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Free Invoice Generator

Q: What is an invoice used for?

Invoices are used for account-based transactions between vendors and sellers who work together regularly. Sellers often use invoices to keep track of how much their customers owe them in total and as a basis to monitor their cash flow.

Q: What types of invoices can I send?

There are a variety of invoice types available depending on your business type and transactions.The most common types of invoices include: service invoices, sales invoices, purchase invoices, recurring invoices, proforma invoices, interim invoices, credit invoices, debit invoices, mixed invoices, commercial invoices, timesheet invoices, expense reports, past due invoices, and final invoices.

Q: Is an invoice the same thing as a contract?

No. An invoice is not a legally binding contract on its own because it does not prove a legal agreement between the seller and buyer. An invoice serves as a payment request for services rendered or goods delivered.

Q: Do my invoices need to be signed?

No. Invoices are not legal documents so a signature would not have any meaningful impact on the invoice. Instead, you may choose to create a contract with negotiated terms before you start a project.

Q: Is the online invoice template free?

Yes, you can use our invoice and receipt generator as well as our invoice template as many times as you’d like, free of charge.Choose from our list of invoice templates and get paid right in your online invoice with QuickBooks Payments.

Making online invoicing easy and fast

Quickly create online invoices you can be proud of with our free online invoice generator. Enter your business information, upload your logo, provide a date, billing, and buyer details to create a customized bill format with our invoice template.

Once you’re finished, simply download your invoice and send it.

Freelancers and small business owners wondering how to bill a client online can resolve their questions in minutes and avoid headaches that come with using Word and Excel. Get paid quicker with an invoice generator that’s fast and easy to use.

How to create a free invoice with our online invoice generator

Step 1:

Use the invoice generator to populate your sample invoice format. Fill out each field with the following business information:

Your company name.
Your contact information (i.e., email, phone number, and address).
A company logo. Select the ‘preview’ button to display your logo on a receipt sample. Read more about what to consider when adding Payment Terms.
An invoice date.

Step 2:

Complete customer invoice details by providing the following information:

A ‘bill to’ and ‘ship to’ address.
An invoice number.
Your payment terms and a net 30-day due date to remind your customer of applicable late fees.
Your business details including a business name and logo.

Step 3:

Provide details about the products and quantity that you’re invoicing including sales tax and shipping costs. The invoice generator will automatically calculate the subtotal for your line items.

Sales tax is automatically calculated for QuickBooks invoice templates when using a QuickBooks Online account.

Step 4:

Thank your customer for their business with a message. You can also notify them that late fees may apply to past-due payments.

Customize your receipt template. Be sure to preview your invoice one final time to make sure everything looks good. You’re then ready to download your invoice (in PDF format) and send it to your client.

Professional online invoicing / invoicing in QuickBooks saves you time, allows you to set up automatic payment reminders and gets you paid faster without the hassle of manually creating and sending invoices one by one.

Frequently asked questions

What is an invoice?

An invoice – sometimes called a bill – is the commercial document a seller sends to a buyer to request payment for services. Invoices let sellers indicate to their buyers what was sold as well as the total amount they’re owed.

Like bills, vendors can send an invoice to a customer for services that have already been received, are currently in development, or are ready for development. Unlike a bill that you’d get in a restaurant, though, an invoice isn’t necessarily due as soon as a seller submits it to a buyer. Instead, you may prefer to set up invoice payment terms for up to three months, giving your customers greater flexibility to manage their cash flow.

What is an invoice used for?

When is the best time to send my invoice?

The best time to send an invoice is immediately after you complete a service or project or deliver a product. The sooner you send an invoice, the sooner your customer can pay you what they owe.

Some sellers may choose to send their invoices early in the morning when most people check their emails and put together their to-do lists. Others like to send their invoices at the end of each workday as a way to remind customers when they check their email the next morning.

What types of invoices can I send?

What kind of invoice do I need?

It’s recommended that you choose your invoice type based on your business model and your preferred method of payment. For small businesses that send invoices after goods or services have been exchanged, a simple commercial invoice, like our free invoice template, is often sufficient.

If your business requires payment upfront, you may choose to use a proforma invoice, indicating a fee agreement and/or estimated costs.

With QuickBooks invoicing software, you can choose from many different invoice templates based on your needs or create a custom invoice to represent your brand.

Is an invoice the same thing as a contract?

How will someone pay my invoice?

Depending on how your business accepts payments, customers may pay with credit cards, debit cards, cash, check, digital wallets, ACH bank transfers, wire transfers, or payment apps like PayPal.

With QuickBooks Online, customers can pay right in their online invoice template using credit cards, debit cards, or ACH bank transfers, even from their mobile device -- no setup or transaction fees required.

Do my invoices need to be signed?

How do I create my invoice template?

Use our free invoice generator or template to create an invoice that you’re satisfied with.

When creating your first invoice sample from scratch, be sure to include the following:

Your business’s name, address, email address, and phone number for contact.

An invoice number for record-keeping to establish a paper trail of information for your own accounting records as well as your customer’s records.

The date of completed service.

A description of services to a level of specification that describes what you provided at the unit level.

How many units your customer ordered.

The rate per unit.

The total number of units.

A total amount owed.

Any tax that your company needs to apply to the amount due.

Is the online invoice template free?

Is the free online invoice template customizable?

Which invoice format should I use?

Invoices are most commonly sent in PDF format. However, you may choose to create and customize invoices in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or PDF. Word is suitable for short and simple invoices while spreadsheets may be better suited for invoices with many line items and details. Whichever format you choose to create and edit an invoice, it is recommended that you convert the document into a PDF before sending it to your customer.

What are the benefits of using invoice templates?

Among the many benefits that come with using an invoice template include:

Zero costs. Our invoice templates are free and with an unlimited number of uses.

Invoice templates are customizable to your business.

Invoice templates can be downloaded in a variety of formats, like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and PDF.

A clean, professionally designed invoice leaves a good and lasting impression.

Save time that would have been otherwise spent on creating an invoice from scratch.

Get paid sooner when you create an invoice with our online generator. Try out our additional benefits that come with smart invoicing in QuickBooks such as pay-enabled invoices and instant deposits to get your money when you need it, faster.

Let's get you paid faster

Try QuickBooks Payments

Features
- 1: QuickBooks Payments account subject to eligibility criteria, credit and application approval. Subscription to QuickBooks Online may be required.
- 2:
  QuickBooks Cash Flow Center will be initially available only for new QuickBooks customers.
- 3:
  QuickBooks Payments required to use QuickBooks Cash account. QuickBooks Payments account subject to eligibility criteria, credit and application approval. Subscription to QuickBooks Online may be required. Terms and conditions apply. See Deposit Account Agreement for details. Banking services provided by and QuickBooks Visa Debit Card is issued by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. QuickBooks products and services are not provided by Green Dot Bank.
- 4:
  Mobile card reader is a standalone, optional device. New, approved GoPayment merchant accounts eligible for one (1) free reader. Free unit is applicable towards the lowest cost mobile card reader available at the time of redemption, through Intuit. See available mobile readers or purchase additional devices.
- 5:
  Next-day deposit features are subject to eligibility criteria. We anticipate that a large majority of customers who use bank transfers (ACH) with QuickBooks Payments will receive next day bank transfer (ACH) deposits as transaction history is established. New payments customers will be notified when next day bank transfer (ACH) eligibility is established. For next day deposits, payments processed before 3:00 PM PT arrive at your bank the next business day (excluding weekends and holidays). Deposit times may vary for other payment methods, third party delays or risk reviews. Subscription to QuickBooks Online may be required.
- 6:
  Real-time access requires connection to and participation by your financial institution.