How to create an invoice
- Pick the document (invoice, tax invoice, proforma, commercial invoice or quote) and your currency.
- Enter your details and your customer's, including tax registration numbers if you have them.
- Add each item with its quantity and unit price. Turn on tax if you're registered, with one rate or a rate per item.
- Add a discount, any amount already paid and your payment details, then download the PDF and send it.
What to put on an invoice
Every invoice should show the word "Invoice", a unique invoice number, the date, your name and address, the customer's name and address, what you supplied with quantities and prices, the total, and when and how to pay. Number invoices in sequence (INV-0001, INV-0002…) and never reuse a number; the tool suggests the next one for you.
If you're registered for VAT or GST, the law adds more. Two examples:
- UK: a full VAT invoice also shows your VAT number, the time of supply if it differs from the invoice date, the VAT rate and the amount before VAT for each item, and the total VAT. For sales of £250 or less including VAT, a simplified invoice is allowed (HMRC VAT Notice 700/21, section 4).
- Australia: a tax invoice must say it's a tax invoice and show your ABN, the date, the items with quantity and price, and the GST. From $1,000 it must also show the buyer's identity or ABN, and you don't have to issue one for sales of $82.50 or less (ATO).
For India, use the GST invoice generator, which splits CGST, SGST and IGST and checks GSTINs. Elsewhere, check your tax authority's rules.
Invoice, tax invoice, proforma, commercial invoice or quote?
- Invoice: asks for payment for goods or work already supplied.
- Tax invoice: an invoice from a VAT or GST registered business that meets the tax rules above, so the buyer can claim the tax back.
- Proforma invoice: a preview of an invoice sent before delivery, for example to arrange payment or import permits. It isn't a demand for payment.
- Commercial invoice: goes with exported goods. Customs use it to work out duties, so it adds each item's HS code and country of origin, and often the Incoterms.
- Quote: the price you're offering, valid until a date. Once accepted, you send an invoice.
Worked example
Website design (1 × 1,200) and monthly hosting (12 × 15) make a subtotal of 1,380. A 10% discount takes off 138, leaving 1,242. Tax at 10% adds 124.20, so the total is 1,366.20. If the customer has already paid 500, the balance due is 866.20. The discount is shared across the items in proportion to their amounts, and the tax is worked out on the discounted amounts.
Rules checked on 1 October 2026: HMRC VAT Notice 700/21, ATO tax invoices and ITA commercial invoice. This tool doesn't give tax advice.