Invoicing guides

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.

Send a receipt, not an invoice — an invoice asks for money that has already arrived and confuses everyone's books.

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 refusal, and what actually works for each.

Between 25% and 50% on anything where you buy materials, taken before you order them.

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

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in Ireland, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in New Zealand, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a SST invoice in Malaysia, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in South Africa, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in Singapore, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in the UAE, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT (USt) invoice in Germany, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST/HST invoice in Canada, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in Australia, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a VAT invoice in the United Kingdom, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a GST invoice in India, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

What has to appear on a Sales Tax invoice in the United States, which rates apply, and the local rule that catches people out.

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.

Price is rarely why you lose. Clarity, speed and a visible scope win more work than being cheapest.

Work out your real hourly cost first — including unbillable time — then price the job, not the hours.

Five to seven years in most countries — six from the annual return under India's GST rules, six years for UK VAT, generally three for the US IRS with longer in some cases.

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 people assume from a privacy angle, and riskier than they assume from a loss angle. The fix for the second is a backup, not a cloud account.

Speed to first invoice, whether it works without signal, what happens to your data if you stop paying, and whether the PDF looks like it came from a real business.

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.

If you send invoices and hand a summary to an accountant once a year, an invoice app is enough. If you need payroll, bank reconciliation or statutory filing, you 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 contain your clients' names, addresses, phone numbers and what they paid you. An offline app keeps that on your phone, where no breach, outage or price rise can reach it.