How to Make an Invoice for Freelance Work, Step by Step

Open the free invoice generatorDownload the freelance invoice checklist (PDF)

What a freelance invoice has to include

The rules depend on where you work and whether you are registered for sales tax or VAT, but the core list is the same almost everywhere. The UK government's page on what an invoice must include is a clear version of it: a unique identification number, your business name, address and contact details, the customer's name and address, a clear description of what you are charging for, the date the work was supplied, the invoice date, the amounts, any VAT and the total owed. Sole traders also need their own name alongside any business name they use.

In the US there is no single federal invoice format for freelancers, but your invoices are part of your records. The IRS page on what kind of records to keep lists invoices among the documents that support your gross receipts. A numbered, dated invoice for every job makes your income easy to prove and easy to total at tax time.

If you are registered for VAT or GST, your tax office adds its own requirements, such as your registration number and the tax shown per rate. Check its page before your first taxed invoice.

The part that decides how fast you get paid

A valid invoice can still sit unpaid for weeks. In a company of any size, someone in accounts has to match your invoice to an order, get it approved and schedule the payment. Anything that makes them email you a question puts it back at the bottom of the pile. Four habits avoid that:

• Use the client's words. If the brief said "Homepage redesign, phase 1", write that, not "Design work". If they gave you a purchase order number, put it in the notes or the line description.
• Put dates on the work. "Copywriting, 12 articles, September 1–30" is approvable. "Writing" is a question.
• Write the due date as a date. "Due October 31, 2026" is clearer than "Net 30", and the free generator works it out for you from the terms you pick.
• Say exactly how to pay. Bank name, account details or a payment link, in the payment terms box, every time.

Step by step in the free invoice generator

The free invoice generator builds the invoice as you type and makes the PDF in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, and you do not need an account.

1. Add your business details

Your name or business name, address, email, phone and any tax number go in the Your business box. Add your logo if you have one. These are remembered in your browser, so the next invoice starts filled in.

2. Add the client

Under Bill to, put the client's name and the company and address that actually pays. If accounts is a different email from your contact, write it here too.

3. Number and date it

The first invoice is INV-0001; change it if you already have a series. Set the invoice date and pick when payment is due: on receipt, in 7, 14, 15, 30, 45 or 60 days, or a date you choose. Our guide to numbering invoices covers which series to use.

4. Describe the work line by line

One line per deliverable or block of hours. For hourly work, put the hours as the quantity and your rate as the unit price; for a fixed fee, quantity 1 and the agreed price. The amount on each line is worked out for you.

5. Add tax, discount or expenses

If you are registered for sales tax, VAT or GST, choose one rate on everything or a rate on each item. Add any agreed discount as a percentage; this guide to sales tax on invoices shows how tax and discounts interact. Put expenses you are passing on, such as stock photos or travel, on their own lines so they can be checked against receipts.

6. Write how to pay

In Notes and Payment terms, add your bank details or payment link, the purchase order number and a thank-you line.

7. Download, check and send

Press Download PDF (or Print), open the file and read it as the client would. Email it with the invoice number, amount and due date in the subject line. Press New invoice next time and the number moves on by one.

Sending it, and what to do if it is late

Email the PDF to the person who pays, not only the person you worked with, and copy your contact if they are different. Put the invoice number, the amount and the due date in the subject line, so it can be found by searching. Keep a copy of every invoice you send in one folder, named by number.

If the due date passes, send a short, friendly reminder the next working day with the invoice attached again: the number, the amount, the date it was due and how to pay. Most late invoices are lost or waiting for approval, not disputed. If a second reminder a week later gets no answer, call. If you agreed a late fee in advance, the free late fee calculator works out the amount.

When a PDF stops being enough

A PDF works, but after you send it you still wait, check your bank, and chase. Once you have more than a handful of clients, that part takes longer than making the invoice. In Fynl the invoice goes out as a link the client pays by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay through your own Stripe account, reminders go out on their own before and after the due date, and a receipt can be emailed when a payment is recorded. It starts at $49 a month on the Starter plan.

If you have not set up card payments at all, our guide to a Stripe payment link that tells you who paid is a free way to add a pay button to a PDF invoice. For jobs paid in stages, read how to invoice a deposit and show the balance due. Every free tool we make, from the estimate maker to the late fee calculator, is on one page.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• GOV.UK — Invoices: what they must include
• IRS — What kind of records should I keep