Excel Invoice Templates

To start using a free Excel invoice template for your business, follow these five simple steps:

1. Select a Template, either one of our free Excel templates or a pre-made Excel template from their library.
2. Fill it out with your information, your client’s information, and a unique invoice number.
3. Calculate subtotals, totals, and taxes/fees easily with spreadsheet formulas already included in your template of choice.
4. Save your invoice as a PDF, labeling it with the client’s name and the invoice number to make it easy to find later.
5. Email the completed invoice PDF to your client.

Once you’re ready to send an invoice to your client, you need to make sure it’s sent in a non-editable format, such as a PDF! Here’s how to save your invoice before sending:

1. In your Excel software, open the File tab.
2. Open the “Save a Copy” tab.
3. Select “PDF” for the file format.
4. Select “More Options” just below the file type selection to change the file name and save location.
5. Update the file name to something easy to track and store, such as “Client Name – Invoice No. #”
6. Click “Save.”

When you present your client with an invoice that is clear and makes the process of paying you simple and straightforward, it gives your client a positive impression of your business as a whole. Although Excel templates can work well when you’re first starting out and figuring out what works best for you, invoicing software takes your professionalism to the next level by creating an experience that is consistently high-quality and makes getting paid even easier.

Pros:

• Free to Use: If you have Microsoft Office software installed on your computer, Excel is a completely free platform for creating your invoices! Your clients won’t need to have it to receive your invoices either, as you’ll convert them to PDFs before sending.
• Automate with Formulas: Automatically calculate taxes and totals using Excel’s various formulas and functions, saving you the time and stress of making manual calculations.
• Familiarity: If you’re already familiar with Excel for other facets of your work, using it for invoicing will feel comfortable and easy, saving you the learning curve of new software.
• Collaborative: When working in an office where multiple parties may need access to invoices before they’re ready to send, Excel is an effective tool for such collaboration if Microsoft Office is set up properly within your organization.

Cons:

• Multi-step Process: Creating a sendable invoice with Excel takes several extra steps compared to integrated solutions like invoicing software. You not only need to manually input your information for every invoice you want to send from the template, but you also have to save it as a PDF before it is ready to send to your client.
• No Storage Capabilities: Unlike invoicing software, which can organize and store your invoices all in one place for ease of access in the future, Excel is simply a tool for making spreadsheets and inputting invoice data. It does not act as a storage container for record-keeping purposes, meaning you’ll need to manually save and store your invoices on your computer’s hard drive or in a cloud system.
• Limited Access: You should be able to access your invoice records at any time, and have the ability to edit them as needed. If you send an invoice that requires correction, you’ll have to go back into the original Excel file to make the change and then save the new version as a PDF. This means you must keep track of both the original Excel file for the invoice and the PDF version in the event of future invoice adjustments. With invoice software, you can access your invoices and quickly make corrections all in one place.

Invoicing software will take your business’s finances to the next level with automated integrations and an effortless customer experience unlike anything you’ll find with generic Excel templates. Here are just a few of the key benefits:

• Invoicing integrated with your other financial software
• Easily customizable to showcase your branding
• Automatically generates invoice numbers
• Saves customer details for future invoicing
• Ability to send invoices via multiple channels
• Connects with payment apps for ease of processing
• Unlimited invoice creation and storage