One of the essential elements of any business is invoices. Aside from businesses that can improve their cash flows through invoices, they also serve as businesses’ legal proof of transactions. So, to avoid lawsuits, have an invoice for your business by downloading this comprehensive and professionally written Basic Invoice Template. Our file has 100% customizable, easily editable, and printable features that you can enjoy in Microsoft Word format. Moreover, it has a beautiful and original layout that you can effectively utilize. Excel in your business by downloading this template now!
How to Make a Basic Invoice in Microsoft Word
According to a survey, 49% of small businesses find it hard to follow payments and 46% of them are not getting paid in the said payment date. This dilemma would greatly affect your business, so you must avoid it by making basic invoices. So, if you wanted to make an invoice— whether freelance, self-employed, or corporations— here are some basic tips that you can follow in creating your invoice.
1. Do Not Miss Out Any Information
Avoid presenting a blank invoice and indicate every information that you need to put. You need to indicate important information that your client must be aware of. In that way, this would avoid questions or concerns that your client might have. But if they do, they can easily reach out to you as you have given you enough contact information.
2. Indicate Flexible Payment Terms
As you make your invoice, you need to bear in mind that you wanted to please your customers, so make it better for them by indicating flexible payment terms. In that way, you can please them to pay on time as they have various options on how to pay. You can indicate payment terms, like credit cards, electronic funds, cryptocurrencies, and more.
3. Lay out Payment Terms and Policies
You set the goal to prioritize your customers at all times, so make the policies plausible for them. Set your payment policies with short terms. It is an effective way to make your clients pay in the said date as they would feel the urge to settle their transactions immediately.
4. Design your Invoice
It might hard to believe that the design of your invoice matters, it does. A poorly designed invoice can cause confusion to customers, so design it professionally. Extract ideas and jot it down. Make a sample invoice out of these ideas and judge whether you wanted to keep it or not. For its design, you must include your company’s logo, brand color, invoice number, due date, and personal message.
5. Put Incentives
There are instances wherein your customer is not capable of paying, thus you can use the carrot and stick combo. For the carrot, you can offer incentives, discounts, or coupons to those who pay before or on time. For the stick, indicate penalties for those who cannot pay in the said payment date. If this option won’t work, you can offer a payment plan depending on your customer’s capability to pay. Either way, it is advantageous for you as you will receive your pay no matter what.
