Invoice template

An invoice is the document you send a customer to ask for payment for goods or services you've supplied. It says what you supplied and when, what each item costs, how much VAT applies and when the money is due. This free Excel template has the header details, one line per item with quantity, unit price, discount and VAT calculated line by line, and the totals, laid out to cover what HMRC expects on a full VAT invoice.

Download the Excel template

Excel (.xlsx) · 10 KB · free, no sign-up

Running a company of 30 to 200 people? Documents like this are now worth money.

Not VAT-registered? Leave the VAT rate and VAT number blank: only VAT-registered businesses can issue VAT invoices.

Not ready to bill yet? To offer a price before the work is agreed, use the quote template. To place an order with one of your own suppliers, use the purchase order template.

What's in the template

The download has an Invoice sheet (twelve header fields above fifteen item lines), an Example - Invoice sheet and a read-me. You type the description, quantity, unit price excluding VAT, any discount and the VAT rate; net, VAT and gross for each line, and the three totals, calculate themselves. The fictional invoice below shows how the finished document reads (the Example sheet holds the same invoice):

Header field	Example entry
Invoice number	INV-2026-0187
Invoice date	16 October 2026 (also the tax point)
Date of supply	14 October 2026, when the work was finished
Payment due by	15 November 2026
Customer PO number	PO 55120

Description	Qty	Unit price	Discount	Net	VAT rate	VAT	Gross
Planned service, combination oven (per oven)	3	165.00		495.00	20%	99.00	594.00
Replacement door seal, combination oven	2	48.50		97.00	20%	19.40	116.40
Extra labour: extractor fan repair (hours)	2.5	68.00		170.00	20%	34.00	204.00
Gas safety check and certificate	1	120.00	10%	108.00	20%	21.60	129.60
Total				870.00		174.00	1,044.00

How to fill in an invoice

Number it. Use the next number in your sequence (INV-2026-0187) and never reuse one. If you're VAT-registered, GOV.UK says to keep a copy of every sales invoice you issue, even one you cancel, so correct mistakes with a credit note, not by deleting.
Show your details exactly as registered. A limited company uses its full name as it appears on its certificate of incorporation. A sole trader gives their own name and any business name, plus an address for legal documents if they trade under a business name.
Quote the customer's purchase order number. Customers who raise purchase orders often won't pay an invoice they can't match to one.
Fill in three dates: the invoice date, the date you delivered or finished the work, and the due date, written as a date ("15 November 2026") rather than "30 days".
One line per item, in words the customer will recognise, with the quantity, unit price excluding VAT, any discount and the VAT rate.
Say how to pay: bank details, the reference to quote and who to contact with a query.
Send it as a PDF as soon as the work is done, and keep that copy. A VAT invoice normally has to go out within 30 days of the supply.

What a UK invoice must show

GOV.UK lists what every invoice must include, VAT-registered or not:

a unique identification number
your business name, address and contact details, and the customer's name and address
a clear description of what you're charging for
the supply date and the date of the invoice
the amounts charged, any VAT, and the total owed

When a VAT-registered business supplies standard-rated or reduced-rated goods or services to another VAT-registered business, it must issue a VAT invoice. That adds your VAT registration number, the time of supply and, for each line, the quantity, unit price, VAT rate and amount excluding VAT, plus the total excluding VAT, the rate of any cash discount offered, and the total VAT in sterling. For a sale of £250 or less including VAT, a simplified invoice will do: your name, address and VAT number, the time of supply, a description, and for each VAT rate the total including VAT and the rate.

The time of supply, or tax point, is the date the sale counts for VAT. For goods it's when they're sent, collected or made available; for services, when the work is finished. A VAT invoice normally makes its own date the tax point, unless it goes out 15 days or more after the supply, when the supply date stands. Rules change, so check the GOV.UK pages listed below.

Invoice, quote or purchase order?

	Quote	Purchase order	Invoice
Sent by	The supplier	The customer	The supplier
When	Before the customer decides	When the customer decides to buy	After delivery, or at agreed stages
What it says	What we'll supply, at what price, until when	What we're ordering, the agreed price and the PO number	What we supplied, what you owe and by when

The three should agree: the quote number goes on the purchase order and the PO number on the invoice, so your invoice can be approved without a query. A pro forma invoice sits outside the chain (see the questions below).

Example: a fictional engineer's service invoice

A fictional 22-person catering equipment engineering firm services three combination ovens at a restaurant group's central kitchen on 14 October, fits two door seals, spends two and a half extra hours on an extractor fan and carries out a gas safety check, discounted by 10% under the customer's service contract.

The invoice goes out on 16 October, two days after the work, so its date is the tax point and decides which VAT return the sale falls in. Net £870.00 plus £174.00 of VAT at 20% makes £1,044.00, due by 15 November. The customer's PO number is in the header, so the invoice can be matched to its order the day it arrives.

Common mistakes

Deleting a wrong invoice and reusing its number. Issue a credit note and a new invoice instead.
No PO number when the customer gave you one, which can park the invoice in their approval queue.
Charging VAT before you're registered, or leaving your VAT number off once you are.
"Payment due on receipt" instead of a date, which invites an argument about when it arrived.
New bank details announced by email. Fraudsters copy the trick, so tell customers your details will never change without a call from someone they know.

Frequently asked questions

What can I do if a customer pays late?

Between UK businesses you can claim statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, and a fixed recovery sum: £40 on a debt up to £999.99, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99, and £100 on £10,000 or more. With no agreed payment date, payment is late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice, or after you deliver if that's later. Agreed terms between businesses should usually be no longer than 60 days.

Is a pro forma invoice a VAT invoice?

No. A pro forma asks for payment before you supply anything, and GOV.UK says customers can't reclaim VAT using one. When the payment arrives, its date becomes the tax point, so issue a proper VAT invoice for it then.

Do US invoices need to show sales tax?

Only where you have to collect it. The US has no VAT and no federal sales tax; sales tax is set by individual states, and in some places by local governments too. If you're registered to collect it in a state, show it on invoices for sales there and follow that state's rules.