Articles on: Services & ordering

Decide what happens after a purchase

Every purchase creates an order. On top of that, a service can do four more things when someone buys it: create a request, put a form in that request, issue an invoice, and let the client submit request types that were closed to them before. All four are optional, and you set them in the service itself, in Settings › Sales › Services.


Set up what a purchase does


  1. Open Settings › Sales › Services and select the service.
  2. To have each purchase create a request, go to the Automations tab. Under Automatic Request creation, choose Open a request for the work and pick a Request type. The request is connected to the order.
  3. If one purchase should create several requests, select Add Request type and pick another type.
  4. Under Request form handling, choose Skip form or Send form after purchase.
  5. On the General tab, under Finance settings, set Issue an invoice to Never or Automatically after payment.
  6. To let buyers submit request types they could not submit before, add those types to Client can submit, under Unlock Request types.
  7. Select Save.
  8. Open the service's own link, …/order/<slug>, and go through the purchase once as a client would. The settings only show their effect when someone buys.


The Automations tab: open a request for the work (2), Add Request type (3), Request form handling (4), Unlock Request types (6) and the save button (7).


Everything a purchase can set off


Only the order is always created. Each of the other results depends on one setting in the service:


The four optional results of a purchase, and the setting behind each


  1. Client buys the service
  2. Order created (always)
  3. Automatic Request creation
    • Open a request for the work: Request created, connected to the order
    • No request, just the order: No request
  4. Request form handling
    • Send form after purchase: Request Form waits in the request
    • Skip form: Request without the form
  5. Issue an invoice
    • Automatically after payment: Invoice issued once paid
    • Never: No automatic invoice
  6. Unlock Request types
    • Types added: Client can submit those types
    • Empty: No change


Whether the request includes a form


The request is created either way. Request form handling only decides whether the request type's form is waiting inside it for the client.


Skip form can be used, for example, when the Order Form already asked everything, or when you will talk the details over in the request's conversation. Send form after purchase can be used when the work needs a longer brief than you want to ask for at checkout. See Add an Order Form to a service.


When the invoice is issued


With Automatically after payment, Zendo issues the invoice once the payment has arrived. For a manual payment method, that is the moment someone on your team marks the payment as paid. With Never, Zendo issues nothing and you create documents yourself, whenever you need them. See Mark a document as paid or refunded and Issue an invoice.


Unlocking a request type from either side


You can connect a request type to a service from either end. In the service, you add the request type under Unlock Request types. In the request type, you set Who can submit to Clients who match a rule and pick the service under Clients who bought a service. Both create the same rule, so you can set it in whichever editor you have open. The request type side is also where you hide a type from all clients until they buy. See Decide who can submit a request type.


Where to find the order and the request


The order shows the client, the amount, the payment method and its Source, which tells you where the order came from. A request created by the purchase appears under Requests, with the service's name in the Service column. If you choose No request, just the order, the purchase creates only an order, and you track the work on the order itself. See Track delivery on the order, without requests.



Updated on: 09/11/2026

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