Free Invoice Template

An invoice is a document that lists the products and services a business provides to a client and establishes an obligation on the part of the client to pay the business for those products and services.

Invoicing is crucial for small businesses, because invoices are the business documents that enable companies to get paid for their services.

What is included on an invoice?

Typically, an invoice document will contain a combination of the following details:

• The word ‘Invoice’
• A unique invoice number for both the seller’s and the buyer’s reference
• The name and contact details of the buyer
• The name and contact details of the seller
• The date the product was sent/delivered, or the date the service was rendered
• The date the invoice was sent
• The payment terms (detailing the method of payment, when the payment should be received, details about late payment charges, early payment discounts, etc.)
• A description of the product/service
• The price per unit of the products (if applicable)
• The total amount charged

How to create an invoice number

You need to have a unique invoice number on every bill you send. This is to help you, the customer, or potentially auditors to track down specific invoices.

An invoice number can be any string of numbers and letters. You can use different approaches to create an invoice number, such as:

• numbering your invoices sequentially, for example INV00001, INV00002
• starting with a unique customer code, for example XER00001
• including the date at the start of your invoice number, for example 2021-01-001
• combining the customer code and date, for example XER-2021-01-001

Your numbering system can help you organize and search for past invoices quickly.

There are several different types of invoices

• Proforma Invoice 
• Commercial Invoice
• Timesheet invoice
• Recurring Payment Invoice

The proforma invoice template is a document issued to customers requesting payment for a product or service before the product is delivered, or the service rendered. It is popular in the realm of shipping, as it gives customers a chance to inspect the purchased item before paying for it in full. It can also be used as a quote, giving the customer a sense of what a product would cost before going through with the order.

A commercial invoice is an international shipping document provided by the supplier to the customer detailing the type and value of goods sold. The commercial invoice is used by customs to determine duties owed.

A timesheet invoice combines a standard invoice and a timesheet into one, allowing hours worked to be documented and charged-for. The timesheet provides space for stating what an employee’s hourly rate ($/hr) is, the time they began working, clocked out, the total hours worked each day, if they were sick or took a vacation day, and the job or task they worked on.

The recurring payment invoice is for any type of credit card or automated clearing house (ACH) that will periodically be charged on a weekly or monthly basis. An ACH is a system by which a client authorizes a payee to automatically debit their account by electronic means. The payee must have a signed agreement with the client that authorizes the payments to take place. Issuing an official invoice to the client can serve as a reminder that they will be debited on a regular basis and a breakdown of the dates on which the debits will occur.