What to put on an invoice (UK trades)

An invoice has one job: to get you paid, quickly, with no excuse for delay. Most trade invoices fail at that not because they're missing something legal, but because they're missing something practical — the bank details, a due date, a reference, or a clear description of what was actually done.

Here's what goes on one, in three tiers: what you must have, what gets you paid faster, and what changes if you're VAT registered. The VAT-specific requirements below are the ones most likely to have changed — verify against HMRC's current guidance before you rely on them.

The minimum: a non-VAT-registered sole trader

If you're not VAT registered, an invoice is a fairly simple document. It should carry:

• The word "Invoice" — so it isn't mistaken for a quote or a statement
• A unique invoice number, in a sequence you don't repeat or skip
• Your name and trading name — if you trade under a name that isn't your own, both
• Your address and contact details — an address for correspondence
• The customer's name and address
• The invoice date
• A clear description of the goods and services supplied
• The date the work was done or the goods supplied
• The amount due, and how it's made up
• Payment terms and the due date
• How to pay — bank name, account number, sort code, and a payment reference

If you're a limited company, you also need your full registered company name as it appears at Companies House, your registered office address, and your company registration number. Companies have specific disclosure requirements on business documents — worth checking the current rules rather than guessing.

The bits that actually get you paid faster

The legal minimum is a low bar. These are the details that move money:

A due date, not just terms. "Payment within 14 days" is a term. "Due: 22 August 2026" is a date. People pay dates. Put the actual date on it, in bold, near the top.

Bank details that are impossible to miss. Not in 8pt at the bottom. In a box, clearly, with the reference you want them to use — normally the invoice number.

A reference the customer recognises. Their name, the site address, and the job in one line: "Bathroom refit — 14 Elm Road." If you're invoicing a business, add their purchase order number if they gave you one. On commercial work, an invoice without a PO number can sit unpaid for a month and it will be treated as your fault.

A description they can check. Not "Plumbing works — £2,400." Something like: "Supply and fit bathroom suite as quoted 12 July: strip-out and disposal, first fix, tanking and boarding, wall and floor tiling, second fix, silicone and snagging." Vague invoices invite questions; questions cost weeks.

A payment method that takes ten seconds. Bank transfer is fine, but a card link or QR code gets paid faster on smaller jobs, and paying you becomes something they can do standing in the kitchen rather than a task for the weekend. Fees are usually less than the interest on being paid three weeks late.

Your late-payment terms, stated. One line is enough: "Late payments may be subject to statutory interest and compensation." You don't need to be aggressive; you need it to be visible before it's relevant.

A thank you. Costs nothing. Domestic customers pay people they like faster than people they don't.

If you're VAT registered

A VAT invoice has additional requirements, and they matter — your customer needs a valid VAT invoice to reclaim, and they'll come back to you if it isn't right. A full VAT invoice generally needs:

• Your VAT registration number
• A unique sequential number
• The invoice date and the tax point (time of supply) if different
• Your name and address, and the customer's name and address
• A description of the goods or services
• For each line: quantity, unit price excluding VAT, the VAT rate applied, and the amount excluding VAT
• The total excluding VAT
• The VAT amount in sterling
• The total including VAT
• Any cash discount rate offered

There are simplified rules for lower-value retail-style invoices, and reduced or zero rates apply to certain construction work (some new-build, some energy-saving materials, some conversions and renovations of long-term empty properties). Those reliefs have conditions and they change — check HMRC's current guidance for the specific job rather than assuming.

Domestic Reverse Charge. If you're doing construction work for another VAT-registered business that isn't the end user, the reverse charge for building and construction services may apply — meaning you don't charge VAT, and the invoice must state that the reverse charge applies and that the customer accounts for it. This catches a lot of sub-contractors out. If you sub for other trades, confirm whether it applies to you.

Not sure whether you should be registered at all? Do you need to register for VAT covers the threshold and the flat rate question.

Numbering, and why it matters

Use a simple sequence with no gaps: 0001, 0002, 0003. Or prefix by year: 2026-001.

Two reasons. It's a requirement to have unique sequential numbering, and gaps look — to anyone reviewing your books — like invoices you've deleted. Never reuse a number, and if you cancel one, issue a credit note rather than making it disappear.

Timing: invoice the same day

The strongest predictor of when you get paid is when you invoiced. Not your terms — your speed.

Invoice the day the work finishes, or the day a stage completes. The customer is at their happiest about your work on the day you finished it. Two weeks later, when the invoice finally shows up, the glow has gone and the invoice is competing with everything else in their inbox.

The same applies to stage payments on longer jobs: same day, every time.

Terms: what's realistic

Customer	Sensible terms
Domestic, small job	On the day / on completion
Domestic, larger job	7 days
Trade or commercial	14–30 days
Main contractor	Whatever their contract says — read it before you start

Two things worth knowing. Under UK late payment legislation, businesses have a right to claim statutory interest and a fixed sum in compensation on commercial debts paid late, and there are default terms where none are agreed. The specifics — the interest rate, which is set relative to the Bank of England base rate, and the compensation bands — are worth checking as current figures. And for domestic customers, interest is generally only claimable if your terms provide for it, which is one more reason your terms need to be on the quote and the invoice.

Keep a copy, keep it findable

Every invoice needs to be kept as part of your business records, along with the evidence behind it. HMRC requires business records to be retained for a set period — the standard retention periods differ for the self-employed and for companies, so check what applies to you and keep to the longer one if in doubt. Keeping records covers what "records" actually means in practice.

The three-line checklist

Before you send any invoice, check:

1. Can they pay it in under a minute? Bank details visible, reference obvious, or a link.
2. Can they tell what it's for? Job described, address on it, matched to the quote they accepted.
3. Do they know when it's due? A date, not a duration.

Get those three right and most invoices get paid without a chase at all. The ones that don't are a different problem — start with chasing late invoices without losing the customer.

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