As someone who accepts paid work it surprises me the amount of fellow bloggers who don’t create invoices automatically. A good invoicing system can help you with many things. Not only does it help you keep track of the work you have done and therefore make it easier to declare your income at the end of the year but it can also allow you to track who has paid and when.
What should I include on my invoices?
Your invoices should be easily recognised as yours so it is always a good idea to include your logo and/or your company name on there. You will also need your full contact details including your address as most companies require this information for the VAT man. Other things to include on each and every invoice are:
- A unique invoice number
- The date of the invoice
- Your payment terms
- The method of payment.
- Your bank details or your PayPal address for processing payment.
Without listing the above on each and every invoice you are making it more difficult to get paid. Listing your PayPal email address and your bank details on your invoice will save you a lot of time as your client’s accounts team will look out for these details in order to process the payment.
Remember to give a good clear description of the work you did including any evidence like a link to the page you worked on. If you are working with a big agency it also makes sense to include details of who commissioned you and what client you worked for.
Invoicing and money management
When you have invoiced it is worth keeping a spread sheet detailing the invoice number, client, amount and due date. Different clients will have different payment terms and it is easy to get confused. But if you get organised you can easily see who has gone past their payment terms and send them a gentle reminder. Remember that most businesses have a dedicated accounts department who when presented with the right information, such as a unique invoice number and amount owing, will be able to tell you where in the payment run your outstanding invoice is. Without this information it is difficult to find. Building up a friendly relationship with regular client’s accounts teams in a professional manner can help too of course.
Once you have been paid remember to mark an invoice as paid as soon as you receive the payment.
There is one thing you can consider. When creating your invoices you can put this phrase on the bottom “I reserve the right to claim interest under the Late Payment Of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, if not paid according to agreed terms.” This should hopefully prevent you having to chase the payment in the first place but if the payment is late you will be allowed to charge interest. You can find out more about late payment charges on the government’s website.
If however payment terms by the client were outlined in advance of doing the work then you should abide by their terms: this will, in most instances, endear them to hopefully work with you again.
A good invoicing system makes your life easy and it will soon become routine to check who has paid and who hasn’t. It also saves you a lot of time when it comes to filling in your tax return as all of your income details are in one place, including your debtors (people who owe you money).
About the Author:
Laura Seaton has been blogging for over two years at www.tiredmummyoftwo.co.uk she has two children and now blogs full time. She is AAT qualified and uses her accounts knowledge to answer questions from other bloggers about self employment and self assessments.
Dale Lovell
