How to write an invoice that gets paid and passes a tax check
Pick the country and the total: the checker below tells you how many required details you still have to fill in.
An invoice is a request for payment that also serves as a tax record, so writing one well means satisfying two readers: the customer who has to approve and pay it, and the tax authority that may later check it. The core is the same everywhere: a unique number, the date, your business name and address, the customer's name, a description of what you supplied with quantity and price, the amount of any tax and the total due. Each country then adds its own items. HMRC wants a VAT-registered seller to show the VAT number, the time of supply and the VAT rate of each line, with the VAT total in sterling, unless the sale is £250 or less and a simplified invoice is enough. In Canada the list grows with the amount, with steps at $100 and $500. In Australia a registered business must title the document a tax invoice and show its ABN, and from $1,000 the buyer's identity too. The checker above applies these lists to your case.
Details your invoice must show
Details to fill in
8
| 1 | A sequential number that identifies the invoice |
| 2 | Your business name, address and contact details |
| 3 | Customer name and address |
| 4 | A clear description of what you are charging for |
Full VAT invoice
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
The nine details every invoice should carry
Before the country rules, an invoice has to work as a business document. Your customer's accounts team will match it to an order, approve it and pay it, sometimes weeks later and without having spoken to you. Each of these details answers a question they would otherwise have to email you about.
- The word "Invoice", or the exact title your country requires, at the top. A quote or a pro forma must say so instead.
- A unique number. It is how a payment gets matched to the right document. HMRC asks VAT-registered sellers for a sequential number "based on one or more series".
- The date of issue, and the date of supply when the goods or services were delivered on another day.
- Your business name, address and contact details, plus your tax number when you are registered.
- The customer's name and address. For a business, the legal name rather than a contact's first name.
- A description of each item, with the quantity or hours and the unit price.
- The tax, shown as its own line with its rate, or a statement that no tax is charged.
- The total due, after any discount, deposit or deduction.
- When and how to pay: the due date or terms, and bank or payment details.
The generator lays these out in that order, and the checklist next to the preview turns red for whichever of them a tax rule makes compulsory in your case.
What each tax authority adds
The table sums up the official lists. The guides linked in the last column go through each item and the exceptions.
| Country | Who sets the list | Items added to the core | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom, VAT-registered | HMRC, VAT Notice 700/21 | Sequential number, time of supply, VAT number, quantity, unit price, VAT rate and net amount per line, rate of any cash discount, total VAT in sterling | VAT invoice requirements |
| United Kingdom, not VAT-registered | GOV.UK | Supply date; sole traders using a trading name show their own name and an address for legal documents; companies their full registered name | Sole trader invoice |
| Canada | ITC Information Regulations | From $100: GST/HST registration number and tax amount; from $500: customer name, terms of payment, description | GST/HST invoice requirements |
| Quebec | Revenu Québec | As in Canada, plus the QST registration number; QST amount and description required at any amount | Quebec invoice |
| Australia, GST-registered | ATO | The words "Tax invoice", ABN, extent each sale is taxable, GST amount; buyer identity or ABN from $1,000 | Tax invoice requirements |
| United States | No federal list | Sales tax as a separate line where you collect it; your state may ask for more on exempt or resale sales | Sales tax on invoices |
Step by step, the way the generator asks for it
1. Decide where the sale is taxed and whether you are registered
This choice drives everything else. A UK freelancer below the VAT threshold of £90,000 who is not registered must not add VAT; an Ontario consultant registered for GST/HST adds 13% HST; a Sydney photographer registered for GST adds 10%. In the US, the question is whether you hold a seller's permit in the state where the customer takes delivery.
2. Write the lines
One line per item or service, with a quantity and a unit price. Hours and an hourly rate work the same way. When one invoice mixes taxable and non-taxable items, for instance design work and printed goods in Texas, or standard-rated and zero-rated goods in the UK, the tax code of each line keeps the tax on the right part only.
3. Add the tax and the total
Here is what one $2,000 job before tax becomes when it is invoiced by a registered business in each place, computed by the generator's engine:
| Where | Tax | Total due |
|---|---|---|
| England | £400.00 | £2,400.00 |
| Nova Scotia | $280.00 | $2,280.00 |
| Saskatchewan | $220.00 | $2,220.00 |
| Victoria, Australia | $200.00 | $2,200.00 |
| Florida (state rate only) | $120.00 | $2,120.00 |
4. Say when and how to pay
Payment terms are part of the invoice, not an afterthought. In Canada they become a required detail from $500. In the UK they also decide when a business customer's payment becomes late and statutory interest can start, as the payment terms guide explains.
5. Number it, keep a copy, send it
Keep a copy of every invoice you issue: HMRC states that a VAT-registered business must keep a copy of every VAT invoice. The invoice numbering guide covers sequences that survive a new year or a second business line.
The mistakes that get invoices sent back
Most rejected invoices fail on something small. A purchase order number missing from an invoice to a large company sends it to a queue. A customer's trading name instead of its legal name stops the payment run. A tax line added by a seller who is not registered for that tax is the more serious one: the customer cannot reclaim it, and the seller may have to pay it over anyway. In Australia, a document headed "Invoice" instead of "Tax invoice" can leave a registered customer without the evidence it needs for its GST credit. In the UK, an invoice in euros without the VAT total in sterling is incomplete for a VAT-registered customer.
The checklist catches the missing items; it cannot tell whether a supply is taxable, exempt or zero-rated in law. That choice, made line by line, is yours, and when in doubt the authority's guidance or an accountant settles it.
Which document should you send?
Send
Tax invoice
| Asks for payment | Yes |
| Due date on it | Yes |
| Tax shown separately | Yes |
If the customer has already paid, you may need a receipt rather than an invoice: the invoice vs receipt guide sets out when each one is expected, and the invoice generator makes both.