What is an invoice?SimpleInvoicer for QuickBooks free download An invoice is a commercial document that acts as proof of the sale of goods or services by a seller to a buyer. A simple invoice contains details about the quantity and price at which such goods or services are sold by the seller.

In addition, the invoice declares the terms of payment at which goods or services have been agreed to be supplied. Invoice payment terms define how you as a supplier expect to be paid by the buyer. This refers to some specific details such as the time period of payment, the manner in which you would like to be paid, the currency you deal in if you have supplied goods and services overseas, late payment charges, etc.

There are other details that are outlined in a simple invoice. These vary depending on the country in which the invoice is issued and the type of goods and services being sold.  What is the purpose of an invoice?

The biggest challenge for you as a small business owner is to know when and what amount of payment is going to come into your bank account. Thus, forecasting your business cash flows is crucial, and invoicing plays an important role in predicting your cash flow. When you send an invoice to a paying customer, you have a record of how much money you are planning to receive within a specified time frame thus allowing you to plan for the future when you know how much money you should have coming in.By having a proper invoice system, you can create professional invoices in no time and ensure that your clients pay you on time.How to choose the ideal invoice template for your small business

Ready-to-use blank invoice templates save you a lot of time and effort in creating professional invoices for your business. Understanding the time and effort you invest in creating invoices, will help you determine what solution would work best for you.

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the ideal invoicing template solution for your small business needs. These include:

• Invoice template file format: Consider choosing an efficient template that is easy to send to your customers via email and that they can open and navigate easily such as Microsoft Word and Excel invoicing templates. These file formats easily convert into PDFs to protect the integrity of your data.
• Built-in formulas: An invoice template with built-in formulas will automatically calculate your data and totals saving you time and reducing human error. Excel invoicing templates tend to include built-in formulas, and online invoicing tools like QuickBooks free invoice generator automatically calculate your totals. However, keep in mind that the calculations will be based on your input which still requires manual data entry.
• Customizable designs: Editable templates allow you to customize your invoice with your logos and brand colors to match your brand identity and create professional templates.
• Scalability: It is important to keep in mind that while invoicing templates are a great short-term solution for small businesses, you may need to invest in automated invoicing solutions such as online invoicing software to scale your invoicing as your business grow  Which invoice template format should my small business use?

There are a number of options available when it comes to selecting a business invoice template format that you can use. Let’s have a look at each of them separately:How to make an invoice template in Word

You can choose to create a business invoice template in Microsoft Word. Below are the steps that you can follow to create an invoice template in Word:

1. Open Microsoft Word to have a blank document.
2. Go to the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Table’ from the selection below. Choose the number of rows and columns as per your needs. Say if you choose a 7 x 7 table, it will have 7 rows and 7 columns.
3. Now, adjust the column size as per the details to be included in each of the columns. You can do this by clicking the ‘Layout’ tab and changing the size in the ‘Width’ section.
4. Then, add all the details that go into an invoice template as mentioned above. These would include your company details, buyer details, invoice number, invoice date, invoice due date, PO number, bank details, etc.
5. Finally, create a section for putting the signature of the authorized signatory.

Pros and cons of Microsoft Word invoicing templates

How to make invoice templates in Excel

Follow these steps to create an invoice template for your small business in Excel or in Google Sheets:

1. Open Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Click on the ‘File’ tab. Select ‘New’ from the drop-down and then select ‘Blank Workbook’ to have a fresh sheet.
2. Since you do not want the gridlines to be visible on the invoice, you can remove them. This can be done by clicking on the ‘View’ tab and unchecking ‘Gridlines’ in the ‘Show/Hide’ section.
3. Once you have the blank Excel sheet ready, you can now insert your company logo and put the heading as ‘Invoice’ or ‘Tax Invoice’ as the case may be.
4. Once this is done, put all the details that go into an invoice book such as your company information, buyer details, Purchase Order number, Invoice Date, due date, etc.
5. To make your work easy for future invoice books, you can use excel formulas in certain sections of the business invoice template. For instance, you can use:

=SUM() function wherever you need to total the amounts.

=TODAY() function that makes it easy for you to put the current day’s date in the ‘invoice date’ section.

=TODAY() + 15 function in the ‘invoice due date’ cell, say if your payment terms are net 15, that is, 15 days from the invoice date.

Pros and cons of Excel invoicing templates

How to make invoice templates in PDF

Many small business owners do not use Microsoft Excel or Word to create simple invoice templates. Instead, they prefer creating invoice templates as PDF files that then can be printed and filled out manually. You can convert a Word file into a PDF file or use programs such as Adobe to create PDF invoice templates with editable fields.

An invoice template in PDF helps you as a small business owner create simple invoice templates that can be customized according to your business needs. These invoices are editable, that is, they allow you to edit or add new text, change fonts, add or replace images, etc.

Thus, instead of creating an invoice template PDF from scratch, you can simply use the editable invoice template PDF, customize it, and send it to your customer for faster payment.

But as a small business owner, you understand that invoicing is not just limited to creating tax invoice templates. Rather, invoicing should be a complete system that helps you keep track of what is going in and coming out of business and undertake cash flow projections.