Are you a freelancer who is starting to give out professional services globally? If yes, then you will need to send out a bill to the clients whenever you finish a project. An invoice helps in maintaining transparency between a client and a freelancer in terms of the money involved and the services provided. But how is a freelancer supposed to send an invoice? What is the format you need to follow?
It’s actually quite simple to generate an invoice in the name of a client. First of all, as a freelancer you need to get a template for the invoice you will be using. It should contain all relevant details of yours, preferably on the top. In addition, there are several simple steps needed to be followed to generate a bill as a freelancer.
Without further ado, let’s get into how you are supposed to generate a bill as a freelancer.
Generate A Bill As A Freelancer: Importance Of An Invoice
Whenever a project is initiated between the client and you - the freelancer, an invoice should be generated for the services as soon as the contract is agreed upon. It is important that you get the invoice signed by the client so that you don’t have to get into a dispute with them when you send it to them upon the completion of the project for payment. You should email the invoice to the clients for their approval before starting on the project to get confirmation from their side regarding your costing.
How To Generate A Bill As A Freelancer
As a freelancer, you’ll have to follow a certain format, one that is necessary for generating an invoice. To generate an invoice (or a bill) as a freelancer, you need to be sure of the services that the clients have requested, and clarify if there are any taxes to be paid over these services. You also need to follow a generally standard format on this invoice. Let’s take a closer look at this format you need to follow for generating the invoice.
Title
To generate a bill as a freelancer that would work as a legally binding document, it needs to have an appropriate title. You should note Invoice or Tax Invoice on the top as the header.
Business Details
To generate a bill as a freelancer, the next step is to get the name and the logo of the company or the freelancer printed on the invoice. It’s ideal that you use one corner of the page to print the name, logo and other business enquiry details related to you. This should be done below and immediately next to the title of the page. These details let anyone reading the invoice understand who has raised it.
Contact Details
Now that the person reading the invoice knows what it is and who has raised it, they should also have a way to connect with you. So, below the name and logo you need to enter your contact details. It should contain the address, email and the contact number related to your freelancing services. If there is any tax identification associated with your freelancing services, it needs to be entered here as well.
Client’s Information
Now, you need to address the invoice to someone. So, you can use the corner immediately next to your own details or enter the client’s information below your own. It is up to you to create the template. These details should include the name of the client, their contact details and the tax identification number, if any.
Invoice Date and Number
You should then enter the date on which the invoice is raised, as it is a critical element for your payment. Freelancers usually make the contract for the payment in terms of when the invoice is generated. If the contract mentions that the payment has to be made in a certain time post the generation of invoice, then the invoice date becomes very important.
Similarly, the invoice number portrays the serial number of the bill and is useful as a reference to look for the invoice amongst a stack. Freelancers can include the month and date of the invoice in the invoice number to make referencing it easier.
List of Services with the Rate and Tax
After filling all the above details, you can enter all the services you’re providing to the client, their general rate, and the tax, if any is applicable. For all the different types of services, there can be different listings in this section. For example, as a content writer, you can list all the topics you have written for the client, their word count and the rate at which each article is going to cost the client. At the bottom, mention the total payment due in number and in words.
Signature
This is the last step: you need to put your stamp and digital signature on the invoice for making it official. It will help prove that it is a legally binding document.
Here are the best tools to use to generate invoices as a freelancer.
Conclusion
Hope this post gives you a clear understanding of how to generate a bill as a freelancer. If you’re still wondering why you need to generate a bill as a freelancer, do remind yourself that an invoice plays a crucial role for the freelancers to not get exploited by the clients.
As a service provider, you can use neobanks like Salt for faster transactions and lower transaction costs in receiving payments for your freelancing services.
