Free Invoice Generator

What goes in it

An invoice is a demand for payment, and the parts that make it one are the identifying number, the date, who owes what to whom, an itemised breakdown that can be checked, and the terms that say when it is due. The totals run in a fixed order: lines are summed, the discount comes off, tax is applied to what remains, and any deposit already paid is deducted last to give the amount due. That order matters, because applying tax before the discount produces a different figure.

What to get right

• A unique, sequential invoice number, which is what lets both sides refer to it later.
• Line descriptions a customer can recognise as the work you did.
• A due date rather than terms alone, since a date needs no interpretation.
• Whether tax applies to the work at all, which varies by state and by service.

Where this goes wrong

The most common reason an invoice goes unpaid is not refusal but friction: it does not match what was agreed, it lacks the purchase order or job reference the customer's system needs, or it arrived without a clear due date. None of those reads as a dispute to the customer, so nobody raises it and the invoice simply sits. Send it the day the work finishes, because the clock starts at the invoice date rather than at the job, and days spent not invoicing are days of credit nobody agreed to give.

Before you send it

• Check the number has not been used before.
• State a due date, not just payment terms.
• Include whatever job or purchase order reference the customer needs.
• Confirm whether tax applies to this work in your state before adding a rate.