It seems like you are interested ingetting an invoice template. If yes! Then you are at the right place.However, if in any case you do not have any idea about how can these invoice templates can serve you, then here you go!

This guide will not only equip you with invoice templates, but it will also enhance your abilities to use or to comprehend the effectiveness of better use of Invoices. It is structured in such a way that it’ll also act as a guideline to those who are new to use of invoices. So, let’s start this bydefining what is an Invoice? And why do businesses want Invoices atfirst place? Let us give a glimpse of an invoice template. You canalways jump to the end of the article to have more ideas of invoicetemplates.

Origin of Word Invoice

The word “Invoice” is originated from a French word “Envoyer”,which is used for the word “Send” in French. With the passage oftime, it changed into “Envoy” in French and “Invoy” inEnglish. Then the word of “In voy” obsoleted and changed into“Envoy” in later stages. With the passage of time, it obsoleted as well like previous forms of word, and then changed into the word“Invoice” by the time of mid16th Century. Since, the nit has not changed its shape, and retained its current form. So, the first use of “Invoice”word is emerged around 1560. The plural version of word “Invoice”means “dispatch of goods”.

Invoices as Statement, Bill, or as Sales Invoices

It is a document that contains specifics of transaction between seller and buyer of goods/ services.A typical invoice will have certain features. It will have quantity of product purchased, Price of goods or services, credentials of buying and selling parties, tax information, and a unique invoice number. If goods/ or services are availed on credit basis, then terms and conditions regarding mode of payment and deal maybe specified in the invoice. In addition, invoices are considered to ben on-negotiable, and their main objective is to keep track record of taxes paid, accounting/ record balancing, and for inventory purposes. Usually, businesses send out invoices after shipment of goods or completion of service provision.

According to UnitedNations Economic Commission for Europe, invoices have always been the important part of trade businesses. This invoicing process int rade businesses includes placement, acceptance and fulfilment of orders. This process also includes delivery of goods, and the payment made to finalize deal.

In earlier days, paper-based invoices were in fashion. However, the idea of electronic invoices have taken its places for sure. Paper-based invoices have their own drawbacks. These drawbacks include one of the most important aspect of delayed payments. Other drawbacks includes, errors in creating and entry of invoice, high operational cost for market agents, connexion of several systems, and cost of disputes and misunderstandings. Thee-invoicing/ electronic invoicing system that has emerged a few years ago, has whoop up the pace of invoicing process. The e-invoicing process has its own benefits for both the buyers and suppliers. For buyers, it reduces costs, improves payment, cash flow, and processing cycles, increase accuracy, and reduces the chances of duplication,fraud, and late payment fees. On the other hand, for suppliers, it ensures faster payments, fewer rejected invoices, increase in productivity, enhanced cash flow organization. It also offers additional finance options to buyer and sellers.

Before giving you the glimpse of invoice templates; let us equip you with the types of invoices. You might want to know, as each type has its own significance.

Invoices of Different Types

There are different types of invoices that you might want to consider as per your requirement.

Bid/ Proposal/ Proforma Invoices:It is a kind of preliminary appraisal against traditional bill orinvoices. It is presented to acquirer of the services or goods thatyour business is expected to charge this particular amount for thegoods or services that it is providing.

Recurring Invoices: It isused for such customers that happen to appear more frequently, moreperiodically, and more cyclically. Wink! Wink! You might need thisinvoice more often than you think. For that you can use e-invoicingservices to automate these invoices for you.

Interim Invoice: Sometimes,you have to send invoices on weekly, or monthly basis during along-run project. In such cases, you can use interim invoices tofulfil your purpose.

Past Due Invoices: Thisinvoice is usually produced for an old account or past transaction.It includes the original invoice and the interest accrued on thedelayed payment.

Final Invoice: This invoiceis produced after the completion of the transaction/ project.

However, if business haveinternational existence and have international clients, then theywould be creating or issuing the following type of invoices.

Commercial Invoice: Thisinvoice is required by the customs to keep the record of the goodsimported. It is also important to keep record of taxes, duties, andinformation regarding goods being transported. It also involvesvalue, insurance cost, transportation cost, and origin of thecountry.

Custom Invoice: This invoiceis just an extensive version of traditional commercial invoice.

Consular Invoice: It is atype of commercial invoice which has been endorsed by the consul ofthe resident of the importing country in the exporting country. 

Steps to Improve InvoicingProcess

Since, we are talking aboutinvoicing process, then it is very important for readers to know howto optimize this process. Xerosuggests some ways to improve or make invoicing process better. Firstof all, it suggests the importance of setting up a billing schedule.It recommends to prioritize the invoicing for paid work, since nowork is paid without invoicing. Try to lock a day and a time of theweek in your schedule. You can also hire a bookkeeper to manage yourinvoices. So, get ready and do not try to find excuses for keeping upwith the invoices.

There is famous notion that you willbe get paid more often, if you keep up with invoices more often. So,here is a thing, it’s a such a chore that businesses often find itburdensome, and only do it once a month, but it does not make anysense if you are being paid late, only because of late invoicing. Ifyou are slow at dispatching them to your customers, your customerswill be slower at paying them. It is correlated and it is a very badcombination for your business and you might like to avoid it. Try tosend your invoices weekly. By having a reasonable frequency ofsending invoices, you’ll be able to avoid backlog of issuance ofinvoices. You will find more efficient cash flow in your business,just by issuing invoices frequently.

You can also try connecting yourinvoices with the quotes, before starting the work. Try to use thedescription used in agreement in your invoice to make things clearfor your customer. By doing this, you can avoid disputes, andmisunderstandings.

Furthermore, you can also prepare aninvoice template on any spreadsheet software to save your time. Youcan pre-filled your specific information in your invoice template toavoid waste of time. Plus, you can also develop a formula that canincorporate taxes and total charges in it. As your business grow, youcan also get dedicated invoice maker to get things done for you.

Since, now we are talking about aninvoice maker, then let us make our readers aware, what it can do forthem. A dedicated invoice maker can increase the pace of yourinvoicing process. It can learn the pricing process of products andservices, while calculating the taxes. It can also prepare thenecessary documents for return filing. It can also perform daily banreconciliation. This reconciliation attribute will help you inkeeping the track of invoices. You will be able to point out thepending invoices. It also enables you to keep record of the invoicesfrom your phone. Not only that, it also allows you to send invoicesto your customers.

Moreover, invoicing process can beimproved by tracking materials and time in a better way. For example,if you want to track a transaction, then you have to open your recordbook, go through your emails, and put dozens of elements together, tofind out the status of it. You can use different apps likeTime-keepingapps, and expenseapps to keep yourself organized. The time keeping apps allows youto keep record of clock in and out of jobs from your mobile gadget.Whereas, expense apps allow you to keep record of receipts.

You can also smooth your invoicingprocess by offering convenient payment methods. You can offer onlinepayment methods to speed up the recovery of pending invoices. You canoffer Bank transfers, automatedclearing houses instruments (Paypal, etc.), credit and debitcards to ensure quick recovery. Your customers might delay theirpayments due to inconvenience they face while sending their payments.So, it’s a great idea to facilitate your customer while giving themeasy alternative options of payment.

You can also train your customers todevelop this habit of paying on time. You can improvise yourinvoicing process just by keeping in touch with your customers. Youdo not have to be harsh, however you can seek if everything is inplace, and there is nothing wrong with the invoice. By doing thiscourteously, you can take away their excuses for being late. You cangive them signals that you monitor your transactions very closely.You are able to keep this routine in your early invoices, then youmight be able to set up a tone for your customers.

Finally, the most important elementof keeping your invoice process effective is an accurate,professional, well-formatted chase of your invoices. Precisely, youhave to follow up your invoices to make sure the timely payment ofit. You can remind your customers about the due date. If you are notgoing to take it seriously for yourself, then do not expect yourcustomers to take it seriously for you.

While being roaming aroundeverywhere; and discussing everything, you did not notice that so farwe have not equip you with the art of making your own invoice. So,yes! This is where now we are going to sail now.

Important Components for Creationof Invoice

No matter what is the size of yourbusiness, or even you are working as a freelancer, below-listedcomponentsare key parts that should be included in your invoice.

Professional Header

That is first and the most importantpart of the invoice. People usually write their business name, orfull name if they are servicer providers and have established theirbusiness with their own name. It make things easier for the customer/client or the service acquirer to know what and to whom they arepaying to. This professional header should be written in easy to readfont to facilitate the acquirer.

It may also include your contactinformation, phone number, mailing address, email address, andwebsite; just beneath the name of your business. If you are addingthese details, then do not forget to bold the name of the business.You would like to stand out with your business name on your owninvoice.

For example

Adam Smith

Mailing Address: 1234/A Main Street

XYZ Town, LA 46782

Adamsmith@abcd.com

You can also logo of yourorganization at the top of the invoice as a part of your invoiceheader.

Contact Information of Client

After customizing your ownprofessional header, you can add client’s contact information init. This section may have the provision of receipt name, phonenumber, and address. We would advise you to place client’sinformation on the opposite side of the header. For example, if yourprofessional headers is placed on the right side of the invoice, thenclient’s information should be written below and on the left sideof the invoice. In any case, if you do not have the address of theclient, then you can just write the name and email ID of the client.

Date and Invoice Number

After basic information of theparties involved in the transaction, stating date and invoice numberin the invoice is one of the most important thing. It helps you inkeeping track record of the transaction and invoice. This informationcan be provided across the receipt’s information. You can not onlyadd invoice number and date prepared in it, but you can also addpayment due date, and preferred form of payment.

Now, it is totally up to you thathow you decide to assign numbers to you invoices. Usually businesseswrite “Invoice: 000001” or by associating their invoice numberswith the relevant party name like “Invoice: ABC 000001”.

No matter how you decide to assignnumber to your invoice, just remember to use a sequence in yourinvoices. In the payment due date section, you can write a timeframeor the date on which you client agreed to pay upon. Lastly, inpayment mode method, you can specify your preferred payment method.

Breakdown of the Services

This part of the invoice usuallyhave five sections. These sections are service, date, quantity,rate, and subtotal.

In service section, you can writethe description of the work performed or the goods provided. In thedate section, you would specifying the date at which goods wereprovided or delivered or services were rendered. In the quantity and hours column, you would be writing hours worked or quantity of goodprovided. Similarly, in the rate section you will quote the price youare charging for your goods or services. Finally, in the subtotalsection, you would be mentioning the total amount that you are goingto charge for your goods and services. In total section, you would beadding taxes, duties, other additional fees to the sub total, to makethings more clear.

Terms and Conditions

This is one of the most importantelement of your invoice. You can include all the additionalinformation relevant to terms and conditions of the transaction overhere. For example you might want to add terms and conditionsregarding return policy of goods, additional charges in case delayedpayments, other additional fees, and discounts offered if any. Youcan also add “Thank you” to appreciate your client for doingbusiness with you. 

That is it! We have equipped you well enough. Now! You can go out and be creative and make your own invoice while considering all these aspects in mind. We hope that youwould like this article. In case if you like this article, thenplease share it with your friends who needs to have an insight in thestructure of invoices. Please write us back with your comments,thoughts, and views about this article and definitely about invoices.

Below some of the invoicetemplates are given for your reference. Please have a close look.These example might help you in forming your own invoices. Best of luck for setting up your invoices. Do not forget to be creative whilecreating your piece of art.