Invoice template
A builder invoice template that has the right fields on it
Building work is where the two awkward rules land, usually on the same invoice: CIS takes a slice of your labour before you are paid, and the domestic reverse charge means you may charge no VAT at all.
The two carry different rules about the name on the invoice.
A VAT invoice has to show more, and show it separately.
Written onto the invoice, so the customer has a date rather than a hope.
CIS comes off the labour, and only the labour
A contractor paying you under the Construction Industry Scheme withholds 20% if you are registered and 30% if you are not, then pays the rest. It is deducted from your labour: VAT, plant hire, consumable stores, fuel used on the job and materials you paid for yourself all come out of the figure first. Roll them together on one line and you hand the contractor a reason to deduct from everything.
The reverse charge is a different rule that lands on the same invoice
If you and your customer are both VAT registered and both in CIS, and they are not the end user of the work, the domestic reverse charge usually applies: you charge no VAT and state on the invoice that the customer accounts for it. CIS still comes off the labour underneath that. Both being true at once is normal for building work, and it is why a builder's invoice looks unlike a shop's.
The rest of it is the same for everyone
Whatever the trade, HMRC wants a unique invoice number that does not go backwards, your name and address, the customer's, a clear description of the work, the date it was done as well as the date of the invoice, and the total. The general invoice template covers those in full, and the quote template is the document that should have come before it.
Other trades
The next invoice can write itself.
Set it up yourself in minutes. No sales call, no card, no drip emails.
30 days free, then £25 a month. No card details to start.