Invoicing, answered
What has to be on a UK invoice?
Every invoice needs a unique number, your name and any business name, your address and contact details, the customer's name and address, a clear description of the work, the date you did it, the invoice date, the amount charged, any VAT and the total owed. Limited companies must show their full registered company name.
The template has a box for each of these. Switch on VAT registered and it adds your VAT number and the VAT rate on each line, which a VAT invoice also needs. Read the full guide to what goes on an invoice.
Source: GOV.UK, Invoices: what they must include.
Do I add VAT to my invoice?
Only if you're VAT registered. Only a VAT-registered business can issue a VAT invoice, and you must register once your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or you expect to go over it in the next 30 days alone. Not registered? Leave VAT off and the template shows no VAT lines.
Registered? Switch on VAT registered, add your VAT number and pick 20%, 5% or 0% for each line. Most building work is standard-rated, with some exceptions. VAT for tradespeople, explained.
Sources: GOV.UK, When to register for VAT; VAT guide (Notice 700); Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708).
How should I number my invoices?
Give every invoice its own number and run them in order, for example INV-0001, INV-0002, INV-0003. GOV.UK lists a unique identification number as a must, and a full VAT invoice needs a sequential number that identifies it. This template remembers the last number you downloaded and suggests the next one.
One simple series is easiest to live with: you can find any invoice quickly and spot a gap straight away.
When is an invoice due?
Whenever you and the customer agreed, so put the due date on the invoice. Between businesses, if no date was agreed, the law treats payment as late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice or you finish the work, whichever is later. Agreed terms between businesses usually can't run past 60 days.
If a business customer pays late you can claim interest and debt recovery costs: work it out with the late payment calculator, then see how to chase an unpaid invoice.
Sources: GOV.UK, When a payment becomes late; Claim debt recovery costs on late payments.
How do I show a deposit on an invoice?
Type the deposit the customer has already paid into the "Deposit already paid" box. The invoice then shows the full total, takes the deposit off and shows the balance due, so the customer sees exactly what's left to pay. If you're VAT registered, VAT on a deposit is normally due when you receive it.
How to take a deposit, and what to put in writing.
Source: VAT guide (Notice 700), tax points for deposits.
Is this invoice template really free?
Yes. No sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many you make. It runs in your browser: what you type, your logo and your bank details stay on this device and are never sent to us. The TradeLinkers app goes further: it numbers invoices for you, emails them and shows when they've been opened.
Your details are kept in this browser so they're still there next time. Use Clear form to remove them.
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