Being a freelancer is not an easy job — it’s a hardcore career when it comes to the many tasks. You have to be on your toes always in order to satisfy clients as markets change drastically. You need to handle many complicated tasks on your own, starting from client discovery, tax compliance, and getting paid for the work you have done. One of the most important tasks that freelancers have to deal with is invoicing. Though it is quite hectic, it can also be satisfying if done right.

You have to prepare invoices to charge for the work you’ve done, which is a tedious job. But nowadays, with the help of invoice templates, you can do this in a series of steps at a much faster pace. You just need to download the template in the format required — PDF, Excel, etc. — and fill in the required details to complete it, including invoice number, reference, payment due by, PO number, tax details, items worked on, etc. There are a number of invoicing templates available on the market today to make your life as a freelancer easier. Here are just a few.

1. Invoice For Hours Worked Template

Once you are running any consulting business or service, it is a requirement to make a good impression on your clients. You want to keep the invoicing template as simple as possible so the client can best understand it.

This template is the simplest design which lets you calculate the total by entering the number of hours worked and hourly rate. You can also use this as an invoice for items that are not based on an hourly rate. There is option to add your PayPal ID so that your client can opt to pay by that method.

2. Blank Invoice Template

There are number of small businesses that use blank invoice templates to bill customers. You can easily modify these invoice templates.

This blank invoice template is beautifully minimalist. It can be used for providing receipts and billing customers. This is ink-friendly design saves printing costs — that means it contains no formula and can be printed and filled out easily. You can customize blank invoice templates according to your needs by editing the header with the name of your business and inserting your logo.

3. Proforma Invoice Template

This template is basically used for defining the actual completion of a sale or the value of the trade prior to shipping. The pro forma is used to indicate a planned statement or transaction.

This Proforma Invoice Template will help your company to generate professional invoices. These templates can be designed for both international and domestic trade. You just need to download and fill out your customer and business information. This template has detailed transaction information so that the customer knows exactly what they are being charged for, leaving no chance of surprises.

4. Sales Invoice Template

This template is professional, clean, and simple, designed for the small business owner. With this template, you can calculate shipping charges and tax. It consists of a single Excel sheet with multiple tabs, including basic sale invoice, Sales Invoice with Remittance, and Price List Option. You just need to save your customized spreadsheet as a template. You can also fill in Company Name, Bill To, Ship To, Salesperson, Ship Via, F.O.B, Terms. It is recommended to send this invoice to customers as a PDF by converting the invoice worksheet.

5. Consulting Template

This template has separate sections for defining hourly rates and other fees, like setup fees or fees for equipment. It has light and bold themes included in one download.

This template is specifically designed for IT consulting services. You can change the color of the layout to best suit your needs. Since different states have different tax rates, you can enter tax rates for hourly rate. Purchase order or Work order can be added in the header of the template.

6. Billing Invoice Template

This template allows the creation of quotes, invoices, receipts, estimates, and accounting statements. You can change the color scheme as well. In the table, you can mention QTY and UNIT PRICE, as well as defining the labor charges as rate and hours. You can include discounts in the UNIT PRICE column by giving them a negative value. In the second worksheet, you can add tax details. You can also send the invoice your to customer as a PDF.

7. Basic Invoice Template

This template is extremely easy to use. It has one formula for calculating the sum, but that doesn’t mean you can’t add new formulas. To use the same template as a receipt, you just need to change the word in the header from Invoice to Receipt.

8. Invoice Tracker

This template makes the tracking of invoices easy as it maintains a list of all the invoices and customers. It lets you see billing statements from a single customer by using Excel features.

This template has number of features, including filtering and sorting invoices, displaying data on an aging basis, highlighting due dates for overdue payments in red, as well as the ability to mark invoice status as draft, paid, or closed. You can even send the invoice as a PDF to your customer.

9. Invoice Assistant

This template shows you a list of invoices and an overview of customers at the same time in the Excel form. It has the capability to generate invoices and maintain the tracker at the same time. You just need to select the particular customer and template and then give the defined values and mark the status for further tracking. You can generate an aging report as well. The main features include tracking invoice generated by any tool, customizable templates, etc.

10. Service Invoice Template

This template is designed with freelancers and consultants in mind. It is useful when your business is more about offering services and not about shipping or parts. Its A4 size means it can be printed on a single page. You can also send the invoice to your customer through email as a PDF. You can also change the currency format in the invoice template by changing the cell formatting.

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