Builder
invoice template

Builders invoice across a wide range of work, from a one-day repair for a homeowner to a staged extension or a subcontract package for a main contractor. Below is a ready-made builder invoice template, with worked example lines, the VAT and payment rules that apply, and the mistakes that most often delay payment.

What goes on a builder invoice

Name the job and the stage it covers (groundworks, shell, first fix, completion), then split labour, materials and any plant or skip hire. On staged work, show the contract sum, what has been invoiced before, and what this invoice asks for, so the customer can follow the running total.

Line by line: Stage 2: rear extension to wall plate, labour, 1 job × £4,800.00 = £4,800.00; Blocks, bricks, lintels and mortar, 1 × £2,350.00 = £2,350.00; Skip hire, 8 yard, 2 × £290.00 = £580.00. The subtotal is £7,730.00. VAT at 20% adds £1,546.00, so the total is £9,276.00. The figures are illustrative, not a price guide, so use your own rates.

The legal minimum is the same for every trade. GOV.UK says an invoice needs a unique number, your business name and address, the customer's name and address, a description of the work, the supply date and invoice date, the amount charged, VAT if you charge it, and the total due. This template lays each of those out for builders; for the detail, read what a UK invoice must include.

Give each invoice the next number in a single sequence and never reuse one. A cancelled invoice keeps its number and is cancelled with a credit note. If you want a format that stays tidy for years, try the invoice number generator.

How builders price their work

Small jobs are priced by the day or the hour; larger projects as a fixed quote broken into stages, with materials either included or passed on at cost plus a handling margin. Anything the customer adds once work starts should be priced as a written variation before you do it.

Keep the pricing visible. Each line should show the quantity, the unit and the rate, so the customer can match it to the quote. To set rates that cover your costs and your tax, try the day rate calculator; for materials and stock you resell, the profit margin calculator shows the margin you really make.

Agree this before you start

For anything beyond a small repair, agree a written quote or contract that sets out the scope, the price, the stages and what each stage includes, who buys materials, how variations will be priced, the start date and the payment terms. On bigger domestic work, agree a retention or snagging stage so both sides know what "finished" means. Most disputes on building jobs come from extras that were never priced in writing.

When to send a builder invoice

On staged work, invoice as each stage is reached, not at the end of the month, and attach a note or photos showing the stage is done. Small jobs are invoiced on completion. For CIS contractors, match their application or valuation dates, because they only pay against those.

An invoice sent on the day tends to be paid on time; one sent weeks later tends to be paid weeks later. Email it as a PDF and keep a copy. The invoice due date calculator shows exactly when payment falls due under your terms.

VAT on builder invoices

For builders, the rate turns on the building: 20% for work on existing homes and premises, 0% for building a new dwelling, and 5% for converting a non-residential building into homes or renovating a home empty for two years or more. Evidence the relief you apply, such as planning consent for a new build, and keep it with the invoice.

Once registered, builders charge 20% on most work to existing homes and commercial buildings. The reliefs are narrow: zero rate for building a new dwelling, 5% for converting a building into homes or renovating one empty for at least two years, and zero rate on qualifying energy-saving installations in homes until 31 March 2027. When a job mixes rates, put each on its own line so the VAT on the invoice can be checked.

Registration is compulsory once taxable turnover in the last 12 months passes £90,000, or when you expect to pass it within the next 30 days. Check your position with the VAT registration checker; until then, see invoicing without a VAT number.

CIS: when a contractor pays you

Working for a contractor brings you into CIS. The contractor verifies you with HMRC, then takes 20% (registered) or 30% (not registered) from the labour on each payment, or nothing if you have gross payment status. Materials are not subject to the deduction, which is why a CIS invoice splits labour from materials. The deductions are not lost: they are credited against your Income Tax and National Insurance, and your monthly statements from the contractor are the evidence.

Main contractors paying you through CIS need your UTR and National Insurance number or company number to verify you before the first payment. Give them early, or the first payment will be deducted at 30%.

The CIS calculator shows what you receive after the deduction, and CIS invoice requirements sets out the invoice layout contractors expect.

The domestic reverse charge

When both sides are VAT registered and the job is reportable under CIS, the customer, not you, usually pays the VAT to HMRC under the domestic reverse charge. Your invoice shows the VAT that would have been due and a note that the reverse charge applies, but leaves it out of the total. End users, such as homeowners and businesses improving their own premises, pay VAT in the normal way. Check each case with the reverse charge checker and copy the invoice wording.

Working for homeowners

When the customer is a household rather than a business, consumer law sets the ground rules. A job agreed in someone's home, or by phone or online, normally carries a 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. Starting earlier is fine when the customer asks, but record that request in writing, and bill only for work done if they later cancel.

Deposits, stages and cancellations

A deposit of 10% to 25% to secure the start date and order materials is common on domestic work, followed by stage payments. Retention on commercial work is often held for 6 or 12 months after practical completion.

Tie each payment to something the customer can see: a deposit when the booking is confirmed, then a stage payment at each agreed milestone, then the balance when the job is signed off. Commercial customers sometimes hold a retention against defects. If they do, invoice for the full stage and show the retention as a deduction with the date it falls due.

Payment terms for builders

Stage payments are normally due within 7 days on domestic contracts. Main contractors pay against valuations on their own cycle, often 30 days.

Between businesses, the default when nothing is agreed is 30 days from receipt of the invoice or the work, whichever comes later, and agreed terms should not normally exceed 60 days. Late business payers owe statutory interest at 8% above Bank Rate plus fixed compensation per invoice; the late payment interest calculator does the sums. Private individuals are not covered by that Act, so agree your terms with them in writing before the work starts.

Getting paid faster

Put everything the customer needs to pay on the invoice: your bank name, account name, sort code and account number, and the reference to use, normally the invoice number. Give a due date, not just "on receipt". Then follow a routine: a reminder the day after the due date, another a week later, and a firmer letter after two weeks. Most late payment is disorganisation, not refusal, and a routine fixes it. Invoice payment terms compares the common options, and the due date calculator turns them into a date.

If a customer disputes the invoice

When a customer queries an invoice, reply quickly and in writing, quote the quote or agreement, and ask them to pay the part they accept while you resolve the rest. A credit note can settle a partial dispute cleanly. Unpaid after reminders? Send a letter before action with a final date; in England and Wales, claims up to £10,000 can then go to the small claims track. Invoice disputes and small claims for an unpaid invoice have the detail.

Common builder invoicing mistakes

• Invoicing extras nobody agreed in writing. A variation priced and approved before you do it gets paid; one that first appears on the final invoice starts an argument.
• One lump sum for a whole stage. Split labour and materials; CIS contractors cannot apply the deduction correctly without it.
• Losing sight of the retention. Note the retention amount and its release date, and invoice for it the day it falls due.
• Leaving out the due date. "Payment due within 14 days" or a date on the invoice gives you something to chase against. Without one, business customers default to 30 days.
• Losing track of what is unpaid. Chase on the day after the due date, not a month later; the guide to chasing an unpaid invoice has the wording.

Checklist before you send it

A quick check before sending saves a chase later:

• The invoice number is the next in your sequence and has never been used.
• The customer's name and address are right, with their purchase order or reference if they use one.
• Each line shows what was done, the quantity, the unit and the rate.
• The subtotal and total add up, and VAT appears only if you are VAT registered.
• The invoice date, a due date and your bank details are on it.
• A copy is saved with your records before you press send.

Keep a copy of every invoice

Your invoices are the evidence behind the income on your tax return, so keep a copy of every one. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax makes that digital: from 6 April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000, from April 2027 over £30,000, and from April 2028 over £20,000, with quarterly updates to HMRC. Check your start date with the MTD requirement checker.

Download the builder invoice template

Download it as a Word document for Word or Google Docs, as an Excel workbook whose totals are live formulas, or as a print-ready PDF. Prefer to fill it in on screen? The free invoice generator opens pre-filled with the example builder lines, lets you choose a template and colour, and makes a finished PDF in a minute, with nothing stored.

For the tax side of the trade, from allowable expenses to Making Tax Digital, read the self-employed builder tax guide. A TapTax account, free to start, keeps your invoices and records together and files your quarterly updates to HMRC.