How to make an invoice

Before you start: what you need

Gather this once and keep it somewhere you can copy from:

• Your business name, address, email and phone. Add your logo if you have one.
• Any tax or registration number you have to print. In Canada that is your GST/HST number if you are registered; in Australia your ABN; in the UK your VAT number if you are VAT-registered.
• How you want to be paid: bank details, e-Transfer email, PayPal, Zelle.
• Your usual payment terms (for example 14 days, or Net 30).
• The client's full name or company name, their address, and any purchase order number they gave you.
• What you did: dates, hours or quantities, prices, materials.

With that in hand, the invoice itself is just filling in boxes.

Step by step: the same 7 steps, whatever tool you use

1. Title it "Invoice" and give it the next number in your series. Never reuse a number. If this is your first invoice, start at 0001 or something like 2026-001 and count up from there. More on this in how to number invoices.
2. Date it with today's date, and note the date of the work if it was earlier.
3. Add your details and the client's. Use the client's legal or company name, not a nickname or a contact person alone.
4. List the work line by line. One line per service or product, with quantity, unit price and line total. "Weekly office clean (4 visits) at $185" is clearer than "October cleaning: $740".
5. Add tax, if you charge it, as a separate line showing the rate. Apply any discount before the tax, not after.
6. Write the total and the due date. Put an actual date ("Due November 6, 2026") rather than only "14 days".
7. Say how to pay and ask the client to quote the invoice number. Then save it as a PDF and send it.

That is the whole process. The difference between the three methods below is how much of this you retype each time.

Three ways to make one

By hand (paper or a carbon invoice book)

Fine for a market stall or a one-off job with no internet. Buy a numbered duplicate book so you keep a copy and the numbers run in order. Write clearly, add the tax and total with a calculator, and photograph your copy so it cannot get lost. The downside: no tidy PDF for business clients, and copying everything into your records later.

In Word, Google Docs, Excel or Google Sheets

Make a template once with your details at the top and an empty table of line items. In a spreadsheet, use formulas: quantity times price for each line, a SUM for the subtotal, then the tax line and total. Each time, use "Save as" or "Make a copy" first so you never overwrite last month's invoice, update the number and date by hand, and export to PDF.

Common traps: forgetting to change the invoice number, an old client's name left in a cell, and a formula that does not include a line you added at the bottom.

With an invoice generator

A generator does the arithmetic, the numbering and the layout for you. In Duebolt you type your business details once (they are remembered on your device), pick or add the client, tap your usual items, and download the PDF. The number counts up by itself, and the tax name, currency and paper size follow the country you pick. It is free and needs no signup, so it suits anyone who invoices a few times a month and does not want a spreadsheet.

The checklist before you hit send

Then open the PDF once on your phone. If it reads well there, it reads well anywhere.

Mistakes that slow down payment

• Sending it late. Invoice on the day the job finishes. Every day you wait is usually a day added to when you get paid.
• Vague descriptions. "Services rendered" invites a question. "Kitchen tap replaced, 1.5 hrs labor plus parts" does not.
• Sending it to the wrong person. In a company, the person who hired you is often not the person who pays. Ask who should receive invoices.
• No payment terms. If you do not say when, many clients will pay when it suits them.
• Editing a sent invoice. If something was wrong, send a corrected document and keep a record of the old one, rather than quietly changing it.
• No follow-up. Put the due date in your calendar. If it passes, send a polite reminder the next day. Our overdue invoice email guide has templates.

For ready-made layouts by trade, see the invoice template page, or the cleaning invoice template used for the example on this page.