Custom apparel shop

Screen Printing and Embroidery Shop Invoicing App (2026)

Short answer

Custom apparel quoting is setup plus tiered per-piece, and custom-printed goods have zero resale value if an order is cancelled — so the deposit has to land before garments are ordered. ShowTheReceipts ($15/mo) saves digitizing, screen, and per-piece rates by quantity tier, holds 50% before art is released, and puts spoilage terms for customer-supplied goods on the invoice.

How we picked

Entry-plan prices as published in 2026, taken from each vendor's own pricing page or a recent third-party summary. Judged on the solo apparel shop's quoting workflow — setup fees, quantity-tiered per-piece pricing, stitch-count and color-count lines, 50% deposits before garment orders, and spoilage terms on supplied goods — not on production scheduling for a multi-press floor, DTG RIP software, or wholesale catalog integrations.

Prices as published by each vendor, 2026. Entry-level plans shown.
Software Starting price Best for
ShowTheReceipts That's us $15/mo Solo apparel shops: setup plus tiered per-piece quoting, 50% deposits, spoilage terms, card on pickup
Printavo $99/mo+ Print shop production scheduling and job boards
DecoNetwork $99/mo+ Online storefronts tied to decoration workflow
InkSoft Quote-based Web-to-print stores for growing shops
QuickBooks Online $38/mo+ Full accounting for a firm with a bookkeeper

Setup is the same at 12 pieces or 500

That one fact drives every price you quote. Setup priced separately plus tiered per-piece rates is the only structure that survives a mix of small and large orders.

1. ShowTheReceipts — $15/mo

Digitizing and screen setup as one-time lines, per-piece rates tiered by quantity, stitch count and color count lines, additional location and names/numbers lines, 50% deposit before art release or garment order, spoilage terms for supplied goods, rush uplift.

2. Printavo — $99/mo+

Print shop production scheduling and job board management.

3. DecoNetwork — $99/mo+

Online storefronts tied to a decoration workflow.

4. InkSoft — Quote-based

Web-to-print storefronts for growing shops.

5. QuickBooks Online — $38/mo+

Full accounting, aimed at a firm that has a bookkeeper.

The lines an apparel invoice needs

  1. Digitizing — per embroidery design
  2. Screens / film — per color, per location
  3. Garment — style, color, sizes, marked up
  4. Embroidery — per piece by stitch count
  5. Screen print — per piece by color and tier
  6. Extra locations, names, numbers — per piece
  7. Rush fee and spoilage terms

A left chest is 5,000–8,000 stitches. A jacket back can hit 40,000. Flat per-piece embroidery pricing loses money the first time someone sends a detailed crest.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the deposit matter so much on apparel?

Because custom-printed goods have no resale value. A cancelled order of 72 shirts carrying someone's logo is inventory you can only throw away, so 50% lands before art is released or garments are ordered, with the balance before pickup or shipping.

Can it quote setup separately from per-piece pricing?

Yes — digitizing at $40–$100 per design and screens at $20–$35 per color per location are saved as one-time lines, with the per-piece rate tiered by quantity at 12, 24, 48, 72, and 144. Showing the tiers is what makes a customer order their way into a better price.

How do I protect myself on customer-supplied garments?

A written spoilage clause on the invoice — the customer supplies 2–5% extra and you're not liable for goods damaged in production. It's the most common dispute in the trade, and it's entirely solved by one saved line of terms.

Is this a production scheduling tool?

No — press scheduling and job boards are a separate category for a multi-press floor. This is the quoting and money side: setup fees, tiered per-piece pricing, stitch-count lines, deposits before ordering, and getting the balance before the boxes leave.