Invoices are the bills that companies send to their customers and clients asking for payment for their services or goods. Nowadays, these bills are a must if you want to get paid on time, and they are also a really important part of keeping a record that helps with accounting and calculating the income tax. There are a lot of different types of bills, and it is said that if you don’t create them in the right manner, you risk losing customers. No matter how good your company is, and how great the services you offer are; if you don’t send the right type of invoice, you risk not getting paid, and losing clients. In this article, we are going to give you some tips on how to make your invoices reflect your brand. Continue reading if you want to learn how to create them, what to include in them, and how to make them as professional as possible.
Always be professional
To show off your brand and professionalism you need to always create invoices with the highest quality and be professional.
There are a lot of different software and platforms you can use to create your bills, and you don’t need a lot of skills to make them. Nowadays, there are a lot of free templates you can use, or you can even do them in Excel. However, this all depends on your brand and your knowledge.
One thing you should remember is that you need to be consistent, and use the same platform when you create your bills, no matter if this is your first time collaborating with a client or the tenth one.
Always be clear
Know that your clients must receive clean and clear invoices, and adding one or two words in the description is never enough.
Remember that you should include the word “invoice” at the top of the document, and researches have shown that when you do this, you are more likely to get paid on time. That way your customers will know what the document is about even before they open it, and they won’t let it get lost with other documents or emails they have.
Client and Company Information
When you create these bills, you need to add the needed information about your company and brand. You should always put this information, and with that, reflect the professionalism of your company.
The bills should include not only the name, address, and contact info of your business, but also the registered address, name, and registration number, as well as the information for your client. Adding your customer’s information will help the bill reach the right person in case it gets lost or misplaced.
Write detailed descriptions
Details are a must if you want to reflect the quality of your brand. According to Billdu.com, every invoice needs to contain the logo of the company, the reference number, issue, and due date, the names of the items, quantity, and price, and you should also add notes where needed.
Know that these descriptions don’t need to be too long, and you are not required to write essays, but you need to tell your clients what they are paying for. Where possible, you should add the codes of the products and the description of the items. Don’t forget about the quantity, the separate prices for every item, and the final price.
Dates are a must
One thing that many business owners forget about is dates. These numbers are a must so that you avoid any confusion, and so that you can clearly state what needs to be paid for.
There are two types of dates that you need to always include. The first one is the date on where the goods were sold, or the services were done, and the second one is the creation of the invoice and when it was sent.
The former will help your clients keep track of your services, and the latter will help them remember when they need to submit the payment. You should always add a due date as well, and you should add this info along with the company information and contact details.
Add the previously missed payments
When creating the bills, you need to add information about previously missed payments. Know that if this is your first time collaborating with a new client, or if they haven’t missed any previous payments, you should remove this part of the invoice.
If they owe you money for previous services or products, you should add the sum at the end of the invoice, before you calculate the final price. You should add details about these payments, the date when the last bill was sent, its due date, and how much is the final price for everything.
On the same note, if you offer any discounts, vouchers, or if there are any special offers, you should add them at the end of the bill as well. They should all be put before the final price. Don’t confuse your clients with too many total costs, and remember that the final total should be clearly stated, preferably with slightly larger font, or with bold letters.
Choose the right design
Choosing the right design can make the biggest difference and it is said that if you go with the wrong one, you may lose customers, or you may get delays when it comes to the payment.
When you create the design, you should choose your brand colors, but you should never make the bill too colorful. Adding the logo on every page is going to be enough, and if possible, you can choose to go with the same font you use on your business logo. However, this is not always applicable, so you should not do it unless it looks good and professional.
Make sure your bills are always clean and clear and know that using a template is always a good idea. You should not bother doing everything on your own, and spending hours and hours on busy work when you can just download and edit a template that will make sure you don’t miss out on any detail. Lastly, don’t forget to add the payment terms, and show your appreciation for the customer. Always be kind, polite, and use language that is on a high level, but at the same time, easy for everyone to understand.
