What Should an Invoice Include? An Annotated Invoice Checklist
An invoice needs seven things to do its job: who it is from, who it is for, a unique invoice number, the invoice date, a line-by-line description of what was supplied, the total due with any tax shown separately, and how and when to pay. Everything else is there to prevent a specific, predictable delay. FreeInvoices puts all of these on the page by default — free, with no signup and no watermark on the PDF.
The checklist, annotated
| Field | What goes there | What it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| From | Your name or business name, address, and a contact e-mail or phone | The customer asking “who is this from?” — or paying the wrong person |
| Bill to | The customer's legal name and address, plus a named contact if you have one | The invoice landing with the wrong company, department, or person |
| Invoice number | A unique reference that no other invoice of yours reuses | Duplicate-payment confusion and unmatchable records on both sides |
| Invoice date | The date the invoice is issued | Arguments about when the payment clock started |
| Line items | One line per thing supplied: description, quantity, rate, amount | “What is this charge for?” — the single most common payment delay |
| Totals | Subtotal, discount line if any, tax shown separately, total due | Arithmetic disputes and tax-reporting mismatches |
| Payment terms + how to pay | The due date or terms (for example Net 15) and the actual payment method and details | A willing customer who simply does not know how to pay you |
Two fields deserve a caveat. Tax shown separately is a legal requirement for tax invoices in many jurisdictions, not just good manners — if you are registered for sales tax, VAT, or GST, your invoice usually must show the tax amount as its own figure. And a due date beats a terms code: “Net 30” makes the reader do calendar math, while “Due: Friday, December 4” does not. The maker prints a due date when you set one; leave it blank and the document shows a dash rather than inventing one.
A worked example
Notice what the example does not do: no vague “services rendered” line, no lumped “parts and labor $340”, no missing reference for the bank transfer. Each line names the work, the visit date, and quantities a customer can check against what actually happened in their kitchen. That is the whole craft — an invoice a stranger in an accounts department can approve without emailing you a question. Questions cost days; fields are free.
Common practice versus legal requirement
Be honest with yourself about which list a field sits on. A logo, a thank-you note, and your website are common practice — nice, never required. A unique number, the parties' identities, the date, itemized amounts, and (for registered businesses) tax details are required or effectively required in most tax systems. If a customer is a business, their purchase order number, when they gave you one, belongs on the document too — see the FAQ on purchase order numbers. When a rule might apply to you, your local tax authority's invoice page is the source that outranks any guide, including this one.
- Cost: 100% free; no paid plans.
- Registration: no signup or account required.
- Output: download a PDF invoice without a watermark.
- Records: the site stores nothing — your downloaded PDF is your copy.
Ready to apply the checklist? Open the maker and fill it in — every field above is on the page, in this order. One warning to pair with it: a checklist-perfect invoice with a colliding number still creates a mess, and invoice numbering is the system that prevents it.