Invoices are part of the dreaded paperwork, but they need to get done so that you can get paid. You’re probably all over your invoices and how they look, but to help you get paid faster and avoid any confusion, make sure you can check off all of the boxes below!

⬜ 1. Your company logo

To give your invoices a polished and professional look, include your company logo and any branding colours or fonts. It might seem a bit pointless, but the more professional your invoices look, the more likely clients are to take you seriously and pay on time. The formatting should be tidy and clear so they know exactly what to pay and when.

⬜ 2. Your contact information

Nothing’s worse than not getting paid because the client had a question and couldn’t find your details to ask you. They could have just googled it, but the easier you can make things, the better. Include your business name, address, and any contact numbers so clients can reach you if they need to. Include your company email on there too – not your personal crazytradie7758@hotmail.com one…

⬜ 3. The client’s details

As well as your own details, it’s important to have the client’s contact details on there too. They need to know that it’s addressed to them specifically so make sure you know who is handling the accounts side of things – the person you’ve been dealing with might not actually be the person who sorts the payment.

⬜ 4. An invoice number

If you’re sending out a lot of invoices, it can be easy to lose track of which one is which. That’s why it’s important to have some kind of system to number each invoice. Use a letter and number code that makes sense to you, it could be the client’s initials and 001 if it’s their first invoice, or something related to the project so you know what it’s referring to.

⬜ 5. The services you’re charging for

To avoid any questions that will delay the payment process, itemise exactly what services you provided to the client. If it’s a general construction service with one large amount, they’ll be more likely to come back to you asking for a breakdown of what it was you did, so you may as well do that from the get-go.

⬜ 6. Total amount due

This one is obvious, but you’d be surprised how many invoices don’t make this clear. If the client has to search around the page for the total, they’re not going to get it sorted quickly. Highlight the total amount they need to pay in any way you can to make it stand out. You can make the font bigger, make it bold, physically highlight it – whatever works for you. 

⬜ 7. Payment due date

Again, you need to make this one super obvious, or clients won’t remember when to pay it. It’s better to include a specific date as well, rather than just ‘due in 7 days’. Highlight this date in there, and you can even put the total amount and when it’s due at the top of the invoice.

⬜ 8. Types of accepted payment

It’s good practice to offer a few different payment options for your clients, particularly if your jobs are quite costly. Whatever payment methods you do offer you should be included on your invoices so your clients can choose how they’d like to pay.