The short version
An invoice needs eight things: who it is from, who it is for, an invoice number, the invoice date, a due date, a line for each piece of work with its hours and rate, the total, and how to pay. Everything else is optional.
1. Who it is from, and who it is for
Put your name or business name at the top, with an email address the client can reply to. Add a postal address if the client’s accounts team asks for one.
For the client, use the name they pay bills under, which is not always the name of the person you work with. With a larger client, ask where invoices should go before you send the first one. An invoice sent to your contact can sit in their inbox for a week before anyone in accounts sees it.
2. A number and two dates
Give every invoice a number that no other invoice of yours has. It is how both sides refer to it afterwards: “Has 014 been paid?”
Then two dates. The invoice date is the day you send it. The due date is the day the money should arrive. Print the due date itself, not just “Net 14”, so nobody has to count days. What the common terms mean is covered in invoice payment terms.
3. One line for each piece of work
This is the part clients read, and the part most invoices get wrong. Each line has:
- A date, or a range for work that ran over several days.
- What was done, in a sentence the client would recognize.
- The hours, as a decimal: 1.75, not 1:45.
- The rate and the amount, so each line can be checked on its own.
Compare the same week written two ways:
| Hard to approve | Easy to approve |
|---|---|
| Work, 10.75 hours | Nov 2: Kickoff call and notes, 1 h Nov 3: Research and first outline, 3.5 h Nov 4: Draft delivered for review, 4 h Nov 6: Revisions and final hand-off, 2.25 h |
Both add up to the same amount. Only the second answers the question the client would otherwise write back to ask. There is more on this, with examples for several kinds of work, in how to describe your work on an invoice.
4. Fees and costs that are not hours
A flat fee goes on its own line with a quantity and a price: one setup fee, or six templates at a price each. A cost you paid on the client’s behalf, such as a license or travel, goes on its own line at the amount you paid. Keeping these apart from the hours shows the client what was your time and what was not.
5. The total, and how to pay
Add the lines and show one total. If you agreed a discount, show the subtotal, the discount and the amount due, in that order.
Then say how to pay: a PayPal or Venmo name, a Zelle address, bank details or a payment link. A client who has to ask how to pay you will pay later than one who doesn’t.
A filled-in example
Here is an invoice with all eight parts in place. It is the hourly invoice template, which you can open and edit.
6. Send it the day the work ends
Payment terms count from the invoice date, so every day between finishing and invoicing is a day added to when you are paid. Attach the invoice as a PDF, and put the number, the amount and the due date in the subject line of the email, so it can be found later without opening it.
If the due date passes, a short reminder usually settles it. There are five to copy in overdue invoice emails.
Mistakes that delay payment
- No due date. “Payable on the usual terms” gives the client nothing to schedule.
- One line for everything. A single total with no breakdown invites a reply asking what it covers.
- No way to pay. The invoice should be the only thing the client needs open in order to pay it.
- The wrong recipient. Sent to your contact when it should have gone to accounts.
- Sent late. An invoice for work finished a month ago starts its terms a month late.