A free invoice template that has the right fields on it

What every invoice has to show

HMRC sets a short list and it applies to everyone: a unique invoice number, your business name, address and contact details, the customer's name and address, a clear description of what you're charging for, the date the work was done, the date of the invoice, the amounts, and the total owed.

Two of those catch people out. The invoice number has to be unique and can't go backwards — numbering by hand across a year of jobs is how duplicates happen. And the date the work was done is not the date of the invoice; on a job you finished in March and billed in April, both dates belong on the page.

Sole trader or limited company

A sole trader has to show their own name as well as any trading name, and if you trade under a business name, an address where legal documents can be delivered to you. A limited company has to show the full company name exactly as it appears on the certificate of incorporation — and if you name one director on the invoice, you have to name all of them, which is the usual reason to name none.

If you're VAT registered

A VAT invoice has to carry your VAT registration number, the tax point, the VAT rate against each item, and the VAT shown separately from the net amount. It has to be issued within 30 days of the tax point. Tell the form you're registered and the template comes with those columns instead of a single amount column.

The mistake worth avoiding runs the other way. If you are not registered, you must not show a VAT amount or a VAT number at all — charging VAT you aren't registered for is the expensive version of getting an invoice wrong. If you're close to the threshold, the VAT threshold calculator will tell you roughly when you cross it.

Some trades have a rule of their own

The fields above apply to everyone. Three trades carry something extra that changes the invoice rather than just the wording on it, and each has its own version of this page.

• Invoice template for electricians
• Invoice template for plumbers and heating engineers
• Invoice template for builders

Getting it paid is the other half

A template gets the invoice out. It doesn't chase it. If one goes past its date, the late payment calculator works out what a business customer now owes you and writes the letter, and the guide on what to do when a customer won't pay covers what comes after that.

Doing this in Word is fine for a handful of jobs a month. Past that, the numbering, the dates and the chasing are the bit that goes wrong — which is what grafter.ly is for.