Free invoice generator

A clear invoice answers four questions at a glance: who is billing, who is paying, for what, and by when. This generator lays it out in that order:

• Header: the word INVOICE, an invoice number, the invoice date, the due date and payment terms (Net 30, Net 15, due on receipt), plus an optional PO number when your customer uses purchase orders.
• From and Bill to: your business name, address, email and phone, and an optional tax ID; your customer's name, address and email.
• Line items: a description, a quantity or number of hours, the rate, and the amount for each line.
• Totals: subtotal, discount, sales tax, shipping, total, and if the customer already paid a deposit, the amount paid and the balance due.
• Payment details and notes: how to pay you, a late fee policy if you have one, and a thank-you note.

The due date is worked out from the payment terms, so Net 30 on an invoice dated March 3 shows April 2.

Tax and discount each work as a percentage or a fixed amount. The order is the one most accountants expect: the discount comes off the subtotal first, tax is charged on the discounted amount, then shipping is added.

Whether you need to charge sales tax at all depends on your state and on what you sell; many states don't tax most services. If you're not sure, ask an accountant or check your state's department of revenue. For VAT or GST outside the US, rename the tax line (for example to "VAT") and use your local rate.

If the customer paid a deposit, enter it under Amount already paid and the invoice shows the balance due.

Each invoice needs a unique number so you and your customer can refer to it. Start with something like INV-0001; after every PDF or Word download the number goes up by one automatically, so the next invoice is INV-0002. Leading zeros and prefixes are kept. You can type any number you like at any time, for example to continue the numbering from your old system.

If you sent an estimate with our estimate template, the Convert to invoice button there copies the customer, the line items, tax and discount into this invoice, so you don't type anything twice. When the customer pays, Turn into a receipt copies the invoice into the receipt generator with the amount paid filled in.

The CSV download lists every line and the totals in a spreadsheet-friendly format, handy for bookkeeping in Excel, Google Sheets or for importing into accounting software.

There's no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many invoices you make. Your entries are saved as a draft in this browser only, so you can come back later; the PDF, Word and CSV files are created on your device and nothing you type is sent to a server. Keep a copy of every invoice you send: the IRS expects you to keep records that support the income you report.