Free Invoice Template for Freelancers

What's on the template

The template is deliberately plain. Every block on it exists because a client or their accounts team needs it before they can pay, in the order they usually look for it.

• From — your name or business name, contact name, address, email and phone.
• Bill To — the client's company, the person who owns the invoice, and a billing address.
• Invoice number and dates — a unique number, the issue date, the due date and the payment terms that produced that due date.
• PO or project reference — the reference your client's accounts team will look for, if they gave you one. It is the most common reason a correct invoice gets sent back.
• Service period — the dates the work covers, so the invoice matches the client's own records.
• Line items table — description, rate, quantity, units and amount for each piece of work.
• Subtotal, tax and total — the arithmetic, with the tax rate spelled out rather than hidden in the total.
• Payment details and terms — how to pay, what to put in the reference, and when the money is due.
• Currency — a one-line note saying which currency the amounts are in.

How do you use this invoice template?

1. Fill in the header and the dates. Put your details and your client's details in the two top blocks, then set a sequential invoice number, an issue date, and a due date that actually matches the terms you agreed. Save a copy before you start and the next invoice is a two-minute edit.
2. Add a line for each piece of work. Describe the work precisely enough that nobody has to ask what it covers, then set the quantity, units and rate and update the subtotal, tax and total by hand. If the hours are already logged, you can generate the invoice from your tracked time instead of retyping them.
3. Print it or save it as a PDF. Use the print button at the top of this page and choose “Save as PDF” in your browser's dialog, then send the PDF to your client. Print on A4 with the default margins and turn off “Headers and footers”, or your URL and the print date end up in the margins.

Why the detail beats the design

Nobody has ever paid an invoice because the header used a nicer typeface. Clients pay when they can find three things quickly: the total, the work it covers, and how to pay. A plain template that lines those up beats a designed one that buries them.

Where invoices actually stall is the detail. A missing invoice number means someone has to email you before accounting can file the document. A vague due date drops you out of this month's payment run. A line that reads “Website work — £3,500” invites the question you then have to answer twice.

That is why the template itself was never the problem, and why it is worth checking the fields every invoice needs before you touch the layout. Fill the blanks in properly and any plain document gets paid.

Frequently asked questions