Home carer
invoice template

Self-employed home carers invoice the people they support, their families, or accounts funded by council direct payments and personal health budgets. Below is a ready-made home carer 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 home carer invoice

List each visit with its date, start and finish times, and the type of support in general terms (personal care, companionship, domestic support), without medical detail. Show mileage for trips with the client separately.

Line by line: Care visits, weekday mornings, 10 hours × £20.00 = £200.00; Weekend visits, 4 hours × £23.00 = £92.00; Mileage on client outings, 30 miles × £0.45 = £13.50. The subtotal is £305.50. The example assumes you are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT and the total due is £305.50. 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 self-employed home carers; 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 self-employed home carers price their work

Hourly rates, with higher rates at weekends, bank holidays and nights, and mileage for trips with the client.

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

Agree the visit schedule, hourly rates, cancellation notice, what tasks are included, mileage, and how you will be paid if the client uses a direct payment account managed by the council or a support provider.

When to send a home carer invoice

Weekly or monthly in arrears, listing every visit.

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 home carer invoices

VAT welfare exemptions apply to care supplied by state-regulated providers. A self-employed carer working directly for a family is usually not state-regulated, so if your income ever approaches the £90,000 threshold, take advice on the position.

If you are on a qualifying statutory register, the medical care you provide is VAT exempt. That covers treatment; it does not automatically cover everything you sell. Medico-legal reports, non-medical wellbeing sessions and retail products can be standard-rated, so if a mix of supplies ever takes you over £90,000 of taxable turnover, registration becomes a question worth checking.

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.

Who self-employed home carers invoice

Insurers, employers and solicitors paying for treatment each have their own rules: an authorisation number, treatment dates and your professional registration on the invoice are the usual minimum. Patients paying for themselves often reclaim part of the cost from a health cash plan, so list each session with its date and price.

Council direct payments come with record-keeping rules: the person you support must be able to show how the money was spent, so your invoices, with dates and hours, are part of their evidence.

Recharging costs and expenses

When you agreed to pass on costs, list them separately: mileage at an agreed rate, parking, materials or anything bought for the customer. The recharge is income and the cost is an expense, both in full. Registered businesses charge VAT on the recharge as part of their service; a true disbursement, paid as the customer's agent, is the narrow exception. Use the mileage calculator to value your business miles.

Invoices patients can claim back

An invoice for treatment does two jobs: it asks for payment and it lets the patient reclaim from a health cash plan or insurer. For the second job it needs your registration body and number, the treatment date and type, the patient's name and the amount paid. Insurer-funded courses need the authorisation number on every invoice and must stay within the sessions authorised. Clinical detail belongs in your notes, not on the invoice.

Deposits, stages and cancellations

Not usual.

Paid-in-advance treatment packages are common; invoice the package once, list the sessions it covers, and track the ones used. A missed-appointment fee is fair when patients were told about it at booking.

Payment terms for self-employed home carers

Weekly or monthly, often by standing order from the client or their payment account.

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 home carer invoicing mistakes

• Missing visit times. Council direct payment audits need the date and times of each visit.
• Medical details on invoices. Describe support in general terms, such as personal care, never medical detail.
• Employment status overlooked. Working for one family on their schedule may be employment; take care with how the arrangement works.
• 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 home carer 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 home carer 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 home carer tax guide. A TapTax account, free to start, keeps your invoices and records together and files your quarterly updates to HMRC.