Can I charge for re-boarding a wall I quoted to skim?

Yes, on its own line, and tell them the day you find it rather than the day you invoice. Plaster that comes off in sheets is a different job to the one you priced, and a customer shown the bare brick at the time will agree to it. The same customer shown a bigger number at the end will not.

Should I invoice before the decorator starts?

Yes, and ideally the day you finish. Plastering is the only trade whose work is deliberately covered up by the next one, so the window where the customer can actually see what they paid for is measured in days. An invoice that lands after the emulsion is an invoice about something nobody can point at any more.

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 plasterer invoice template

A free invoice template for plasterers, visible in full below, downloadable as a PDF, no signup asked. The area or the room names go in the line, because "skim, 42m²" settles what the word "plastering" leaves wide open. Boards, beading and scrim are billed as the merchant receipts they are, even though they vanish the moment the wall is flat.

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INVOICE

Your Business Name

Phone · Email

Address

Invoice no.

Date

Due date

Description	Qty	Price
Skim over existing plaster, 3 bedrooms, 42m²
Re-board & skim hallway ceiling (lath removed)
Materials: boards, beading, scrim, multi-finish
Protect flooring, bag & remove waste
Additional: 1 wall re-boarded, plaster blown
Add your own lines…

Subtotal

VAT (if registered)

TOTAL

Payment details & terms

What a plasterer'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 area skimmed in square metres or the rooms by name, because "skim, 42m²" settles what "plastering" leaves open

Tips from the trade

Put the area or the rooms in the line. "Skim, 42m²" or "three bedrooms" settles an argument that the word "plastering" invites three weeks later.
Bill the boards, beading and scrim separately. They are a merchant receipt in your name and they are invisible the second the wall is flat.
If you re-boarded a wall you had priced to skim, that is its own line with the date you found it. Blown plaster changed the job, and the invoice is where that gets recorded.
Invoice the day you pull the beads off. Your work is admired for about a week, and then it lives under somebody else's emulsion forever.

Common questions

Can I charge for re-boarding a wall I quoted to skim?: Yes, on its own line, and tell them the day you find it rather than the day you invoice. Plaster that comes off in sheets is a different job to the one you priced, and a customer shown the bare brick at the time will agree to it. The same customer shown a bigger number at the end will not.
Should I invoice before the decorator starts?: Yes, and ideally the day you finish. Plastering is the only trade whose work is deliberately covered up by the next one, so the window where the customer can actually see what they paid for is measured in days. An invoice that lands after the emulsion is an invoice about something nobody can point at any more.
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? Plasterer's quote template is the other half of the same paperwork, written for the same trade. Not a plasterer? 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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