[Steve Kownacki] "Don't think that because your invoice looks like a work of art it will get paid any faster or they will hire you for more jobs. Beancounters look at the number, make sure it's correct and type in into quickbooks as a payable and file it away."
I think Steve is right that an invoice need not be a work of art, but it is still an important piece of business communication that shouldn't be overlooked. Invoices should be designed for clarity, and this includes both the invoice template and the way your write up your invoices.
Put yourself in your clients' shoes. What would you want in an invoice that you are paying out against? I want to be able to pick out instantly the vendor the invoice is coming from, the project the invoice is for, and the total due. I want the line item charges to be clear, I want the terms to be clear, and I want to easily reference and reconcile it against a PO or an estimate. I want to feel I am being charged what I expected. I don't want to see surprises, and I don't want to have to ask questions. I don't want to have to spend a lot of time making sure the charges are correct.
You want to make it easy for your clients to write you checks, not harder. A pretty invoice won't help, and a cluttered or incompletely written invoice won't help, but a clear and functional invoice (which in my opinion certainly includes the stock invoice templates in Quickbooks) will.
Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production
