How to Create and Send an Invoice in 2024

What Is an Invoice?

More specifically, the strict definition of an invoice is a documented list of charges sent by a business to its customers. These are usually reserved for bigger purchases or services – you wouldn’t receive an invoice for a vase or book you bought, but you would expect one from an electrician or plumber.

If your business has various expenditures for each transaction, like man hours and various necessary resources like lumber or parts, you’ll likely want to bill your customers (or even other businesses) via invoices. This allows the recipient to see each moving part of the transaction, rather than blindly paying a large sum of money.

Creating an Invoice, Step by Step

Here are the specific steps you need to follow in order to make top-notch invoices for your business.

1. Create or Download an Invoice Template

Invoices aren’t going to be the most visually dazzling documents in the world, but you can use premade templates to jazz up your invoices. The best way to get a wide selection of invoice templates is by using an invoice software platform. Many of these come preloaded with various templates that you can use to add your own flair to your business’s personality. A good example is Zoho which offers 16 templates.

2. Brand Your Invoice

You’ll want to add your logo, colors, and overall branding to your invoices. This isn’t strictly essential, but will make your business look a lot more official, as well as ensure your customer that they’re paying the right person. After all, it’s a lot more reassuring for a customer to receive a virtual invoice with the correct branding rather than just a document telling them to send money to a recipient. Some invoice software require higher level plans to allow you to add logos and branding, but others include it on all of their plans.

3. List the Goods or Services You’re Charging for

Tally up all the resources and time spent on the product or service. For example, if you were creating an invoice for a fence your business built, you’d tally up the cost of all the lumber and nails, while also adding in your hourly rate and man hours on the project. These should all be listed individually so that both you and your customer understand the cost of the project.

4. Calculate the Grand Total

A simple but crucial step, add up the cost of all the supplies and hours that were used on the project (as well as taking off any discounts or deductions, which can be automated through some invoice software) in order to get the final total that is owed by the customer. You’ll also want to make sure that taxes are correctly calculated based on your state.

5. Add the Correct Dates

Make sure that everything is dated correctly. This helps with filing (for both you and your customers), and can also serve as a reminder for when you need to follow up with payment reminders, especially if you have several outstanding invoices at a time.

6. Mention Terms and Conditions

This will depend on your state, business type, and your own legal desires, you’ll need to write the legal specifications on your invoices, pertaining to things like payment processing or outstanding payment penalties.

And with that, your invoice is done! Make sure to review it so that you’re not under or over-charging your customers, as once it’s paid, it’ll be a lot harder to fix.

How to Send an Invoice

There are a couple of ways to correspond with the recipient of your invoice. Here are some key ones.

1. Sending an invoice by email

The most common way to virtually send an invoice is through email. The invoice will usually be attached as a PDF file, along with any messages from your business and instructions on how to pay the invoice.

2. Why email is usually better

Email is the most common form of invoice sending for a reason – it’s got the most advantages. Email is usually checked very frequently, and it’s instant when compared to snail mail, meaning you won’t have to wait days to correspond with your customers.

It’s also far cheaper than paper billing, and hey, it’s better for the environment too. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to think of a reason to opt for paper billing over email billing.

3. Sending an invoice via text

You can send an invoice through a text message, with largely the same content as an email. While this can be convenient for some people who are often on the go, sending files over text can be a bit questionable, and nowadays, most people have their email on their phone anyway.

4. Set Reminders and Automated Invoices

Invoice software will allow you to set automatic reminders in order to make sure your customers are aware that they have an outstanding invoice. Rather than juggling ten different clients in your head or a notepad, invoice software will send reminders based on time elapsed between sending and receiving payment.

You can also use invoice software to set up recurring invoices. If your business has a contract with another business or customer, you won’t have to create a new invoice every time, you’ll just need to set up recurring invoices and let it run over the course of your contract.

Tips When Writing an Invoice

Here are some general tips for when it comes to writing the invoice itself.

• Make sure it looks professional – like we mentioned, adding your business’s branding is a great way to make your invoice look clean and professional. However, avoiding typos and using good design principles (like proper spacing) are also great ways to look professional
• Use and customize an invoice template – if you’re worried about things like design, using a premade invoice template can be a very helpful way to remove that worry from your mind. Even though it’s a template, you’ll be able to customize it to suit your business and preferences
• Include the invoice # in the subject line and any important information – if either you or your customer need to search a busy inbox for your invoice, make sure to put the most relevant information in the subject line. This would include your business, the customer’s name, and the invoice number
• Keep a record of all invoices (especially outstanding ones) – keeping records of all your business transactions is always good practice, but it’s an especially good idea to keep an eye on any invoices that haven’t been paid yet
• Follow up – if a customer is taking more than a week (or an agreed upon time frame) to pay their invoice, shoot them an email and make sure they’re aware that it’s still outstanding, and make sure they don’t need anything else from you

How Invoicing Software Can Help

There are loads of ways that invoicing software can help you create and send out invoices. There are tonnes of invoice software on the market, offered by larger businesses like FreshBooks, Xero, and Zoho.

Firstly, and possibly most importantly, invoice software platforms often come loaded with templates that can help you create professional-looking invoices.

They can also aid in the distribution of said invoices, making it easier for you to send reminders to customers and keep on top of reminders. These software platforms can also make it easier for customers to pay you, as they often integrate with payment processors like PayPal or Stripe, as well as linking to ecommerce websites.

And beyond the invoice process itself, these platforms can offer you in-depth analytics on your invoice process the longer you use them. You’ll be able to create reports on all of the data you accumulate over your usage, which can help you improve your workflows overall.

If you’re worried about pricing, don’t be. Some software platforms like Wave are free, while even some paid options, like Sage, are extremely affordable, costing only $10 per month. And, if you’re worried about ease of use, you can find plenty of guides on our site on how to use QuickBooks online, invoicing tools and other accounting software.

Best Software for Creating and Sending Invoices

While invoice software can generally help you, they all have strengths and weaknesses. Here’s a table to help you find a software platform that can work for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions