A complete freelance invoice must include: your legal name and address, client name and billing address (exactly as in their accounting system), a unique sequential invoice number, the invoice date and payment due date, an itemized description of services, amounts and total, and your payment instructions (ACH routing number, PayPal link, or credit card processing link).
Canadian freelancers registered for GST/HST must also include their Business Number (BN with RT suffix), the tax rate applied, and the GST/HST amount collected as a separate line. UK VAT-registered freelancers must show their VAT registration number, net amount, VAT amount, and gross total. Missing these fields prevents clients from claiming input tax credits.
Retainer vs project invoices: Retainer invoices go out on a fixed schedule for an agreed monthly amount — simpler, often one line item. Project invoices reflect actual work done with itemized deliverables and often include reimbursable expense sections.
What causes late payments: vague service descriptions, missing PO numbers, no specific due date (write the actual date, not "Net 30"), wrong billing contact, wrong entity name. Asking "What email address and entity name should I use for invoicing?" at engagement start eliminates most of these.
Payment terms: Net 15 outperforms Net 30 in practice — shorter windows stay fresh. Include a 1.5%/month late fee clause on every invoice. For large clients who pay by card, offer ACH as a lower-cost alternative; Stripe charges 0.8% for ACH (capped at $5) vs 2.9% + $0.30 for card.
Reimbursable expenses: tag expenses to client projects in ExpenseBot, then pull them into the reimbursable expense invoice tool as line items with receipts attached. The reimbursed amount is income; the original expense remains deductible — both must be recorded.
Invoice numbering: not legally required in the US but required for Canadian GST/HST invoices and UK VAT invoices. Sequential numbering (INV-001, 2026-001, or CLIENT-001) makes Schedule C reconciliation clean.
See also: Freelancer Monthly Invoicing Template | Bill Client Invoice