Invoicing guides

A PDF renders identically everywhere, cannot be casually altered, and is what finance systems expect. A photo of a handwritten note often cannot be processed at all.

Raise a separate numbered invoice for the deposit, then show it as already paid on the final invoice so the balance is obvious.

Invoice on the same date each month, in arrears, with the period stated on the document — "September retainer", not just "retainer".

Not really. Once an invoice is issued to a client it is a record — the correct fix is a credit note and a replacement, not an edit.

Invoice in the currency you agreed, state it explicitly, and record the exchange rate on the date of the invoice for your own tax return.

No. Anyone can invoice for work they have done. Registration matters for charging tax, not for issuing a document.

Use your own name (or trading name) and address, number the invoices sequentially, and only add tax once you are registered.

Your details top-left, the word INVOICE and the number top-right, the client below, the lines in the middle, the total bottom-right, terms at the foot.

A proforma looks like an invoice but is not a demand for payment. It is a commitment to supply at a stated price, so a buyer can raise a purchase order.

A credit note cancels or reduces an invoice you have already issued. You use one instead of editing the original, because the original stays in the record.

Sequential, never reused, never restarted mid-year. A numbering scheme that survives an audit and still makes sense to you.

An estimate can move, a quote cannot, and an invoice demands payment. Sending the wrong one is how arguments about price start.

The eight things every invoice needs, the three that get it queried by an accounts team, and what changes once you are registered for tax.

Yes, if your terms say so before the work starts — and in many countries you have a statutory right to interest even if they do not.

Find the payment run date, get a PO number before you invoice, and send to accounts payable rather than your contact.

Usually yes, in writing, with the remainder on named dates. Money now beats principle later, and a part payment is an admission the debt is owed.

Send a receipt, not an invoice. An invoice asks for money that has already arrived, which is how clients pay twice and how your books double-count.

Usually one of four fixable things: the wrong recipient, no PO number, a description too vague to approve, or a due date that means nothing to a payment run.

What each term actually commits your client to, which one to use, and why shorter terms do not always mean faster money.

Separating a cash-flow problem from a dispute from a flat refusal, what actually works for each, and the warning signs that were visible early on.

Between 25% and 50% on anything where you buy materials, taken before you order them — and why asking at quote stage avoids the argument entirely.

A four-step escalation that starts friendly and ends firm, with the wording for each stage and the point where you stop being polite.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Nigeria.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Kenya.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Pakistan.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Bangladesh.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in the Philippines.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Spain.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Italy.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in the Netherlands.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Japan.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in Saudi Arabia.

The rates, the registration threshold, the number that must appear on the document, and the compliance rule that catches suppliers out in France.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in Ireland, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in New Zealand, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a SST invoice in Malaysia, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

Tax is charged on the discounted amount, not the list price — and on a deposit it is usually due when the money arrives, not when the work is finished.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in South Africa, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in Singapore, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in the UAE, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT (USt) invoice in Germany, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST/HST invoice in Canada, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in Australia, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in the United Kingdom, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in India, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a Sales Tax invoice in the United States, the rates and registration threshold, how often you file, and the local rule that catches people out.

How a small shop should handle invoices alongside everyday till receipts, when a customer needs a full tax invoice, and what to keep for the tax return.

How to invoice properly from a side hustle without a company, which tax registration thresholds to watch, and why numbering matters from the first job.

How agencies should invoice for pass-through costs and retainers, keeping disbursements straight from fees, and the approval trail clients ask for.

How online sellers should invoice when the marketplace already issues receipts, handling cross-border sales, and where the tax obligation actually lands.

How freelancers should structure an invoice, why the PO number and the accounts-payable address matter more than the design, and what causes most disputes.

How contractors should structure an invoice, handling retentions and stage payments, and the scope wording that stops variations turning into arguments.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing consultants most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing tutors most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing designers and freelancers most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing photographers most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing gardeners and landscapers most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing cleaners most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing mechanics most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing carpenters and joiners most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing painters and decorators most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing builders most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing plumbers most often get wrong on an invoice.

What to itemise, when to send it, how to price it, and the one thing electricians most often get wrong on an invoice.

Change the scope, not the number. Dropping the price teaches the client your first figure was invented, and it prices every future job you quote them.

Same line items, a new number and new dates — and never retyped by hand, because retyping is where the transposed figures and missing lines come from.

Not for a quick look. Yes for a survey, a design, or anything taking more than an hour of skilled time — and how to credit the fee against the job.

Thirty days is standard. Shorter if your material costs move — and the validity period belongs on the document, not in your head, or you are bound by it.

Price is rarely why you lose. Clarity, speed and a visible scope win more work than being cheapest — what to include and why 24 hours matters.

Work out your real hourly cost first, including the unbillable time, then price the job rather than the hours. The arithmetic most people skip.

Five to seven years in most countries: six under India GST, six for UK VAT, three or more for the US IRS. Retention periods and what counts as a record.

To create one, no. To deliver it by WhatsApp or email, yes — but you can build and save it offline and send the moment you have signal.

There is no sign-up, no password and no user record anywhere — which also means no password to leak and nothing to delete on request.

Safer than most assume on privacy, riskier on loss. The fix for the second is an exported backup, not a cloud account. What to check, and how.

Speed to first invoice, whether it works with no signal, what happens to your data if you stop paying, and whether the PDF looks professional.

Export a backup file on the old phone, send it to yourself, restore it on the new one. No account, and nothing passes through a server.

If you exported a backup you restore it in two minutes. If you did not, the records are gone — which is why the export exists.

They exist, but check what the free tier actually restricts — a monthly cap on invoices is the most common limit and the one that bites soonest.

If an app is free and shows ads, the ads are the product and your usage is the inventory. In a business app that means your working time is being sold.

An invoice app is enough if you bill and hand your accountant a summary. Payroll, bank reconciliation or statutory filing need accounting software.

You need one screen that shows outstanding totals by client and by age. Without it, chasing is guesswork and something always slips.

Your invoices hold client names, addresses and what they paid. An offline app keeps that on your phone. What you gain, and what you give up.