There are several ways to write your first invoice, but a user-friendly, simple freelance invoice template is often the best solution if you’re new to running a self-employed business.
Invoices need to include several mandatory pieces of information to be valid and payable. The formatting and quality of your invoice documentation can make a huge difference to the speed of payments and the professional impression you make.
Ways to Create Invoices as a Self-Employed Freelancer
Freelancers have three primary options when it comes to creating invoices, but whichever route you pick, it’s essential that you use a consistent freelancer invoice format on each document:
- Manual invoicing: Paper-based or hand-typed invoices aren’t advisable since the potential to make mistakes, miss something out, or forget to include a chargeable service is high.
- Freelance portal invoices: If you work through a freelance platform, you might be able to create invoices within your workflow. However, creating invoices separately is wise since most portals don’t allow you to download comprehensive accounting records, and your payment values will be reduced by the commission charged.
- Invoice templates: This is a great opportunity to utilize free, professional, and correctly laid out invoices, where you can work through prompts to populate every field.
A standardized and consistent freelancer invoice format is ideal since you can follow the same layout for every document, featuring your branding or logo and payment details. Your invoices reflect your attention to detail and can affect your credibility. We recommend using a template to ensure each document is valid, clear and doesn’t give rise to queries.
Invoices with missing details or that appear incomplete will mean your payments are likely delayed, and you’ll spend more time managing your bookkeeping admin chasing late remittances or re-issuing corrected invoices.
How Does a Freelancer Invoice Template Work?
Invoice Ninja specializes in free, customizable invoice templates for self-employed business owners working in the gig economy and offers a full suite of tools and features to keep your invoicing on point. Browse our template library to pick the layout and design that resonates with your service or brand, and add bespoke logos and company details, which you can replicate on every subsequent document.
There are tons of ways to speed up your admin work, such as adding integrated payment links to your preferred provider and enabling clients to clear the balance owing with one click. Anything that makes it easier and faster for a client to pay you will improve their experience of dealing with your invoices!
What Is the Best Way to Send Self-Employed Invoices to a Client?
Email is undoubtedly the fastest and most efficient way to submit invoices. Creating paper-based invoices and sending them in the post is expensive, with a higher potential for invoices to be delayed or lost in the post. Our features include bulk-send options, where you can send all the quotes and invoices on your to-do list, update your client contact details with the relevant email address, and send everything at once when you’re ready to go.
Adding read receipts or customizing the body text of your email with a suitable subject line is perfect since the client will know immediately what the email is and who it is for, all of which provide a seamless, positive experience for both you and your valued customers.