Creating an invoice for freelance work: A complete guide 2025 South Africa

On your freelance invoice, it’s essential to provide a clear description of the work you completed to ensure what are retained earnings you receive proper compensation for your time and effort. This should include the dates the work was done and the specific tasks performed. In this guide, we’ll explain how you can easily create an invoice for freelance work that helps you get paid on time. In this guide, we’ll explain how you can easily create an invoice for freelance work that helps you get paid on time. You cater to your clients’ preferences and make it easier for them to process payments. This not only enhances your client relationships but also contributes to a smoother cash flow for your freelance business.

• And that’s not counting the time it takes to figure out which order you want the elements of your invoice to appear in.
• The most common way to send an invoice is by email as a PDF attachment.
• With an invoicing platform, you can create, send, and track your invoices in one seamless platform.
• From determining what to include in your invoice to choosing the right invoicing tools, we’ve got you covered.
• An invoice number will help the client and you know that you are talking about the same transaction.
• However, you can choose to register for VAT before you hit this income level if you’d prefer.

When Should Freelancers Invoice?

Each element you include on a freelance invoice plays a role in communicating the value of your completed work. From how you describe the type of work performed to how you calculate the invoice total, every part should be clear, accurate, and consistent. Freelancing comes with freedom, but also with the responsibility of managing your own invoice for freelance work payments. More than just a request for money, your invoice is a reflection of your brand, your professionalism, and how smoothly you run your business.

Include taxes and fees

Many business owners incorporate these elements into their invoices, https://www.bookstime.com/ which can improve brand recognition and consistency. Never use fonts or colors that are too busy or hard to decipher. For example, they may ask that you invoice for the entire month’s work on the last day of the month. Just make sure whatever terms you agree to are realistic for your business. Learn how to invoice as a freelancer so you can create a professional experience and get paid faster. For example, if you work as a freelance photographer, you can use the Free Photography Invoice Template.

Breakdown of services

• This article will discuss how to invoice clients as a freelancer, without using spreadsheets.
• This is a common mistake that freelancers tend to forget to add VAT.
• The body of the invoice is the section in which you detail the work you’ve performed and how much you’re billing for that work.
• Transparency is key in every client relationship, so make sure to include a detailed description of the work completed.
• In addition to the dates and tasks, you should include the agreed-upon rates for each task.

From this page, set Invoice Type to Recurring and choose whether you want to send it weekly or monthly. Select your client from the list and the project you want to invoice for. This part is not required but it will help you manage your projects and clients more efficiently.

Get paid with Wise

Now creating an invoice is as easy as setting your customer information and adding the services to be billed. Creating an invoice for freelance work involves a series of steps to ensure you include all necessary information for clear, professional billing. Waiting for weeks to issue an invoice after the project has ended may result in your client forgetting about the work or delaying the payment. By implementing these strategies, you’ll enhance your chances of receiving timely payments, keeping your business running smoothly. Let the unpaid invoices be followed up through automated reminders, as this would send a nudge to their email addresses to settle their dues. Specify your payment terms, due dates, what kind of payment methods are acceptable, and any late fees you’d charge.

• This streamlined process saves you time and hassle while ensuring your clients receive invoices promptly and can begin the payment process quickly, ultimately helping you get paid faster.
• If the client is unable or unwilling to pay, you can consider offering a payment plan, hiring a collections agency to assist you, or taking legal action.
• Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Excel are other tools you can use to create your freelance invoices.
• The terms surrounding these should have been agreed upon with the client before completing the work.
• Once raised, the invoice should be mailed to the postal address of the client.
• Using Portant you can easily automate your whole invoicing process from the free-to-use template, exporting it as a PDF up to sending it to your client, all in a few minutes.
• Freelancing involves providing services independently without being permanently employed by any company.

review your freelance invoice

The process of raising an invoice as a freelance designer is very similar to that of any freelancer. The scope of work and payment conditions are to be decided on beforehand. The Agreed Milestones state that you should decide on particular project milestones at which you will send bills, especially for larger projects with several phases or milestones. Invoicing at certain set times (e.g., upon phase completion, on defined deadlines) contributes to consistent cash flow and keeps track of project advancement. You can skip all these steps if you use pre-built templates offered by software like Cone’s proposal-to-payment software. Sending an invoice to a client is an important part of getting paid for your services or products.