That’s easy: How freelancers write invoices [with invoiz]

Granted: When you write a bill, you can do some things wrong and get yourself into a lot of trouble with customers and the tax office. But do not let this put you off: the bureaucracy is manageable. In fact, writing invoices is a very enjoyable activity. Without proper payment the freelancer work is simply the icing on the cake. And of course something wants to be paid for the bread. 😊

Freelancer Holiday: Time for the bill!

For many users of invoiz, “invoicing” is a real business highlight. Do not you think? Look at it this way: Before you write a bill, you have …

• made a potential customer aware of you and your services,
• makes an appropriate offer to your prospective customer,
• negotiated satisfactory terms,
• actually get the job you want and
• the tasks then done to the satisfaction of the customer.

Correct? So what. And now you get yourself with the bill your well-deserved reward! The pleasure of billing is exceeded at best from the receipt of the customer payment on your account. 😊

Of course the tax and accounting tasks are annoying. Do not let yourself be persuaded, of course, that issuing invoices is a terrible imposition. That’s just not true for freelancers! Especially since you as an independent service provider do not have to issue dozens of complicated small bills every day: Mostly it is done monthly with a few outgoing invoices — and done with invoiz also in a jiffy: A few clicks of the mouse to create a billing-compatible billing. So, but now to the much-cited invoice mandatory information:

The invoice compulsory components

Which information an invoice must contain is specified in § 14 (4) UStG . Here are the most important compulsory components at a glance:

(1) company name and address of billing exhibitor (z. B. in the page header or in the footer)

(2) company, name and address of the invoice recipient (eg in the address field),

(3) tax number or VAT number of the exhibitor,

(4) invoice number,

(5) date of invoice (= date of issue),

(6) date of delivery or performance (monthly details are sufficient!),

(7) information on the type and number of goods delivered or the type and duration of the service (“commercial designations”),

(8) net amounts of each item (broken down by VAT, if necessary),

(9) the value added tax amount included in the invoice amount and the gross total amount as well as

(10) Reasons for possible VAT exemptions or missing sales tax information (eg reference to § 19 UStG, if you use the small business regulation).

This looks like this in practice, for example:

The details of the terms of payment, bank details and / or similar payment details highlighted in yellow are not mandatory. In your own interest, however, you should include this information in the invoice form. After all, the bill recipient should pay your claim in a timely manner … 😊

Reading tip: What else is to be considered when writing invoices and how to write invoices in an instant with financial and visual convincing invoices, you will find out on the overview page “ Invoicing in theory “ and in the illustrated invoiz tutorial “ Alle Neune: Step by step to Professional bill with system “.

Incidentally, you do not have to worry about the shape of the exterior: at what point on your bill you provide the necessary information, the tax office does not care. Which format bills have, which material you use and how you send your bills does not matter. Nevertheless, you are well advised to keep to the usual standards in business life: Otherwise, you may outsource to business customers as an unsuspecting beginner [### or even: Ahnungs-loser].

Flexible professional billing

This can not happen to you with the professional invoiz invoices. These are based on the typical business arrangements of all major bill items. Invoice will guide you step by step to your legally compliant bill — simple and beginner-friendly: You can specify all content and its layout in a targeted manner — such as …

• the logo,
• the sender line in the address field,
• the classic invoice block top right,
• the introductory and final formulations or also
• the information in the footer:

The proposed standard layouts will make many decisions for you. In design matters, invoiz also gives you a lot of freedom. For example, you can store information about your business in the letterhead, sender line, and / or footer.

Practical tip : If you work with pre-printed business papers, you can also print your invoiz invoices on your own stationery. The default is the printout on “blank stationery”. To change the print option, click on the down arrow next to the printer icon and select “On custom stationery”:

Of course, the PDF version of your invoice will continue to contain the letterhead you specified in invoiz!

Incidentally, freelancers (and their customers) sometimes find the column headings unsuitable because they refer to “articles”, “item no.”, “Quantity” or “selling price”:

But: The term “article” is in itself completely value-free and harmless. Merchants refer not only to physical products, benefits in kind and merchandise as articles, but also to immaterial services (such as programming, web design or coaching). The “article management” of invoiz is therefore not only suitable for dealers, craftsmen and other tradesmen, but also for freelancers and other independent service providers.

Customize content and labels

For evaluation purposes, you can therefore assign your services in the invoiz article management quite “article numbers”, “article categories” and “units”. On your bills or offers, however, neither these field names nor their contents must appear.

Practical tip : Depending on how you have adjusted your invoiz invoice template during setup, the content and description of the individual invoice columns are different. With the plus-symbol on the right margin you add (if necessary) missing fields.

Speaking of design options : Under the headline “ Change bill templates easily made “ you can read about how to customize invoiz invoices specifically to your freelancer requirements.

Any questions?

What else to pay attention to when launching freelancers and how invoiz supports you when writing offers, invoices and reminders, you will find out on the following pages:

• 11 reasons: why you as a freelancer have good cards!
• Freelancer Checklist: The 10 Founder’s Commandments
• Start your own business? With the invoice program “invoiz” really easy!
• I am Freelancer: What should I consider in my offers?
• All nine: step by step to professional billing with system
• Continuous invoice number : The number with the invoice numbers
• The extended dunning process in the Invoice Tool: Receivables Management à la carte!
• Exemplary remind: Of demands, maturity & delay
• Professional triathlon for the coal: Reminder — Enforcement Order — Foreclosure
• Taxes & Accounting: Do it yourself or consultant?

The best way to try out the invoiz demo is the same: just register with your e-mail address and password — and immediately the full range of functions is available to you free of charge. You can then put the billing program through its paces for 14 days. So afterwards you are sure that it meets all your requirements.

Try 14 days for free now