How to make an invoice

An invoice is a request for payment, and it does its job when it answers three questions instantly: who owes what, for what, and by when. Here is the six-step version — and if you want to skip straight to the document, the invoice generator produces a finished PDF from these exact fields.

1. Add your business details

Your trading name, address and a contact that works (email is fine). If you are VAT-registered, your VAT number goes here too — UK invoices legally require it once you are registered.

2. Identify the client

The legal name of the business you are billing, with their billing address. For companies, use the entity name on file with accounts payable — “Acme LLC” gets paid faster than a contact’s first name.

3. Number the invoice and date it

Use a unique, sequential number (INV-2026-001, 002…) — never restart at 1 within a year, and never reuse a number. Add an issue date and a due date; “Net 14” or “Net 15” is standard for small business, “Net 30” for corporate AP departments.

4. List what you delivered

One line per deliverable, with a quantity and a rate. “Landing page design — 1 × $1,800” reads professionally; “work done — $1,800” invites questions. Specificity here is what makes clients pay without replying to ask what a line means.

5. Add tax, then state the total

Apply the correct rate for your jurisdiction (VAT, GST or Sales Tax — the label matters on VAT invoices), show the subtotal and the tax separately, and put the total due in the most visually prominent number on the page.

6. State how to pay

Bank details, payment link, or “invoice paid via platform”. Every extra email round-trip to get payment details adds days to your cash flow. Put the terms (Net 15) and the details in the same place.