Does the certificate number belong on the invoice?

Yes, if the work needed one. It is the document the customer needs for a sale, a mortgage or a landlord check, and the invoice is the piece of paper they are most likely to still have in two years. Putting the two together saves you a phone call later.

Should an invoice list the circuits I actually worked on?

Name them. "Electrical work, £X" is a figure; "new ring final circuit to kitchen, consumer unit change, 6 downlights to landing" is a record. Electrical work is bought once and asked about for twenty years, by surveyors, buyers and the next electrician, and the invoice is usually the only paper still in the house.

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 electrician invoice template

A free invoice template for electricians, visible in full below, downloadable as a PDF, no signup asked. It has room for the things an electrical invoice has to carry and a generic one does not: first fix and second fix as separate stages, named accessories rather than a line reading "materials", and the certificate number the customer will need long after they have forgotten what the work cost.

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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
First fix: kitchen ring main
Second fix: sockets & switches ×6
Consumer unit replacement (supplied & fitted)
Materials: cable, back boxes, accessories
Testing & certification
Add your own lines…

Subtotal

VAT (if registered)

TOTAL

Payment details & terms

What a electrician'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 certificate number for any work that needed one, so the invoice is the document they keep

Tips from the trade

Testing and certification go on their own line. It's skilled, legally required work, and customers should see it priced.
Split first fix and second fix on staged jobs, so you can invoice each stage as it completes.
Put the certificate number on the invoice. It is the document they need for a sale or a landlord check, so an invoice carrying it is one they file rather than lose.
Bill the same week you test. The certificate lands in their inbox and the invoice should land with it, while the job is still the thing they were pleased about.

Common questions

Does the certificate number belong on the invoice?: Yes, if the work needed one. It is the document the customer needs for a sale, a mortgage or a landlord check, and the invoice is the piece of paper they are most likely to still have in two years. Putting the two together saves you a phone call later.
Should an invoice list the circuits I actually worked on?: Name them. "Electrical work, £X" is a figure; "new ring final circuit to kitchen, consumer unit change, 6 downlights to landing" is a record. Electrical work is bought once and asked about for twenty years, by surveyors, buyers and the next electrician, and the invoice is usually the only paper still in the house.
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? Electrician's quote template is the other half of the same paperwork, written for the same trade. Not a electrician? The blank UK invoice template works for any trade, in Word, Excel, PDF or Google Docs.

The same invoice for other trades

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