Invoice guides: help with every part of invoicing

What every invoice needs

An invoice is more than a request for money. Your client's bookkeeper uses it to pay you and to record the cost, and you use it later to show what you earned, so it has to say clearly who is billing whom, for what, when and for how much. In practice that means your name and address and your client's, an invoice number used for this invoice alone, the date, a description of the work with quantities and prices, the total, and how and by when you'd like to be paid.

On top of those basics, most countries add details of their own, and they usually come in with tax: a VAT or tax number, the rate and amount of tax, or a set sentence explaining why you charge none. These extras are where most mistakes happen, and a missing one can mean the invoice comes back from your client's accountant while your payment waits. The country guides set out the full list for each country, so you don't have to piece it together yourself.

How the guides are organised

The list below groups the guides by the kind of help they give. The general guides explain how invoicing works anywhere, from what an invoice is and what it's for to numbering, payment terms and how an invoice differs from a quote or a receipt. The templates give you a ready layout for an invoice or a quote, for when you'd rather start from the finished page than from the theory.

The country and situation pages are where the rules live. A country page explains what an invoice must show there and how tax works on it, with an example you can compare your own invoice against. A situation page covers one case in depth, such as a small-business scheme that lets you invoice without VAT, because those schemes come with their own wording that has to appear on the invoice.

Which guide to read first

Start from whatever is worrying you. If this is your first invoice, read how to make an invoice, which walks through each part in order, and then the page for the country your business is registered in. If you've invoiced for years but have just moved, or have taken on a first client abroad, go straight to the country page, because the tax details are usually what changes. And if someone has just mentioned a tax scheme you've never heard of, the matching situation page explains what it means for your invoice.

If your country doesn't have its own page yet, the general guides still cover the basics, which are much the same everywhere. The country-specific part is then mostly about tax: which rate to charge, which number to show, and what to write when no tax is due. Rules change, so each page shows when it was last updated, and for anything unusual a quick check with an accountant is worth the time.

Where to start making one

You can make the invoice in your browser and download it as a PDF or print it, without an account. The buttons on the country and situation pages open the maker set up for that case, with the right currency, paper size and VAT rate, or with reverse charge or the VAT exemption sentence already switched on. You enter your business details once, and the invoice number counts up on its own with each new invoice. If you'd like to see the finished layout first, have a look at the free invoice template.

Without an account, your browser keeps up to three invoices or quotes, which is enough to try it out. A free account saves ten new ones a month on all your devices and lets you send ten a month by email. One limit is worth knowing before you start: the maker produces a PDF, not an e-invoice such as XRechnung, Factur-X or a Peppol invoice, so if a client or your country requires one, you'll need another tool for that invoice.