invoices, what to write

samiam85

Hi i'm currently building a website for a client.
I am a new ish ltd, this is my first real job.

I am half way through the job and have asked for half the money now.
They have asked for an invoice but what should i write?
Has anyone got any examples?
Should i invoice them twice? once for the first half and once for the second half?
The work has been going on for a month or so, if i back date the invoice can i claim the money from my last years tax allowance? i.e pay myself late for last year, as i have yet to pay myself.

Thanks so much for your time, you guys are great

Debt_Free_Chick

Design & build website
Payment on account

Then the amount you want them to pay

For your tax return, you ought to declare the work as "Work in Progress" anyway. It doesn't matter that you don't get paid until this year - but it will count as last year's income. Don't backdate the invoice, just remember to include the amount you invoice as WIP in last year's accounts.

samiam85

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Payment on account

What do you mean?

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Then the amount you want them to pay

Should this be the full amount (which i dont know yet) or just half the job and invoice again for the rest?

What should the invoice look like?

Thanks

november

samiam85 wrote: »

They have asked for an invoice but what should i write?

Have you got headed paper? If not make a headed page - I usually put the address, contact phone, email etc and logo at the top of the page. As you are a company you need to give your company registered number as well, and your registered address if that is different to your correspondence address - I usually put that in a footer.

Actual Invoice:

Invoice No: Your invoice number (hint - don't start with number one! No need for them to know this is your first job)

Date:

To: Their name and address

Design and Build Website

Payment on Account enter amount

Total Due enter amount of payment you want now

Settlement within 14 days appreciated (or 28 days, or however long you want to give them to pay

Should i invoice them twice? once for the first half and once for the second half?

You will need to invoice them again when you want payment of the full amount. When you do this show they have paid the 'payment on account' and take it off the total due.

edited to add If you want any further help with a template feel free to pm me

samiam85

lets say the job will come to around £5000 (i dont know exactly yet)
i want £2000 now

Invoice No:
What is this for? my records? does it matter?

Payment on Account enter amount
what amount is this?
what should it be this time and next time?

Total Due
what amount is this?
what should it be this time and next time?

You will need to invoice them again when you want payment of the full amount. When you do this show they have paid the 'payment on account' and take it off the total due.

i'm sorry i dont quite get this bit.

Thanks and sorry for being slow.

edited to add If you want any further help with a template feel free to pm me [/quote]

november

samiam85 wrote: »

lets say the job will come to around £5000 (i dont know exactly yet)
i want £2000 now

Invoice No:
What is this for? my records? does it matter?

Yes its for your records. Yes it matters as its far easier to do accounting if you have invoice numbers in order. Start with any number you like and the next invoice you do is the next number up. Having an invoice number also looks professional.

Payment on Account enter amount
what amount is this?

£2,000 as you say you want them to pay you £2,000 on account.

what should it be this time

£2,000 (see above)

and next time?

Next time you would show

Design and Build Website insert full price of work here e.g. £5,000

Less Payment on Account £2,000

Total Due This would be the full price less £2,000 already paid on account. So if the total cost of the job is £5,000 the Total Due would be £3,000.

Total Due what amount is this?
what should it be this time and next time?

The total due is the amount of money you are invoicing your customer for. For the Payment on Account Invoice you have said it is £2,000. For the final invoice it is the full amount less the payment on account (see above).

Hopefully the bit you quoted as not understanding will now make sense

Thanks and sorry for being slow.

No problem. I must admit though I am rather wondering about why you don't know what the full cost of the work will be. Didn't the customer ask for a quote? I would never pay for work if I didn't know how much it was going to cost me Its also a very good idea to cost work before you start.

Mike_by_the_Sea

You can download proforma invoices from the microsoft website if that helps with the layout etc. (in Word, Excel etc).

Good luck with the new business.

Mike

samiam85

thanks to both of you.

1 last question...
what do i do about vat?
i am not vat regsitered so i cannot collect vat,
but if not, where does the vat go?
if i was vat reg, government would get their vat, but if i'm not then?
is this type of work vatable anyway?

thakns

martindow

If you are not VAT registered you must not mention or try to collect VAT.

If you do become registered for VAT then you must charge it at the appropriate rate and it would be applicable at 17.5% on this work. You would also have to put your VAT number on the invoice.