A service invoice template is a type of commercial document provided by businesses to clients. It serves as an indication of a transaction and it’s meant to request for payment for the services the business provided to the client. This invoice is a very powerful tool for communication which ensures a timely payment. Also, issuing this document gives the clients a good impression which, in turn, sets the stage for a long-term professional relationship.
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Service Invoice Templates
Types of invoice templates
Many businesses, professionals, and freelancers can use a service invoice template. A consulting invoice template or a personal invoice template for services offered provide the clients with all of the information they need to make their payment in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, a lot of people perceive invoices as a nuisance but this doesn’t always have to be the case. You can create a Microsoft Word invoice template which suits your business or download one and use it for all of your clients. There are different types of invoice templates you may create including:
- Basic. This is one of the simplest types of templates you can create. The great part about it is that you can use the template for different purposes. Because of its simplicity, it’s suitable for freelancers, professionals, and more. When creating the template, include all of the basic fields to input the information required by your clients.
- Billing. When creating this type of template, make it as simple as possible. Include all necessary fields you need to bill your clients. You may also include your business or company logo but don’t add anything else. There’s no point in adding too many fields or graphics which might clutter the template and make it difficult to understand.
- Blank. This type of service invoice template is the most versatile because you can use it for different purposes. If you’re creating the template from scratch, design it however you wish. Make it as simple or as complicated as you want. Just make sure that the template contains all of the relevant information pertaining to the services you rendered.
- Consultant. A consulting invoice template works for different types of businesses and professionals. Whether you’re a freelancer, a business owner or a professional consultant, you can use this type of invoice to inform your clients of how much they must pay for your services. In this type of invoice, you can include sections for your hourly charges and other fees.
- Invoice assistant. With this type of invoice, you can have a look at your complete list of invoices. With it, you can also see all of the clients you’re working with. As you create this template, include all of the information or fields you need to manage all of your financial relationships with your clients. You can create and manage this template on Microsoft Excel.
- Invoice tracker. This is a special type of invoice template which you can use to keep track of all the invoices you’ve sent to clients. It’s very helpful to have this type of template, especially if you have to deal with several clients at the same time.
- Proforma. Use this type of invoice to establish the cost of services and goods before delivering them to your client. This type of template varies slightly to the standard type in terms of the format. It indicates the planned transaction instead of the transaction that took place.
- Sales. When making this type of Microsoft Word invoice template, make sure that it’s clean, professional, and simple. Design the template with your clients in mind. Upon issuing such an invoice to your clients, they will also perform their own calculations to check if the payment you’ve written down matches the amount they’ve calculated.
- Service. Finally, this the service invoice template is very popular with freelancers, consultants, and different types of businesses too. When you create this template, make sure that it includes all of the information pertaining to the services you’ve rendered. You may also want to include a field for the rate you’re charging and how many hours you’ve provided service to your client.
- With the hours and rate. Create a professional-looking template to give your clients a great impression. For this type, include the billable hours and your rate to inform the client of exactly how much he must pay. Make sure that your consulting invoice template contains your logo so that the client knows that it’s from you.
Consulting Invoice Templates
Things to consider before you make a service invoice template
If you’re thinking about creating a service invoice template for your business or a personal invoice template, you must consider a couple of things first. First of all, make sure that the template you create isn’t cluttered and it looks professional. This means that it must be very easy to read and understand.
Remember that you’ll issue these invoices to your clients. Therefore, you must always make sure that the invoice gives your clients a good impression. You can choose to download a template and use it to create your own service invoice template that’s both readable and professional.
As you think about the design and format of your template, make sure that it’s easy to use. You wouldn’t want to spend so much time writing the information on the template because it has too many fields. Think about all of the fields you want to include and only make the most important ones the part of your template.
Also, decide whether you want to use a printed service invoice template or a digital Microsoft Word invoice template which you edit on your computer and only print out after you’ve entered all of the information. The latter is ideal if you have an office where you issue your invoices to your clients.
If you provide any kind of service whether individually or in a company, you must create an invoice template. Make sure to create a template that’s suitable for your own business or brand. No matter what kind of template you make, use it whenever you need to ask payment from your clients.
Personal Invoice Templates
Tips for creating a service invoice template
Now that you know what to consider before creating your service invoice template, it’s time to learn more about how to create the template itself. Whether you need to create a personal invoice template if you’re a freelancer or a template for your company, the steps are the same.
Invoice templates are very useful for conveying important information to clients. After filling in all of the required information on the template, giving a copy to your client serves as proof that you’ve informed them of their financial obligation. It also informs your client of how much he owes you for the services you’ve provided.
To guide you, here are some tips for creating a service invoice template and all of the basic information to include on the document:
The name of the company
At the top of the template, include the name of your company and your company’s address. If you work independently, write down your title as the one providing the service to your clients
The name of the client
Include a field for the name and the address of your client. This is one of the most important aspects, especially since you’re billing the invoice to your client.
The description of the services provided
The length of this section depends on the type of service you provide. For instance, if you provide legal or consulting services, you may have to include a lengthy description. Sometimes, you may also need to provide the details about how you calculate the payment totals or a breakdown of the fees you charge to your clients.
A field for the other comments
In this section, include other relevant information like the payment terms, the due date of the payment, and more.
Payment methods
Since you want to get paid for the services you’ve provided, make sure that it’s easy for your client to give you the payment. This is another important section since clients, especially the busiest ones, always want a convenient solution.
The currency you accept
If you work in an office and you only deal with clients in your own area, then you don’t have to include this in your service invoice template. But if you’re a freelancer or you deal with people from all over the world, then this section is very important. That way, your clients can pay you only in the currency you accept.
After you’ve created your template, proofread it first before you start using it. Save the template on your computer so that you don’t have to keep on creating a template each time you need to invoice your clients. Then you can either print the template and have it copied or have it on standby for when you need to print out an invoice for your clients.
You can either use a single template for all of your clients or different templates for different clients or services you provide. For the latter, make sure you have a system for managing all of your invoices so that you can keep track of which clients have paid already and which ones haven’t.
