Pet sitter
invoice template

Pet sitters invoice owners for drop-in visits while they are at work or away, overnight house sits, and extras such as plant watering or medication. Below is a ready-made pet sitter 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 pet sitter invoice

List the dates, the visits per day or nights stayed, the pets cared for, and extras. For long sits, show the deposit already paid.

Line by line: Drop-in visit, 30 minutes, 14 × £13.00 = £182.00; Overnight house sit, 7 days × £45.00 = £315.00. The subtotal is £497.00. The example assumes you are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT and the total due is £497.00. 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 pet sitters; 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 pet sitters price their work

Per visit for drop-ins, per night for house sits, with holiday surcharges at Christmas and in summer.

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 times and what each visit includes, the pets and their routines, medication and how it is given, feeding, vet details and your written authority to seek treatment, key collection and return, what you will do if something in the house goes wrong, and what happens if the owner's return is delayed.

When to send a pet sitter invoice

Deposit at booking, balance before or on the owner's return.

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 pet sitter invoices

Standard-rated for a VAT-registered sitter.

Once registered, it is 20% on animal services and on products you sell alongside them. Few pet sitters reach the £90,000 turnover threshold; if you have not, show no VAT on your invoices.

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 pet sitters invoice

Invoice regulars on a fixed cycle and list each date. Name the animals on each line when you look after more than one for the same owner, and state your cancellation and late collection charges in your booking terms before you ever invoice them.

Caring for pets in the owner's home does not need a licence in England; boarding them in your own home does.

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.

Licences, insurance and records

Customers choosing someone to care for their animals look for evidence: a council licence where the activity needs one (boarding, day care and breeding in England do), insurance, and clear records. Put your licence number and insurer on your invoice template, and keep an up-to-date record of each animal's needs and vet. It makes every booking smoother and every invoice easier to justify.

Deposits, stages and cancellations

Holiday bookings commonly need a 25% to 50% deposit.

Take a deposit for peak dates and multi-day stays, with the balance due on collection. Say at booking whether the deposit is refundable and what happens if a stay is cut short.

Payment terms for pet sitters

Balance on or before the owner's return.

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 pet sitter invoicing mistakes

• Boarding pets at your home without a licence. Sitting in the owner's home needs no licence in England, but taking pets into your own home is boarding, which does.
• No record of the keys you hold. Note which keys you hold for each client and how they are returned.
• Delayed returns with no agreed price. Agree in advance what an extra day costs, so a delayed flight home does not become a dispute.
• 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 pet sitter 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 pet sitter 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 pet sitter tax guide. A TapTax account, free to start, keeps your invoices and records together and files your quarterly updates to HMRC.