If you are a sole trader (self employed trader) or a partnership you need to show the business name and the owners names so that you are making it clear who your customer is dealing with.  

For companies you need to show the legal name registered with Companies House and a trading name if you have one.  The number allocated to the company by Companies House must also be shown.

Most businesses have a logo that is designed to make their business stand out, this should also be shown on the invoices.

The business address, phone number, email address and website should also be shown so that customers know how to contact you again in the future.

If you are VAT registered, the VAT number should be shown on the face of every invoice.  The totals at the bottom should be split into NET, VAT and Total so that customers can see how much VAT they are paying.  The rate of VAT should also be shown.

Every invoice should show a date - you can show an invoice date and a date that the work was carried out if required.

Every invoice should show a unique invoice number, preferably in sequence so that you can show that all the invoices raised have been included in your books.

In most cases it is really helpful to show the bank details and payment terms on the face of the invoice, as it means that the customers can pay you more easily.

It seems like a lot to include but the good news is, there are software packages that can be used for bookkeeping and they only need to be set up once with all those points.  Quickbooks and Xero are then ready to raise invoices with the correct number sequence each time so that you don't have to try and remember where you were up to.

If you would like help with setting Quickbooks or Xero up, or about whether having this type of package would work for your business, please get in touch with BW Bookkeeping, we look forward to hearing from you.

As a business owner it is great to come accross as professional, and a good sales invoice emailed to your customer is a step in the right direction.