf_ranai profile image
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

nice ^^ would love having an english version of the README though :/

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lalami profile image
Salah Eddine Lalami

@ IDURAR , we use are using node.js react.js & redux

Here Tutorial about : πŸš€ Building and Generate Invoice PDF with React.js , Redux and Node.js : dev.to/idurar/building-an-invoice-...

 Building and Generate Invoice PDF with React.js , Redux and Node.js

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andrewbaisden profile image
Andrew Baisden

Cool project.

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olaf_ranai profile image
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

thanks ^^ was just a small hobby ^^

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leanderd profile image
Leander Dirkse • Edited

You could try to connect it to Toggl Track via their API.
Keep track of time, projects, clients etc.

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olaf_ranai profile image
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

Good idea ^^ will try that one ;) thanks

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cednore profile image
cednore

So Nice!

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bam92 profile image
Abel Lifaefi Mbula

A good short that goes straight to the main point. Hope you'll open source the project.

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olaf_ranai profile image
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

thanks ^^
It is on git

github.com/njivaolafpro/invoice-ma...
( need to clean up a bit the doc though ;) )

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kelseyjj profile image
Kelsey Jones

Awesome article.

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olaf_ranai profile image
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

thank you ^^

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cjw profile image
Clifford Watson

good read

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aaravrrrrrr profile image
Aarav Reddy

Thanks for writing

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Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

no prob ;)

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Felipe Genuino

Nice work

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olaf_ranai profile image
Olaf Ranai { dev-it-out }

thanks x)