An Invoice Is Important

Invoices are raised to get the payments for the services you provide for companies or small individual working groups. Without the invoice, it really becomes difficult for the customer to have a clear perspective of the service he received and what he has to pay and this creates confusion

It is often said that invoice is a polite way of asking for payment. It seems to rude to ask or to demand payment from your client once the work has been done and the best way to do so if to send the client invoice. The document states tat you have completed the work and requests to client to look into the work and release the payment for the work as soon as he/she can! You may have either provided services or goods, it does not matter and the document asking for payment remains the same. The document should be preserved carefully as it can be useful for many financial purposes like tax and legal purposes!

A well constructed invoice with details in right places helps in building good customer- service provider's relations. Make sure to add the details in right places distinctively enough not to make the document confusing to the customer.

Build up your own freelance invoice keeping the following in mind;

•    Details of the company:

Put the name, complete postal address, email, website if any, contact numbers of telephones, fax, number of the company with which it is registered and VAT.

•    Invoice number:

Every invoice has a unique number attached to it which is usually prefixed with letters. The frequent practice is to add the initials of the client company so that it becomes easier to refer to them later.

•    Dates:

Dates are very important and you need to mention them in the legal document. Dates such as the date on which the document was created or raised as well as the date on which you wish to receive the payment from the client is stated. Along with these, if you are providing different services for a single job, do mention the dates on which a particular service was offered to the client.

•    Cost evaluation:

Mention the total expenses that are a gross amount inclusive of the amount you are charging along with miscellaneous like freight and insurance tax.

•    Payment details:

Mention the mode of payment like internet money transfer or via checks. Moreover, the currency as per mentioned in the service agreement.

Lastly, always make the client sign an independent contractor agreement when providing freelance services.

About the Author

Maria Emery has been writing articles online for nearly 6 years now. You can also check out her latest articles about invoice sample, check stub template and gap analysis template.