What needs to be included when creating an invoice

Making sure your client receives a clear and concise invoice could be the difference in getting paid on time or not so, a good starting point is a well designed and professional invoice that makes a good impression on your clients. 

Most accounting software providers include invoice templates which can be modified and tailored to your business needs. This includes adding your logo, address, vat registration number etc. Your invoice needs to contain all the relevant information in order for your customer to recognise and accept the charge and avoid payment delays.

The essential requirements

Unique invoice number - this helps identify the invoice and makes allocating payment easier and, helps identify the transaction from a credit note or quotation.

Company name and address - your company name and address must be present, you can also include your logo which may well have your company name included as part of your logo. 

Date the goods or services were delivered - this is also referred to as the supply date which can be different to the invoice date but normally within the same month. 

Invoice date - date when the invoice was generated.

Description of the product or service - list clear and concise information about the goods and or services provided and a breakdown of prices. 

Total amount payable - the total of all the goods listed including any vat charged.

Payment terms and payment instructions - this is very important as your customer needs to know how and when to pay, you can list the bank details they should transfer the payment to or a credit card link that they can access to pay directly.

Purchase order - some clients require this shown on the invoice as it could delay payment if not quoted. 

VAT registration - if you're charging VAT then 

Company registration - as part of your company details this can be added to your invoice template. 

Most cloud accounting programs allow you to create more than one invoice template, this is very useful if you have different segments to your business for example, you may wish to raise a different style of invoice for services to products. If you're invoicing in a different currency you may well have more than one bank account you wish your clients to pay into so having an invoice layout for international clients may be a requirement for your business and an predetermined invoice template stating these can save you valuable time.