Invoicing Guides for Small Businesses

How an invoice asks for payment on stated terms, records the sale in your books and backs up your income for US tax.

What an invoice is, who issues it and what it contains.

Your details and the client's, numbering and dates, each charge, totals, payment terms, how to pay and notes.

What each line item needs, building the invoice step by step, and discounts, taxes and pass-through costs.

UK and EU rules on invoice numbers, the formats you can use and checking a series.

Choosing a format and a series, a starting number, a numbering log, and handling voided invoices and gaps.

Checking the invoice, choosing how to send it, timing, a covering message and confirming the client received it.

Starting from a template, filling it in, numbering and checking totals, and saving it as a PDF to send.

Invoicing mistakes and how to fix each one, with a calculation error caught before sending.

Adding and importing clients, finding a client, checking what they owe and setting up reminder emails.

Why save items and services, adding, editing and deleting them, and seeing which items sell.

The seller's invoice and the buyer's bill, accounts receivable and payable, and one job in two sets of books.

Who sends each and when, how the PO number links them, and an invoice that doesn't match its order.

What each document is, when to send each and what the IRS says to keep.

How an invoice and an account statement differ, when to send each, and payments that don't match an invoice.

What a purchase order includes, how it fits with a quote and an invoice, and invoicing against one.

What a proforma invoice is for, what to put on it, how it differs from a commercial invoice and deposits against one.

When you need one for shipping, what US import rules and UK export guidance ask for, and how it differs from a proforma invoice.

The three names for one document, when it's used, and how it differs from a debit note, a refund or a new invoice.

When to issue a credit memo, how it shows in the accounts, what to put on it and credit notes in the UK and India.

When to issue a debit note, how it shows in the accounts and debit notes in the UK and India.

When the customer writes the supplier's invoice, UK VAT rules for self-billing and controls for both sides.

How credit terms are written, the types of payment terms and what to put on the invoice.

What net and n/30 mean, how to count the due date and net 30 with an early-payment discount.

When a business payment is late in the UK, the EU late payment directive and the position in the US.

What to put in a late payment policy, where to publish it, how to communicate it and applying it.

Setting the terms first, choosing a flat fee or a percentage, checking local rules and showing the fee on the invoice.

Early-payment, volume and line-item discounts, how accounting describes them and showing them on an invoice.

One record of every invoice, a small set of statuses, recording payments and reviewing unpaid invoices by age.

How an invoice becomes overdue, tracking how long it's been unpaid, and late fees and interest.

What to put in every reminder, when to send them and how the tone changes over time.

Steps before you escalate, the escalation path and keeping a follow-up log.

Finding out why the client paid part, recording and confirming the payment, and disputed amounts.

A process for any dispute, handling each type, writing off an unpaid invoice in the US and when to bring in a lawyer.

The receivables process, two ratios for measuring it and how long a studio takes to collect.

What invoice payment is and how paying by invoice works.

What a deposit invoice should say, how much to ask for, recording the deposit and crediting it on the final invoice.

Settling terms before the first hour, time records the client can check, decimal hours and laying out the invoice.

When milestone invoicing fits, defining a billable milestone and US federal performance-based payments.

How a progress invoice is calculated, construction pay applications, and US federal progress payments and retainage.

Choosing the retainer type, writing the rules into the contract, and when and what to invoice.

Setting up a recurring invoice, proration, failed automatic payments and consent for automatic charges.

The parts of a billing cycle, calendar and anniversary billing, and a mid-month start.

Settling rates, scope and timing, what to put on the invoice, deposits, retainers, expenses and US taxes.

Choosing the invoice currency, legal names and tax IDs, VAT and reverse charge, and payment instructions.

What a VAT invoice is for in the UK, what a full one shows in the UK and EU, and simplified VAT invoices.

Invoices as US tax records, what UK invoices and VAT invoices include, and EU VAT invoices.

How the EU defines an electronic invoice, how it differs from a PDF, and one invoice as data fields.

Country-by-country e-invoicing dates from official sources, including the EU's VAT in the Digital Age.

Finding which rules apply, checking your invoice data, choosing how to connect and testing before your date.

How factoring works, how the British Business Bank describes it, the fees and the trade-offs.

Borrowing against receivables, eligibility, costs and how it compares with a line of credit.

What you can automate, what to keep manual and how to set it up.

What AI does in invoicing, AI versus rules, testing it on your own invoices and keeping a person in the loop.

What an AR agent does, what vendors say their agents do, checking your records first and running a pilot.

Listing how you bill, checking must-haves on vendors' own pages, yearly cost, getting your data out and testing.

What to compare across tools, with guides by type of business.

What free can mean, the tools' free plans and their limits, and how to choose.

What free plans leave out, costs that still apply on a free plan and questions to answer before you pay.

Free plans and their limits, low-cost paid plans, and payment fees from the providers' own pages.

What Excel invoice templates do, the trade-offs, and when a spreadsheet is enough.

What each tool offers for online payments and what to check before you choose.

QuickBooks' own invoicing, when a separate tool makes sense and questions to ask about any QuickBooks integration.

What working with Stripe can mean, tools that connect to Stripe and what to check before you choose.

What to check on a tool's Zapier page, invoicing triggers and actions, and how Zapier counts tasks.

Browser-based tools and native Mac apps, Numbers for a few invoices, and checking Intel or Apple silicon support.

Invoicing apps with an iPad version, invoicing a job on site and what to check before you choose.

What to check for a firm, the tools, and your firm's own receivables.

What agencies need from invoicing software, a monthly agency invoice and how to choose.

What consultants need, a fixed-fee engagement with a deposit and how to choose.

What contractors need, from estimates and deposits to payments, and how to choose.

What designers need, from estimates and deposits to retainers, and how to choose.

What to look for, and a month of hourly development work.

What an online store needs from its software, and matching the setup to how you sell.

What to look for, and a freelance writer's invoice.

How claims billing and patient invoicing differ, what HHS says about billing data and vendors, and questions to ask.

What to check for a law practice, trust accounts and a month of bills.

Project billing models, which tools describe which model, and one website project billed four ways.

Agents, brokerages, property managers and investors, with commissions, trust accounts and tax forms.

What SaaS billing needs beyond an invoice, how proration works, and annual plans with revenue not yet earned.

What to check for a startup, the tools, and keeping track of what's owed.

What changes, what to move and what to keep, a cutover plan and cleaning Excel files for import.

What moves and how, exporting from FreshBooks, re-creating unpaid invoices and a cutover month.

Exporting from QuickBooks Online, what happens to its data after you cancel, and open invoices and history.

Exporting from Wave, deciding on open invoices and history, switching over and closing your Wave account.

Deciding what moves, exporting from Xero, importing clients and dealing with open and recurring invoices.