Free service invoice template

How to write a service invoice

1. Add your name or business and your contact details. A logo is optional.
2. Add the client and say in the project line what the invoice covers, such as a job or a month.
3. List each service with hours or a number of sessions as the quantity and your rate as the price.
4. Pick the terms and check the due date, then say how the client can pay.
5. Download the PDF and send it with a short message, or print it and hand it over.

What a service invoice should include

• Your name or business name and contact details
• The client's name and, for a business client, the company name
• An invoice number and the dates of issue and payment due
• A clear description of each service, with the date, the hours or the number of sessions
• Your rate, the line amounts, any tax or discount, and the total
• Any deposit already paid, and the amount due
• How to pay, and your payment terms

Hourly, flat fee or per session

The same invoice covers all three. Bill by the hour by entering the hours as the quantity and your hourly rate as the price. Bill a flat fee with a quantity of one. Bill sessions or visits with the number of sessions and a price for each. A tutor might have one line for the sessions and another for a workbook. A cleaner might list a deep clean and extras such as the oven or windows. A freelancer might split a project into design, revisions and delivery. Whatever the split, clients pay faster when each line says what the work was and when it happened.

Getting paid on time

Send the invoice as soon as the work is done, with the due date and your payment details on it. For people who pay you every month, use a running invoice number and send it on the same day each month. If a client often forgets, shorter terms or a deposit at the start help. A kind reminder a few days before the due date is usually enough. Late fees can be limited by law where you are, so treat them as something to agree in your terms in advance, not as something to add afterwards.

Invoice, receipt or estimate?

In short: an estimate comes before the work, an invoice asks for payment, and a receipt confirms it. The guide receipt vs invoice has the detail. Send a price first when the job is big enough that the client wants to know the cost: the estimate maker does that. Send the invoice when the work is done. When the client has paid, a receipt or a payment receipt confirms it, which matters if they paid in cash. If you work by the hour for one client, a weekly timesheet is a good record to attach. For work on a building or a home, the contractor invoice template has separate sections for labor, materials and equipment. The invoice maker is the general version of this page.

Keep your invoices

Save every invoice as a PDF in one folder, named by number. If you work for yourself, your invoices are the record of the income you earned. Ask your accountant or tax professional how long to keep them and how to report the income. This page is not tax advice.