Invoice templates for graphic designers

Invoicing may seem dull compared to other aspects of your graphic design business, but it’s necessary and can even help you market your business and set you apart from your competitors. 

As a graphic designer, your invoices should be just as creative as your design work. They should be clean and colourful, but not too overwhelming. 

This article explains what you need to include on your graphic design invoices and the different pricing methods you should consider. A sample graphic design invoice and free invoice templates for Word and Excel are also included. 

What do I need to include on my graphic design invoices?

Invoices are an official request for payment sent from a business to its customers. Therefore, they require certain information to be considered valid under UK law. 

Invoices must always include your business and customer’s name and address, an invoice number, a breakdown of the products and services and the total amount due. If your business is registered for VAT, they will require additional VAT information.

You can find a full list of mandatory invoice information in our article: What information needs to be on an invoice?

Pricing methods for graphic designers

Invoicing is an important part of record keeping. However, you should also consider if your pricing method could be modified for your sales. There are a variety of different ways that freelancers and graphic designers can charge for their expertise. 

The two most common pricing methods include charging by time or charging by the project. Charging by time involves a set price for the time you spent working on the project. You can charge per hour, day, week or month. On the other hand, charging by project involves charging a set price for the completion of the entire project. 

Both pricing methods have benefits and drawbacks. For instance, if you charge a daily rate, you’ll receive a set amount even if the project doesn’t take a full day. However, charging a daily or monthly rate may seem less flexible to your customer who might prefer to pay per hour. 

A benefit of charging a project rate is that you can focus more on quality than time. If you are an experienced graphic designer, you’ll likely be able to complete a project quicker than others in your field. Charging per project means that you won’t incur any losses because of your speed and efficiency. One downside could be that your customer might be apprehensive about a large bulk fee.

Luckily, you don’t need to apply a single pricing method for your business. You can operate with multiple different rates to accommodate your varying projects. 

Sample customised graphic design invoice

As a creative individual, you should consider showcasing your talent on your sales documentation. This will show your customer that you’re professional and unique. 

Most invoicing software will allow you to customise your invoice templates. This may include adding your logo, images, different fonts and company colours. Regardless of how you decide to customise your invoices, you’ll still need to make sure that they include the mandatory invoice fields. 

Below is an example of a compliant, customised graphic design invoice:

Graphic design invoice templates for Word

Word is a program that most professionals know how to use. Many freelancers opt to use Word to create their invoices. 

Word is a great tool if you only issue the occasional invoice. However, since it’s not specifically designed for creating sales documents, you’ll need to make sure that each of your invoices includes the mandatory information and also keep up to date with any changes in regulations. 

Use the links below to download your free, customisable invoice templates for Word. One is a non-VAT invoice template and the other is for VAT invoices. 

Graphic design invoice templates for Excel

Compared to Word, Excel offers more automation features with formulas. You can insert formulas to automatically calculate your totals, dates, and VAT. 

However, we always recommend double-checking your numbers just in case the Excel formulas didn’t apply or are incorrect. If you issue an incorrect invoice, it will take you longer to fix. You’d need to issue a credit note and then a new invoice.

If you prefer Excel to create your sales documents, you can try out our free Excel invoice templates by downloading the spreadsheet below. One tab does not include VAT and the other tab includes VAT, both of which can be modified to fit your specific invoicing needs. 

Invoicing software with a premade template

Invoicing software is designed to create and issue compliant, professional invoices quickly. 

SumUp Invoices is invoicing software that helps you create an invoice in less than 1 minute and send it directly to your customer's email. Simply fill in the customer and product information and the system will automatically calculate the totals, generate an invoice number, and enter your business information. 

You can also automatically include a secure online payment link on your invoice so your customers can pay you quickly. Once the payment has been received, it will automatically link to the invoice, saving you precious time, and ensuring that your books are up to date.