The customer added a room halfway through. How do I bill it?

As its own line, at the price you would have quoted it for. Rolling it into the total makes the whole invoice look like it grew, which invites a conversation about all of it. A separate line for the box room is a separate, much shorter conversation.

How do I bill preparation on a house that needed far more than expected?

As its own line, named for what it was: filling, sanding, stripping paper, stabilising a chalky wall. Preparation is most of the work and none of the visible result, so folded into a painting rate it just looks like you charged a lot to paint. Written down, it is the reason the finish looks the way it does.

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 painter & decorator invoice template

A free invoice template for painters and decorators, visible in full below, downloadable as a PDF, no signup asked. It bills the way the job was sold: room by room, with prep on its own line and paint and sundries separate from the days. A customer reading a list of their own rooms pays faster than one reading a single number.

Free PDF · fills in by hand or in any PDF app · no signup

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
Prep: sand, fill & caulk (all rooms)
Hallway, stairs & landing: walls & ceiling
Bedroom 1: walls, ceiling & woodwork
Woodwork: doors, frames & skirting ×4 rooms
Materials: paint & sundries
Add your own lines…

Subtotal

VAT (if registered)

TOTAL

Payment details & terms

What a painter & decorator'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 rooms actually painted and the number of coats, which is the answer to a question asked eighteen months later

Tips from the trade

Bill the rooms you actually painted. If the box room got added halfway through, it is a line, not a favour you remember resenting in November.
Put paint and sundries on their own line. Six litres of trade emulsion and a day's work are not one number.
Invoice the day you lift the dust sheets. The house looks its best that afternoon, and that is the afternoon they are most willing to pay for it.
Record the number of coats on the invoice too, not just the quote. It is the answer to a question asked eighteen months later.

Common questions

The customer added a room halfway through. How do I bill it?: As its own line, at the price you would have quoted it for. Rolling it into the total makes the whole invoice look like it grew, which invites a conversation about all of it. A separate line for the box room is a separate, much shorter conversation.
How do I bill preparation on a house that needed far more than expected?: As its own line, named for what it was: filling, sanding, stripping paper, stabilising a chalky wall. Preparation is most of the work and none of the visible result, so folded into a painting rate it just looks like you charged a lot to paint. Written down, it is the reason the finish looks the way it does.
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? Painter & Decorator's quote template is the other half of the same paperwork, written for the same trade. Not a painter & decorator? 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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