Where can I find my invoices?
Open the workspace dropdown near the top of the screen and pick your workspace
Select Finance from the left-hand menu
Click Invoices
Here you'll see invoices for added funds, any invoices you've requested, and credit notes or receipts tied to refunds. You can also review payment amounts, download invoices, or have them emailed to the address on your account.
Everything in this tab reflects the workspace name and office address saved in your workspace settings.
How do invoices work on Prolific?
Invoices on Prolific serve as official financial documentation for funds added to your workspace. They are used to:
Itemize the total amount added to your workspace
Splits out participant payments (study rewards) from platform fees
Gives your institution something to reimburse or file against
Tracks the workspace's financial activity
Invoices track top-ups, not individual studies, so a single invoice can cover several studies funded from the same balance.
Does my invoice include VAT?
Add your institution's VAT number before you top up, and reverse-charge VAT applies: no VAT shows on the invoice, and your institution accounts for it instead. See Adding a VAT number to your workspace for how to add one.
Add it before you top up, not after. Once funds are added to a workspace, that invoice is locked in, adding a VAT number afterward can't change it retroactively, and fixing it means going through a refund first. If VAT matters to your institution, add the number before your first top-up.
Adding money and receiving invoices
Add money by card or bank transfer and an itemized invoice is generated for you automatically, splitting out study rewards from platform fees.
Tip: Need paperwork for one study instead of a whole top-up? Use a study receipt. And if you want a separate invoice per study, top up individually before publishing each one.
Creating an invoice before adding funds
Requesting an invoice will generate an invoice that includes a breakdown of platform fees, study rewards, payment details,
First, click Request an Invoice in the top-right corner of the invoice screen to generate a new invoice
Enter the amount you want the invoice to be issued for
You can also optionally enter an approval reference if required for your invoice request to track or validate the transaction.
After entering all the necessary details, click Confirm to submit your invoice request.
Finally, click Done to be taken back to your Finance homepage. From here, your invoice will be sent to the email attached to your Prolific account.
Any invoice you create is valid for 45 days. After this period, the invoice will be voided, and you'll need to create a new one. For more on this, check out "What happens when my invoice is void?" below.
Don't see this option in your account? Contact us using the chatbot icon in the bottom right of your screen and we'll generate one for you directly
What happens if I’ve created an invoice, but my name or billing address is incorrect
Whatever name and address are saved in your workspace settings, that's what shows up on the invoice, so it's worth checking these before you add any funds. Once a top-up happens, they're locked to that workspace.
Before creating your first invoice:
Double-check your workspace settings to ensure your name and office address are correct
Make any necessary changes before adding funds to your workspace
If you have never added funds to your workspace and noticed incorrect information on your invoice:
Go to your workspace settings and update the incorrect information
Create a new invoice with the correct details
Leave the original invoice - it will automatically void after 45 days
What if I've added funds to my workspace?
You cannot modify paid invoices
Your workspace name and address become permanent
If you need different billing details, you must create a new workspace
Paying an invoice
Before paying, double-check the workspace name, billing address, and total on the invoice.
Add your bank transfer reference to the payment, it's what lets us match the money to your account, and skipping it can hold things up. Your bank details are printed in the invoice's lower-left corner.
You can find all the relevant bank details for your payment at the bottom left of the invoice.
What do the invoice statuses mean?
Paid – the invoice has been settled
Pending – requested, not yet paid
Void – left unpaid 45 days after it was created
Refunded – a credit note issued against a voided invoice
What happens when my invoice is void?
Void and Refunded describe an unpaid invoice being cancelled, not money coming back to you, no payment was ever taken on it in the first place.
45 days unpaid and an invoice voids itself, nothing needed from you. At the same time, we generate a credit note showing the balance is cleared, it sits attached to the voided invoice and also shows up on its own under Refunded.
Requested an invoice by mistake, or don't need it anymore? Leave it, it'll void on its own after 45 days. We can't cancel or void one manually before then.
What is a credit note?
Some institutions ask for a credit note once an invoice voids. Picture a £20 invoice that goes unpaid and voids: some institutions treat the void alone as sufficient proof nothing's owed, others want a separate document, one showing a negative £20, bringing the balance to zero.
Can I get an invoice in a currency other than GBP/USD?
Prolific runs on GBP and USD, so invoices are issued in whichever of those is your workspace currency. Need GBP, USD, EUR, or AUD specifically and it's not your default? Get in touch before you add funds, using the chatbot icon in the bottom right of your screen, and include:
Your workspace name
The currency you want
Your account email
The amount to invoice
However the invoice is denominated, your workspace balance is still credited in GBP or USD, matching the value of what you paid.