Invoice
template for Word

Word is the simplest way to fill in a invoice if you already have Microsoft Office: open the file, replace the words in square brackets, and send it. This page explains how to get the most from the Word version, from turning it into your own reusable template to sending a PDF your customer cannot accidentally edit, and what a UK invoice has to show.

Opening and editing the template

Download the .docx file and open it in Word. If Word opens it in Protected View, choose Enable Editing. Every part you need to change is in square brackets, such as [Your business name]. The quickest way to replace text that appears more than once is Find and Replace (Ctrl+H on Windows, Cmd+Shift+H on a Mac): type the placeholder, type your own details, and replace them all in one go. The document uses ordinary tables, so you can add a row by clicking in the last cell and pressing Tab, or remove one with Layout, Delete, Delete Rows.

Save it as your own template

Once your business details are in, save a master copy you never send. In Word, choose File, Save As, and pick Word Template (.dotx) as the file type. Each time you open the template, Word creates a new untitled document from it, so your master stays clean. Keep your templates in one folder, with a clear name such as "Invoice master", and save each finished invoice with its number in the file name, for example invoice-0042.docx, so you can always find it again.

Getting the figures right

Word is a word processor, not a calculator: amounts you type into a table do not add themselves up. Work the figures out first, or use the Excel version of the template, where every line and total is a formula. If you prefer Word, you can insert a table formula (Layout, Formula, =SUM(ABOVE)) for a total, but it only updates when you select it and press F9, which is easy to forget. Always check the arithmetic before sending: a total that does not match its lines is the quickest way to get a query instead of a payment.

Sending it as a PDF

Send customers a PDF rather than the Word file: it looks the same on every device, cannot be edited by accident, and is what most accounts teams expect. In Word, choose File, Save As (or Export) and pick PDF. Name the file clearly, attach it to an email with the key details in the message (what it is for, the amount and any reference to quote), and keep both the Word and PDF versions in your records.

Adding your logo and branding

To add a logo, click at the start of your business name, choose Insert, Pictures, and pick your logo file; then choose Wrap Text, In Line with Text and resize it so it sits neatly above or beside your name. Keep it modest: the invoice should lead with your business name and the details the customer needs. You can change the font for the whole document with Home, Select All, then a font of your choice, but keep it plain and readable, and keep the figures right-aligned so they are easy to check.

What the invoice must show

Send an invoice when you have supplied goods or services and expect to be paid later, even if only a few days later. Businesses almost always need one, because their accounts team cannot pay without it, and a VAT-registered customer needs a VAT invoice to reclaim the VAT.

The template's example lines, which you replace with your own:

Filling in the invoice

1. Replace [Your business name] and the address and contact lines with your own details.
2. Add your customer's name and address under "Bill to".
3. Give the invoice the next number in your sequence and set the invoice date.
4. Describe each piece of work or item on its own line, with the quantity and price.
5. Add VAT at the correct rate only if you are VAT registered, and your VAT number.
6. Set the due date from your payment terms and add your bank details.
7. Save it as a PDF and email it to the person who pays, keeping a copy.

VAT invoices and payment terms

You can only charge VAT if you are VAT registered, and registration is compulsory once your taxable turnover over any 12 months goes above £90,000. A VAT-registered business selling to another VAT-registered business must issue a VAT invoice, normally within 30 days of the supply, showing its VAT number, the time of supply, and for each item the price excluding VAT, the rate and the VAT. Payment terms are up to you and your customer, but between businesses the law fills the gap when none are agreed: payment is due 30 days after the customer receives the invoice or the goods, and late payers owe statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate plus fixed compensation. The invoice due date calculator and late payment interest calculator do the sums.

Invoice, receipt, quote or pro forma?

An invoice asks to be paid for something already supplied. A receipt confirms payment has been made. A quote offers a price before the work, and a pro forma invoice asks for payment in advance but is not a real invoice or a VAT invoice. If you need to reduce or cancel an invoice after sending it, the right document is a credit note, never an edited invoice.

Getting paid on time

Most late payment is disorganisation, not refusal. Put everything needed to pay on the invoice: your bank details, the reference to use and a clear due date. Send it on the day the work is finished, to the person who actually pays, and quote the customer's purchase order number if they gave you one. Then follow a simple routine: a friendly reminder the day after the due date, a firmer one a week later, and a payment reminder letter after two weeks. If a business still does not pay, a letter before action usually does it.

Invoices for sole traders and limited companies

A sole trader invoices in their own name, or in a business name with their own name shown too, and gives an address where legal documents can be delivered. A limited company must use its full registered name, and its business letters and order forms must also show its registered number, place of registration and registered office address, which is why most companies put them on invoices too. Neither needs to be VAT registered to invoice. Until you register, you simply invoice without VAT; once registered, every invoice to a VAT-registered customer must be a full VAT invoice.

Invoicing and your tax return

For most sole traders, income is taxed on the cash basis, which is the default from the 2024 to 2025 tax year: an invoice counts as income when it is paid, not when it is sent. Your invoices are still your record of what you earned and when, so they need to be complete and kept. Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, your quarterly updates are built from these records, which is where keeping invoices digitally from the start pays off: nothing has to be retyped at the end of the quarter.

Common mistakes

• Charging VAT when not VAT registered. You can only show VAT with a VAT number; an unregistered business shows the total with no VAT line.
• Editing an invoice after sending it. Correct mistakes with a credit note and a new invoice, so both sets of records match.
• No due date or bank details. Without them the invoice is harder to pay and easier to ignore; put both on every invoice.
• Sending the editable Word file. Send a PDF, which cannot be changed by accident and looks the same everywhere.
• Overwriting your master copy. Save your master as a Word Template (.dotx) so every new document starts clean.

Checklist before you send it

A quick check of every invoice before you send it:

• A unique invoice number is on it and correct.
• Your name or business name, and an address is on it and correct.
• Your customer's name and address is on it and correct.
• A clear description of what you are charging for is on it and correct.
• The date of supply and the date of the invoice is on it and correct.
• The amount charged for each item, VAT if applicable, and the total owed is on it and correct.
• Your VAT number, and VAT details for each rate, if VAT registered is on it and correct.
• A copy is saved with your records.

Keep a copy

Business documents are records, and records have to be kept. Save every invoice in one place, ideally digitally, so you can find it if a customer or HMRC asks. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax makes digital records compulsory from 6 April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000, from April 2027 over £30,000 and from April 2028 over £20,000; check your date with the MTD requirement checker.

Other formats and the full guide

This page covers Word. The invoice template guide explains the document itself in full, and the same template is available in the other formats from there. To skip the download, the free invoice generator makes a finished PDF online.

If you would rather not manage documents by hand, a TapTax account, free to start, keeps your invoices, receipts and bank transactions together and files your Making Tax Digital quarterly updates to HMRC.