How to Make an Invoice for Contract Work
As a contractor, consultant or freelancer, you likely love your work, and the fact that you get paid to do it. Invoicing in order to get paid, however, may not be your area of expertise. Simplify the process by including your rates, payment terms and invoicing intervals in your client contract, so there is no confusion when it’s time to invoice. Discipline yourself to keep a detailed time sheet, record of your activities and receipts. With your agreement and records in place, generating the invoice itself should be simple, especially by using a template.
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Instructions
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Choose the Microsoft Office application with which you are most comfortable -- Word or Excel -- and select a built-in invoice template, or download one from Microsoft Office online (see Resources).
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Customize your template with your business name, logo and tagline if you have them; otherwise, use your full name with the title “Sole Proprietor.”
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Add your business address, phone and email.
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Save your invoice template for future use, then “Save as” a different file name for the current invoice you’re generating. For example, incorporate your business name, client name and date or other reference number in the file name (“ABCWeb-123Pizza-082711.doc”).
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Enter your client’s contact information; include the name and title of the person to whom the invoice should be sent.
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Add the date of your invoice, your business invoice number and include your client’s reference number, such as a purchase order number, if they supplied you with one.
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Itemize the hours and services for which you are billing in detail. For example, if you are a web design contractor, your first line item may be for 6 hours at $95 an hour with the description, “Client Communication: includes meetings, conference calls and email”; your second line item may be a flat rate of $500 with the description, “Design Development: three Photoshop website concepts.”
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Total the amounts of your line items and add it to the bottom of your itemized list.
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Add the payment terms (due date and potential late charge) and payment types you accept to the bottom of your invoice.
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Save your invoice and submit to your client in the manner you agreed to in your contract, such as email, mail or both.
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