Guides for getting paid.
Short, plain guides on invoices, tax and money coming in, for businesses anywhere.
The same job and the same 14-day terms. Invoiced at month end, the money arrives four weeks later. Getting paid · 6 min read
When to send an invoice: on delivery, in advance or at month end
The best time to invoice depends on the work: on delivery, before you start, in stages, or on a fixed day each month. How each timing works, the legal deadlines some countries set, and why sooner gets paid sooner.
Three lines of £1.99 at 20% VAT. Rounded on each line, the VAT is £1.20. Worked out once on the total, it is £1.19. Basics · 6 min read
Rounding on invoices: why a total can be a cent out
Why your invoice and your customer's system sometimes differ by a cent or a penny: rounding tax per line or on the total, quantities with decimals, prices including tax, and rounding to a whole unit.
Billed to the head office, delivered to the shop. Delivery is its own line, and here it takes the same VAT as the goods. Basics · 6 min read
Shipping and delivery charges on an invoice: who pays, and the tax on it
How to bill delivery: as its own line or in the price, flat rate or actual cost, how VAT, GST and sales tax usually apply to shipping, the ship-to address, and agreeing who pays before the goods move.
Your fee, then each cost on its own line. Costs that are part of your service take your VAT. A fee paid purely for the client does not. Getting paid · 7 min read
Passing on expenses: travel, materials and software on your invoice
How to bill a client for costs you paid on their behalf: what to agree, whether to add a markup, how tax works on recharged expenses and disbursements, and which receipts to send.
A week of time becomes one invoice line. Add the minutes, turn them into decimal hours, round once, then multiply by the rate. Getting paid · 7 min read
Billing by the hour: timesheets, rounding and the invoice
How to invoice hourly work so clients trust the hours: keeping time, writing hours as decimals, fair rounding, what to attach, caps and estimates, and how the line on the invoice should read.
The same work, the same price. The second line can be checked against what was asked for, so it gets approved. Basics · 6 min read
Writing invoice line items a client approves without questions
How to describe work and goods on an invoice so the person approving it can tick it off: what to name, how to split lines, quantities and units, dates and references, with before and after examples.
Two ways to reach the same invoice. Add the tax to the price, or take it out of a price that already includes it. Tax · 7 min read
Prices with or without tax: quoting and invoicing VAT, GST and sales tax
When to quote a price including tax and when to quote it before tax, how to work one out from the other without the common mistake, and how to show it on the invoice.
One sale, three moments. The invoice sits in the middle: it records what was sold and asks for the money by a date. Basics · 6 min read
What is an invoice? What it does, and what goes on one
An invoice is a dated request for payment that also records a sale. What it does for you, your customer and the tax office, what goes on it, and how it differs from a quote, a receipt and a bill.
Four gaps, each one a reason for an accounts team to set the invoice aside. Fill them before it goes, not after. Basics · 7 min read
Invoice mistakes that delay payment, and how to avoid each one
The small errors that send an invoice back or leave it waiting: no due date, the wrong name, a missing order number, vague lines, tax slips and no way to pay. What each one costs and the fix.
The full price stays on the invoice. The discount is its own line, and tax is worked out on what is left. Basics · 6 min read
Discounts on an invoice: how to show them properly
Where a discount goes on an invoice, why the full price should stay visible, how tax is worked out after it, and what to do when the discount comes later.
The same sale, twice. The invoice asks for the money. The receipt says it arrived, when and how. Basics · 6 min read
Invoice or receipt? What each one is, and when to give it
An invoice asks for money and a receipt says it arrived. What each must show, when a paid invoice is enough, and what to give for cash, deposits and part payments.
One retainer, month by month. Every invoice is for the same amount and names the month it covers. Getting paid · 7 min read
Retainers: how to bill a client the same amount every month
What a retainer is, the seven things to agree in writing before the first month, how to invoice it, and what to do about extra work, price changes and pauses.