How should I invoice a build that runs for months?

In stages tied to visible milestones, each as its own invoice referencing the stage number on the schedule you both agreed. Foundations, walls to plate, roof on, first fix, plaster, finish. Nobody wants to hand over the whole amount at the end, and you should not be lending somebody the price of an extension for a quarter of a year.

How do I bill variations without the final invoice looking padded?

Bill them as you agree them, each with its own date, rather than saving them for the end. Six variations invoiced across four months are six small conversations that already happened. The same six on the closing invoice are one long argument about a price that appears to have grown, and you will lose some of them purely because of when they arrived.

Do my invoice numbers have to be sequential?

They should be unique and consistent. 001, 002, 003 is the easy convention, and it's what makes 'invoice 032' unambiguous on the phone and at tax time. Don't reuse or duplicate numbers; gaps are fine.

When should I send the invoice?

The day the job finishes, from the van ideally. An invoice sent three weeks late quietly tells the customer that paying it late is fine too, and it's the single most fixable cause of slow payment.

Free builder invoice template

A free invoice template for builders, visible in full below, downloadable as a PDF, no signup asked. It references the stage number against an agreed schedule, because "stage 2 of 6, foundations" is checkable and "building work" is not, and it gives every variation its own dated line so a change agreed in May does not look invented in September.

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Tired of retyping templates? SoloDesks builds and sends invoices from your phone on the free plan, in about 60 seconds per invoice.

INVOICE

Your Business Name

Phone · Email

Address

Invoice no.

Date

Due date

Description	Qty	Price
Stage 2 of 6: foundations poured & inspected
Labour, 2 weeks (see agreed stage schedule)
Materials: blocks, steels, joists (receipts attached)
Variation 3: footing dug 400mm deeper, agreed 12 May
Skip hire & muck away, 3 loads
Add your own lines…

Subtotal

VAT (if registered)

TOTAL

Payment details & terms

What a builder's invoice must include

Your business name and contact details (and logo, if you have one)
A unique invoice number, where sequential is fine, gaps are fine, duplicates are not
Invoice date and payment due date
The client's name and the job address
Itemised lines: each piece of work and each material, with its price
The total, and whether VAT (or your local sales tax) is included
How to pay: bank details or a payment link
Payment terms, because "due within 7 days" is a term; silence is a suggestion
The stage number against the agreed schedule, because "stage 2 of 6" is checkable and "building work" is not
Each variation on its own line with the date it was agreed, not folded into the final bill

Tips from the trade

Reference the stage number and the agreed schedule in the line. "Stage 2 of 6, foundations" is checkable against something you both signed; "building work" is not.
Invoice each variation with the date it was agreed, not lumped into the final bill. A change agreed in May and billed in September looks invented, however real it was.
Attach or reference material receipts on anything you bought and passed on. Steels and joists are large enough numbers that a customer will want to see them, and offering first is better than being asked.
Keep labour and materials on separate lines on contractor work, because any deduction applies to the labour and a bundled line makes that impossible to work out afterwards.

Common questions

How should I invoice a build that runs for months?: In stages tied to visible milestones, each as its own invoice referencing the stage number on the schedule you both agreed. Foundations, walls to plate, roof on, first fix, plaster, finish. Nobody wants to hand over the whole amount at the end, and you should not be lending somebody the price of an extension for a quarter of a year.
How do I bill variations without the final invoice looking padded?: Bill them as you agree them, each with its own date, rather than saving them for the end. Six variations invoiced across four months are six small conversations that already happened. The same six on the closing invoice are one long argument about a price that appears to have grown, and you will lose some of them purely because of when they arrived.
Do my invoice numbers have to be sequential?: They should be unique and consistent. 001, 002, 003 is the easy convention, and it's what makes 'invoice 032' unambiguous on the phone and at tax time. Don't reuse or duplicate numbers; gaps are fine.
When should I send the invoice?: The day the job finishes, from the van ideally. An invoice sent three weeks late quietly tells the customer that paying it late is fine too, and it's the single most fixable cause of slow payment.

Quoting the job before you bill it? Builder's quote template is the other half of the same paperwork, written for the same trade. Not a builder? The blank UK invoice template works for any trade, in Word, Excel, PDF or Google Docs.

The same invoice for other trades

Or never fill in a template again

SoloDesks builds the invoice on your phone, numbers it, sends it as a professional PDF and chases the reply, on the free plan, no card needed.

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