Invoice

An invoice is a legal document of which you have to keep records by law. There is certain information that you must include on your invoices to meet the statutory requirements. The information that you will need to include will be greater if you are VAT registered or a limited company.

1. Your business name and address details.

2. The name and address of the company you are invoicing (and the contact name if you have one).

3. A unique invoice reference/number that will relate to this invoice only.

4. A date for the invoice (which will generally be the date on which the invoice is created).

5. A list of the products and/or services that you have provided, line by line, and the cost of each of these.

6. A total amount for the invoice.

7. The payment terms for the invoice (i.e. how long the customer has to pay).

In addition to this information the following is useful to also include on the invoice:

8. Telephone/fax contact numbers.

9. Company e-mail address.

10. Customer purchase order number - so they know which purchase order the invoice relates to if they are using an order management system.

11. Details on how to pay, including bank account details for BACs/online payments.

If you are VAT registered you must also include:

12. The amount of VAT on each line of the invoice and the VAT rate charged.

OR

The total amount of VAT charged on the invoice, and the rate, if VAT applies to all items on the invoice.

13. Your VAT registration number.

Finally, if you are a limited company, you must include:

14. Your company number.

15. Your full registered company address.