Quoting and Invoicing From Salesforce Without CPQ: Quotes, the Invoices Tab, Document Apps and the Xero Handoff

Can Salesforce send quotes and invoices without CPQ?

Yes, through four routes: standard Quotes, the suites' Invoices tab, a document-generation app when the standard PDFs fall short, or a custom invoice build for tax-invoice items, your own numbering and a clean post to Xero.

Option	Edition needed (as the fetched page names it)	Cost as published	What it produces	Accounting handoff	Best for
Standard Quotes and templates	"Available in: Performance and Developer Editions"; "In Sales, also available in: Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited Editions"; Pro Suite, not Starter	Included	Synced quote record; PDF from a template, emailed	None; connector or middleware to Xero	A quote PDF only
Starter or Pro Suite Invoices tab	"This change applies to Starter and Pro Suite."	Not published separately; "Transaction fees apply"	Invoice PDF from an opportunity or quote; 1,000 per org per month	Not published; Xero not a prebuilt integration	Suite teams, after a trial
Document app (Conga, S-Docs, Formstack)	Conga "Requires: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Revenue Cloud, Experience Cloud"; S-Docs "Requires: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud"; Formstack "Requires: Platform Cloud"	Conga connector "Starting at $6 USD/user/month", core Composer separate; S-Docs "Starting at $25 USD/user/month", USD 3,000 minimum; Formstack Suite from $250 a month paid annually ($299 billed monthly), currency not stated	Templated PDF or Word documents from any record	None; connector or middleware to Xero	Branded or complex documents
Revenue Cloud Growth or Advanced	"Available in: Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer Editions" with the Advanced or Billing licence	Growth "$ 150 USD/User/Month (Billed annually)" or "AU$ 210"; Advanced "$ 200 USD/User/Month (Billed annually)" or "AU$ 280"	CPQ, orders, subscriptions; Advanced adds "Consumption & Invoicing"	Designed per implementation	Subscription or usage sellers
Salesforce Billing (Revenue Cloud Billing add-on)	"Available in: All Salesforce Billing Editions"; annual contract	"Request a Quote"	Invoices from orders, manual or scheduled	"Accounting Subledger" in the add-on	Scheduled invoice runs
Custom invoice build (SAASKOOL)	Edition allowances for custom objects, Flow and API	Scoped per build	Invoice and Invoice Line records, automatic numbering, tax-invoice PDF	Invoice posted to Xero as the ledger record	NZ or AU tax invoices from Salesforce

What do standard Quotes do, and which editions include them?

A priced quote record on the opportunity, a PDF and a send button; nothing more. Per Salesforce's Quotes overview (as at September 2026), "You create a quote from an opportunity and its products." Quote templates make the PDF (logo, formatted text, line items, totals), emailed from the record. The limitations page is where it runs out: related-list text on the PDF is "truncated to fewer than 256 characters" and "Quote PDFs do not show formatting from RTA fields".

Editions. The help line reads "Available in: Performance and Developer Editions" and "In Sales, also available in: Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited Editions". Salesforce's pricing pages now list Core, Advanced and Max above Pro Suite (as at September 2026) while help keeps the older names, so we quote each as written. For the suites, that page's feature table shows Quotes, Contracts and Orders as Pro Suite inclusions, not Starter.

What is the Invoices tab in Starter and Pro Suite?

Native invoicing for both suites. The June '26 Suites release notes (as at September 2026): "Create an invoice from an opportunity or quote, then email the PDF to your customer when you close a deal." "Each Starter or Pro Suite org can generate up to 1,000 invoices per month." "Where: This change applies to Starter and Pro Suite." "When: This feature is available starting June 13, 2026." Starter Suite has no Quotes, so in Starter the invoice starts from the opportunity.

Not published, as at September 2026: whether the tab needs Salesforce Payments or a Stripe account, what the PDF template allows, and how GST or any other tax is handled. Test all three in a trial org against the tax items below.

Payments are separate and pay-as-you-go; the Starter page gives one example: "For example, credit card payments in the U.S. are 2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction." No NZ or AU rate is shown. The suites' prebuilt integrations (August '26 note) name "QuickBooks Online and Jira", so Xero is not among them as at September 2026 and needs a connector or middleware.

When do you need a document-generation app?

When the standard quote PDF or the suites' invoice PDF cannot carry your layout, long formatted descriptions, multi-object data, Word output or e-signature. The Pro Suite page lists "Access to AppExchange", so confirm your edition can install apps first. Published prices as at 12 September 2026:

• Conga Composer. The AppExchange listing shows "Starting at $6 USD/user/month", but that is the connector: "This connector requires the purchase of the core Conga Composer solution directly from Conga (separate purchase required)".
• S-Docs. The listing shows "Starting at $25 USD/user/month". The vendor FAQ: the free version can "generate up to 150 documents and request up to 50 e-Signatures"; the paid edition "is priced at $25 per user per month billed annually, with a minimum contract of $3,000 required".
• Formstack Documents. The listing shows only "Paid". Formstack's pricing page sells Documents only inside its Suite plan, "Starting at $250" a month paid annually or $299 billed monthly, with "250 Document deliveries per month"; the Salesforce-native offering is "Custom Pricing, Flexible Plans".

When is Revenue Cloud or Salesforce Billing worth it?

When you sell subscriptions, usage or configured bundles and can carry the per-user price. The Revenue Cloud pricing page (as at September 2026) describes Growth as "Streamlined CPQ and subscription management." at "$ 150 USD/User/Month (Billed annually)" and "AU$ 210 AUD/User/Month (Billed annually)"; Advanced is "$ 200 USD/User/Month (Billed annually)" and "AU$ 280 AUD/User/Month (Billed annually)", adds "Contracts & Orders Consumption & Invoicing", and "requires an annual contract". Invoicing needs that tier: the invoice generation article says "Available in: Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer Editions" with the Advanced or Billing licence. Revenue Cloud Billing, the billing add-on, is "Request a Quote" on the add-on page.

Should the invoice live in Salesforce or in Xero?

In Xero. Salesforce can produce the document, but as our design guide puts it, "Xero owns invoices and payments, Salesforce owns relationships and pipeline." Two patterns work; pick one, never both:

• Salesforce triggers, Xero sends. Closed-won creates a draft invoice in Xero through a connector or middleware; Xero numbers, taxes and sends it.
• Salesforce sends, Xero records. Salesforce generates and emails the invoice (Invoices tab, document app or custom build) and a connector posts a matching invoice to Xero.

Routes and prices are in how to connect Salesforce to Xero, including the edition trap around API access; card payments are a separate handoff (connecting Stripe).

For New Zealand organisations. Inland Revenue's tax invoices page (as at September 2026): "New laws, which took effect on 1 April 2023, replaced the requirement to use tax invoices with a more general requirement to provide and keep certain records" known as taxable supply information. The detail page sets three tiers. "$200 or less": seller's name or trade name, date, description and the consideration. "More than $200 and up to $1,000": adds the seller's GST number and the GST-exclusive, GST and GST-inclusive amounts (or the inclusive amount with a GST-included statement). "More than $1,000": adds the GST-registered buyer's name and an identifier such as address, email or New Zealand Business Number. And: "Taxable supply information must be provided to GST registered buyers within 28 days of a request" for supplies over $200.

For Australian organisations. The ATO's tax invoices page is the authority; the Australian Government's business.gov.au guide (as at September 2026) summarises it: a tax invoice is needed when "a taxable sale is more than $82.50 (including GST)"; it must show the words tax invoice, your business name and ABN, the issue date, a short description with quantity and price, and the GST payable; the ATO adds that "Tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more also need to show the buyer's identity or ABN", and that if a customer asks for one "you must provide one within 28 days, unless it is for a sale of $82.50 (including GST) or less".

What does a custom invoice build look like?

Custom Invoice and Invoice Line objects on the opportunity, automatic numbering, a tax-invoice PDF emailed from Salesforce, and the invoice posted to Xero as the ledger record. That is the pattern SAASKOOL builds inside its Salesforce integration service:

1. Objects. Invoice (number, dates, status, totals, GST) and Invoice Line (description, quantity, unit price, GST amounts), looking up to the opportunity and account.
2. Numbering and status. A sequential number never reused, and a status path so nobody edits a sent invoice; corrections become a new document.
3. The PDF. Built for your tier: seller name and GST number, date, descriptions, the GST amounts, and the buyer's name and identifier over $1,000.
4. Sending and the Xero post. Emailed from the invoice record, then created in Xero with the same number, lines and GST through your connector.

It fits when you need numbering and tax control and sales must send from Salesforce.

Which option fits which team?

• Starter Suite. Test the Invoices tab in a trial org; if it passes, use it with Xero as the ledger; if not, Xero sends and Salesforce triggers.
• Pro Suite. Standard Quotes, the Invoices tab or a document app, and a connector to Xero. See Starter vs Pro Suite.
• Sales Cloud editions (Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited in help; Core, Advanced and Max on pricing pages). Quotes plus a document app or a custom build. See choosing the right edition.
• NZ or AU tax invoices from Salesforce. The custom build.
• Subscriptions or usage at volume. Revenue Cloud.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Starter Suite send invoices? Yes. Since 13 June 2026 (as at September 2026), Starter and Pro Suite have an Invoices tab that creates an invoice from an opportunity or quote and emails the PDF, up to 1,000 invoices per org per month. Starter has no Quotes, so its invoices start from the opportunity. Payments, Stripe and GST handling are not published; test in a trial org.

Do I need CPQ to quote from Salesforce? No. Standard Quotes build a quote from an opportunity and its products, generate a PDF from a template and email it. Help lists them in Performance and Developer Editions and, in Sales, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited; among the suites, from Pro Suite, not Starter.

Can Salesforce generate a New Zealand tax invoice? Yes, if the document carries what IRD requires for the sale value: over $200 the seller's GST number and the GST amounts; over $1,000 the GST-registered buyer's name and an identifier. A custom build or document app can be designed to that; test the suites' Invoices tab, as its tax handling is not published.

Should invoices be created in Salesforce or Xero? Xero stays the ledger either way. Either Salesforce triggers a draft invoice that Xero sends, or Salesforce sends the invoice and a connector posts a matching record to Xero. Pick one; running both invoices customers twice.

What does S-Docs or Conga cost? As at September 2026, S-Docs is listed at Starting at $25 USD/user/month, billed annually with a minimum contract of $3,000 per the vendor FAQ, plus a free version capped at 150 documents. Conga's listing shows Starting at $6 USD/user/month for the connector only; core Conga Composer is a separate purchase with no published price.

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Want the invoice route and the Xero handoff designed together? That is what SAASKOOL's Salesforce integration service does.