Invoice Easy

Sole traders

Self-employed invoice template

You do not need accounting software to send a proper invoice. You need nine pieces of information, a sensible numbering system, and the discipline to send it the day the work finishes.

What goes on a sole trader invoice

The legal minimum for any UK invoice, per GOV.UK, is short:

  • A unique identification number
  • Your company name, address and contact information
  • The company name and address of the customer you are invoicing
  • A clear description of what you are charging for
  • The date the goods or service were provided (the supply date)
  • The date of the invoice
  • The amount(s) being charged
  • VAT amount, if applicable
  • The total amount owed

If you are a sole trader you also have to show your own name and a business address where documents can be delivered to you. Trading as "Bright Fox Design" is fine, as long as your actual name appears somewhere on the invoice.

You do not need a company number. Sole traders do not have one. Leave it off rather than inventing something that looks official.

Numbering: pick a system and never break it

Invoice numbers must be unique. If you are VAT registered, the number must be sequential within the series you use. Even when you are not VAT registered, a consistent sequence makes your records easier to follow. Three that work:

  • 0001, 0002, 0003 — simplest, and fine forever.
  • 2026-001 — resets each year, easy to file.
  • ACME-004 — per client, useful if you invoice a handful of retainers.

Starting at 1 is legally fine. What causes problems is reusing a number for a different invoice or leaving unexplained gaps in a VAT invoice series. If an invoice was wrong, keep the audit trail and issue a credit note or corrected invoice with a new reference that points back to the original.

Payment terms that actually get you paid

Put the due date on the invoice as a date, not as "30 days". "Due 9 September 2026" is harder to argue with than a period someone has to calculate.

  • Net 14 is a perfectly normal ask for a sole trader. Net 30 is the corporate default; you do not have to match it.
  • Say how to pay — bank name, sort code, account number, and a payment reference (use the invoice number).
  • Send it the day you finish. The single biggest cause of late payment is late invoicing.
  • You can charge late payment interest. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation, business-to-business invoices can carry statutory interest and a fixed recovery charge. Mentioning it politely on the invoice changes behaviour more often than using it does.

Keep the records

HMRC expects self-employed people to keep records of sales and income. Keep a copy of every invoice you send, in order, with a note of when it was paid. A folder of PDFs named by invoice number is a legitimate system; so is an app that keeps the list for you. What is not a system is "it is in my sent email somewhere".

Make one now

Use the free invoice template — fill it in, download the PDF, send it. No signup, and nothing you type leaves your browser. VAT registered? Read the VAT invoice requirements first, because the list above is not enough on its own.

General information, not tax or legal advice. Check current guidance at GOV.UK.