Template guide
Invoice Template (UK) — Word & Excel, HMRC-Ready
An invoice looks like the simplest document your business produces — until HMRC or an accountant points out what a UK invoice legally has to include, or a customer's accounts team rejects one for a missing VAT breakdown. This template gets it right first time, in both formats: an Excel version where quantities, VAT and totals calculate themselves, and a Word version for those who prefer it. Both are laid out to look like they came from an established business, because how you invoice is part of how you're perceived.
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Buy the individual template, or start with the free Starter Pack — no card required.
When you need it
From your very first sale. Sole traders, limited companies and freelancers all have the same core requirements, with a few differences the template handles: limited companies must invoice under their full registered name, VAT-registered businesses must show a proper VAT breakdown, and non-registered businesses shouldn't show VAT lines at all. The template marks exactly which lines to keep and which to delete for your situation.
What's in the template
Both versions carry every legally required element: a sequential invoice number, your details and the customer's, invoice and supply dates, itemised descriptions, and the amounts due — plus the VAT number, rate, VAT amount and ex/inc-VAT totals for registered businesses. The Excel version calculates line amounts, subtotal, VAT and total automatically from an editable VAT-rate cell. Both include a payment-details block with bank information, payment terms, and a line invoking the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act — the polite legal reminder that chronic late payers respond to. A one-page guide covers HMRC's requirements and the practical rules: sequential numbering without gaps, the six-year record-keeping requirement, and your statutory rights when a business customer pays late.
Common mistakes to avoid
Reusing or skipping invoice numbers (HMRC expects an unbroken sequence); showing "VAT: 0%" when you're not VAT registered, which is wrong in both directions; leaving payment terms unstated, which defaults you to 30 days; forgetting the supply date when it differs from the invoice date; and sending invoices without your limited company's full registered name. Each of these is flagged in the template's guidance page.
Frequently asked questions
HarbourDesk templates are practical starting points, not legal advice. See our Terms of Service.
Get the Invoice Template template
Buy the individual template, or start with the free Starter Pack — no card required.