How To Make An invoice: A Step-by-Step Guide For New Entrepreneurs

If you are a new entrepreneur and have just embarked upon your small business journey, making invoices may seem like a herculean task. We get it, creating invoices can often be confusing, especially in the initial stages. 

In this blog, we’ll teach you how to make formal yet appealing invoices for your business using Simplified’s Online Invoice Maker. With thousands of free invoice templates to explore and choose from, your invoice-making process is going to get easier! 

The Purpose and Importance of Invoices in Business

Before we learn how to make invoices using Simpified’s invoice templates, let’s understand why invoices are important for a business.

If you want your business to run smoothly and make money, you need invoices! These are nothing but formal documents that record your work and request payment for the same from your clients. 

As an entrepreneur, an invoice not only helps you collect payments from your clients, but it also helps you maintain a track record of your sales for tax and accounting purposes. It acts as an official proof of statement for the services and goods provided by you to the client. Some businesses use automated invoice processing solutions to scale and leverage business solutions.

How to Make an Invoice: A Step-by-Step Guide 

As an invoice is an official proof of document, there are several things that you must include in it and you also need to format it in a way that is clear and easy to comprehend. 

Here’s how you can make an invoice in a few easy steps: 

Step 1: Choosing Invoice Templates

As an entrepreneur, you will need to create invoices frequently. Why waste time in making an invoice every time when you can use a fixed template and just change the details? 

Simplified has thousands of free invoice templates that you can explore and choose from for your business that also align with your branding.

Different industries and businesses have different types of invoices. Research a little on the kind of invoices your competition is using and then pick one from Simplified’s range of invoice templates. 

You can also use different templates for different clients for your convenience. 

Step 2: Knowing The Crucial Information To Include In An Invoice 

For a standard invoice for small businesses to get paid for goods and services, you will need the following things included in the invoice: 

1. Title & Logo 

For legal documentation purposes as well as for clear comprehension, you must have an invoice title at the top in bold. 

You can also place your brand logo in the header or under the title. Simplified lets you add your brand logo and brand colors to its brand kit, so you can add them in a single click while making your invoice.

2. Business Name and Contact Information

Add your name or your business’s name along with contact information like phone number, email, and physical address. This will help your clients to make payments or reach out for queries. 

3. Client Name and Contact Information

Write the name of the business or client that you are billing along with all details of their contact information. 

4. Invoice Number

Every invoice that you make must have a unique number for identifying and tracking in the future. 

You can use simple numbers based on the date on which the invoice bill is generated or the number of orders sent. 

5. Invoice Date

Mention the dates the invoice is generated for and also the date it is generated on. You can use any date format. 

Bonus: 10 Of The Best Logo Makers To Kickstart Your Branding in 2023

6. Due Date for Payment 

Mention when the payment is due. Usually, businesses use the ‘EOM system’ for the end of the month or a few days after that.

You can also use ‘Net 30/60/90′ which means the payment is due 30/60/90 days from the date on which the invoice was generated. Another system is the ‘on receipt’ system for immediate payment on receipt of the invoice. 

7. Line Items

Here, you describe the services you provide along with the quantity provided and price per unit. You can make them weekly, monthly, or project-wise.

Towards the end, mention the subtotal amount for each line before taxes or discounts. 

8. Taxes, Fees & Discounts 

If there are taxes, fees, or discounts involved, mention them along with their percentages. 

9. Total

Mention the total amount payable by the client post all additions and deductions. 

10. Terms and Conditions

If you have any terms or conditions, mention them at the bottom of the page like the payment system, warranty terms, late payment fines, return policies, etc. 

Step 3: Formating Your Invoice 

An invoice is an official document. You need to make sure it is formatted correctly to ensure there are no discrepancies. 

Simplified’s free invoice templates are already formatted for your convenience. You can alter the font size, alignment of text, spacing, etc as per your liking too. 

Step 4: Add a Personal Touch

Just because an invoice is a formal document, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. You can add a personal touch to your invoices by choosing colors and fonts from your own brand kit. 

You can also explore Simplified’s range of interesting designs and elements to add a classic appeal to your invoices. It might help your clients pay up on time too! 

Step 5: Save Your Invoices 

Always export and mail your invoices in PDF formats so no one can misuse or edit them. 

You can directly save the invoices created on Simplified for free and save your customized templates for future purposes! 

And that’s it! See, not that difficult anymore, right? You now know how to make an invoice in 5 easy steps with Simplified.

Make Your Own Invoices With Simplified Online Invoice Maker 

Being a new entrepreneur has its own joys and headaches. But making invoices won’t be a headache anymore, all thanks to Simplified. 

Whether you are a beauty store owner or a blog service provider or even a transport provider, Simplified has got a FREE invoice template to make your life easier. 

Focus on other aspects of your business and let Simplified take over your invoice-making process. 

Create your customized templates and make elegant-looking, well-formatted invoices and get your clients paying their dues. 

So, what are you waiting for? Make Your Invoice For FREE Now!