Step by step guide to make a beautiful invoice

Invoicing is the initial and most vital step in revenue collections for a business. An invoice ascertains a requirement for payment of products or services offered to customers. Accurate and relevant template designs for invoices portray professionalism and help expresses a brand for your company or business.

Whether you’ve sent out many invoices before, or you are working on creating your first, it is important to know how to generate an invoice properly. There are many different sections in creating an invoice and missing one may leave you looking unprofessional and result in you getting paid late by your customers. They are an essential part of your communication with your clients. Hence, you should take adequate consideration in creating accurate invoice templates that are professional and showcase the image you foresee for your business.  

Tips to follow for creating the perfect invoice

Invoice structure

Before filling your billing details it is important to design the invoice structure and choose an appropriate template for your invoices. You should design it to fit within the standard margins of 8.5 x 11” of a page. Create and leave out space for essential information that will include a header, your customer’s contact details, itemized list of your services, payment due dates and payment terms in your invoice. 

Style and Brand

Invoices are an opportunity to convey the personality and professionalism of your brand and business. All small businesses should have consistent and professional branding. If you already have a website or cards for your business, designing your invoice to align with your existing materials in terms of fonts, logos, etc would be a good step.

Information readability

Making the information on your invoices easily readable is the most important element as it allows your customers to quickly and easily get all the information they need to plan for your payment. Using elements such as tables and grids can help itemize your description and make information easily readable. Using contrasting colours can also make the most important information pop from the general information on the invoice.

Deadlines and payment totals

Your invoice amount due and the payment due dates are two of the most essential pieces of information you should include in your design, as they let your customers know how much they owe and the date by which they need to pay you for your services. If those two pieces of information are clear and stand out from the other information, it can aid towards motivating customers to pay you faster. You can make them stand out by using bold and large font types. There are also invoicing software available that automate these payment reminders for you which reduce your operational burden. 

Add important details

All businesses should never forget to add the essential details in an invoice that makes it whole. This information should be displayed to your customers clearly. The header of the invoice should contain details such as your company name, address and contact details. The invoice information section should have the client’s name and address, GST number and contact details. Your invoice details sections should have your invoice number, invoice date, due date and GST information. The particulars sections should have a detailed description of the services or goods provided along with their SAC or HSN code, relevant GST and prices. Your terms and conditions section should contain late fee policy, bank account details, delivery information and return policies if any. You should also have a provision to make notes for partial payments and deposits. The more relevant information that you provide on your invoice will only reduce the time taken to get you paid.

Payment methods and terms

Your preferred payment methods and payment related terms should not be the most prominent information on your invoice but needs to be mentioned clearly in its own allocated space. It is essential so you can state the payment methods you accept and outline any late fees you may charge. 

Invoicing the face of your business finances

Even small details such as margins, white space distribution, font size, scaling can have a major effect on the outcome of your desired invoice. There’s a lot of responsibility balancing on your invoices, so they should be as thorough as possible. The above-mentioned tips should definitely be handy while finalizing invoice templates and formatting them before you send them to your customers. As invoicing is such a key operational function there are many software available that can help you with this process. Make sure you choose one that is suitable for your business type and has all the functionality that you require.  In the end your invoices should be well-crafted, legible and accurate.