A Grads Guide to Invoicing

A Grads Guide
To Invoicing

It's the boring stuff, that makes the good stuff happen…

Written 18th September 2020
Emily Alden

Supported by Hall for Cornwall as part of the Master Workshop Programme #12 creating training, networking and choreographic development opportunities for undergraduate, recent graduates and professionals working in contemporary dance in Cornwall and beyond.

This is a guide to invoicing for the first time as you’re setting yourself up as a self employed individual, specifically if you’re a dance graduate. Please note I’m not an accountant! But this is all standard information. Below is what to include on an invoice, template options & a few tips. More info for setting up as a Sole Trader at HMRC here.

What is an invoice?

In its simplest form an invoice is a record, a digital paper trail, of payments, items purchased, expenses incurred for your self employed work.

As a self-employed individual (sole trader) you are required to keep records of your finances to show income & expenditure for tax purposes. If you will be earning more than £1000 in self employment you should register yourself with HMRC (see link above for more info).

Setting yourself up as a freelancer/sole trader can feel like a lot to get to grips with as you’re starting out, especially if you don’t know anyone who is self employed to walk you through it. You'll soon get the hang of it, it’ll become second nature & keeping records/invoicing/doing your tax returns each year will feel like a regular part of your yearly diary. 

Once you’re registered with HMRC they have a phone line you can call to help you out when you need, especially for submitting your tax return. There is also an option to have an accountant who will do your tax returns for you. Not everyone has one, and you don't have to have one, it's a personal preference. 

How to make an invoice:

What to Include:

This might seem like a lot. Don't panic!
Once you've created whatever template you want to use for your invoice most of that info stays the same, and you just update specific bits for each job/item your invoicing for. The list below is info to include on your invoice - the highlighted lines are the bits you would update each time you create a new invoice.

  • Your name and address (Invoice from)

  • Your contact details (email address, mobile number, website if you have one)

  • The name and address of who you are invoicing (Invoice to)

  • The date of your invoice

  • Description of the work undertaken, in detail and broken down onto separate lines with amounts for each item

  • The amount you are invoicing for

  • An invoice number 

  • Your bank details making clear how you would like to be paid ie. BACS (by bank transfer straight into your account), cheque etc.

  • Your terms for payment - for example how long there is before you require payment to be received/arrive in your account. The standard term is usually 30 days, but you can opt for other timescales, for example 14 days.

UTR number (Unique Tax Reference Number) - is a 10 digit code issued to you by HMRC when you register with them. You have the same number for life. Sometimes it’s a requirement to include your UTR number on an invoice before it will be processed. That's quite normal and you can either add it to your template or just add it to the invoice as and when needed, it’s a personal preference.

 
Invoice Template Example

Invoice Template Example

Templates & Layouts

Your invoice can be SUPER SIMPLE. Literally a blank word document with text and saved as a PDF document. As long as the information is clear (I would avoid using super fancy font for example), it doesn’t have to look any particular way.

What is a good idea though is to have information in a specific order. For example:

‘Invoice’ at the top of the document
Your contact details
Invoice date & number
Invoice to & from details with addresses
Job Description/item & amount
Total amount invoicing for (highlighted in bold)
Your bank details
Terms of payment
Disclaimer

You can personalise your invoice with colours, logo if you have one, an image. Just make sure it’s not overly complicated to read, it should be a functional document.

There’s tonnes of templates on line for inspiration, a lot of them can be overly complicated though. As ever be careful with downloading anything from websites, I’d personally avoid doing that. Invoices are easy to make yourself in word and another (free!) alternative is to use one of the templates on CANVA.

 

Top Tips

  • ALWAYS save your invoices as PDF files, your invoice contains personal information & it's important all the details on your invoice are protected.

  • Numbering your invoices - there’s no set way to do this, but a lot of people use 2020/001. Year (2020) and invoice number (001).

  • When you save your PDF file, you can save it with a file name that includes your name or initials & invoice number. You can then file them easily on your laptop, but also whoever is processing the invoice has a vague idea of what the document is and who it belongs to. 

  • Different theatres/venues/artists/funders will have different turnaround times for processing invoices. If you’ve sent an invoice & not had payment, chase them up by email, and if no reply by phone. Sometimes they get lost or stuck in the system, or if emailing an individual they might be super busy & just need a nudge.

  • If you’re not sure who to send your invoice to, double check with your point of contact. It’s best to know & send it to the right place straight away, then send it where you think is right & it gets lost.

  • Signing your invoice off with a thank you as a gesture is always good, you can include a digital signature if you have one.

Hopefully that will have given an idea of where to start with invoicing. It’s the kind of thing you learn & understand more of the more you gain experience & exchange info with other artists you work with. Dance organisations often run workshops to support freelancers and their finances and small business support organisations run some good courses for understanding tax returns in more depth as well so keep an eye open for those.

Feel free to share this page with anyone who might find it useful.
If you’ve found this page helpful, I’d love to hear from you, I’m on Instagram @emiljdance
And if you’re looking for a bit of inspiration and resources, have you seen the Understory website?

Emily Alden