All guidesInvoicing basics
What Should an Invoice Include?
Use this as a pre-send checklist. If a field is missing, someone will have to email you about it, and that email is usually what delays payment by a week.
4 min read
The essential fields
- The word "Invoice" so the document is unmistakable
- Unique invoice number
- Issue date and due date
- Your business name, address, email and tax identifier where applicable
- Client's billing name and address
- Description, quantity, unit price and total for each line
- Subtotal, tax, discount and total amount due
- Currency, stated explicitly
- Payment method and instructions
Worth adding when relevant
- Purchase order or project reference the client asked for
- Service period for retainers and subscriptions
- Late payment terms, if agreed in your contract
- A short thank-you note
How to check it quickly
- 1Read the invoice as if you were the client's bookkeeper who has never met you.
- 2Ask: who is billing, who owes, how much, by when, and how do I pay?
- 3If any answer requires a guess, add the missing field before sending.
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