What to include on every invoice
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| The word “Invoice” | So it is not mistaken for a quote or a statement |
| Your name and trading name | E.g. “Jane Smith t/a Kaitiaki Landscaping” |
| Your contact details | Email, phone, and your NZBN if you have one |
| Client name and details | Get the exact legal entity right, especially for larger clients |
| Invoice number | Sequential and unique. Never reuse one. |
| Invoice date | And the due date, spelled out as an actual date |
| Description of work | Specific enough that someone in accounts payable who was not there can approve it |
| Amounts | Line items, subtotal, GST if applicable, and total |
| Payment terms | When, and what happens if it is late |
| Bank account number | The single most-forgotten field on small business invoices |
| Reference | Tell them what to put in the reference field so you can match the payment |
If the client gave you a purchase order number, put it on the invoice. Missing PO numbers are the most common reason invoices sit unpaid in large organisations.
If you are GST registered
Registered sellers have extra requirements. Your invoice must show your GST number and make the GST position clear: either the GST amount, or a statement that the total includes GST.
Charging or showing GST when you are not registered is a serious problem. You are collecting a tax you have no right to collect. Just show your price with no GST line at all.
More on the threshold and what changes at GST for sole traders, and you can work the numbers with the GST calculator.
Payment terms
“The 20th of the following month” is a New Zealand habit, not a law. Work finished on 2 March under those terms gets paid on 20 April, seven weeks later. You are entitled to set your own terms.
- 7 or 14 days from invoice date is entirely normal for small jobs.
- Deposit up front for materials or larger jobs. Common, expected, and protects you.
- Progress payments on anything running more than a few weeks.
- Payment on completion for short jobs, before you leave site.
Whatever you choose, agree it before you start work, not on the invoice afterwards. Terms that first appear at the bottom of an invoice are terms the client never agreed to.
Things that get you paid faster
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Invoice the day you finish
Not at the end of the month. Every day you delay is a day added to the end of the payment cycle, and the work is freshest in the client's mind right now.
-
Send it from an address that looks like a business
An invoice from accounts@youridea.co.nz gets processed. An invoice from a free webmail account gets a second look from accounts payable, and increasingly gets caught by spam filtering. Why this matters more than it should.
-
Make the due date a date
“Due 14 August 2026” beats “14 days”. Remove every opportunity for someone to work something out.
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Send it to the right person
The person who hired you often is not the person who pays. Ask, early and directly, who invoices should go to.
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Make paying trivially easy
Bank account number and reference on every invoice. Consider a payment link for consumer clients.
Chasing a late invoice
Most late payments are administrative, not hostile. Escalate steadily and keep it unemotional.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Due date + 1 day | Short friendly email. Assume it was missed, because it usually was. |
| + 7 days | Phone call. Confirm they have the invoice, it is approved, and ask for a payment date. |
| + 14 days | Written reminder referring to your agreed terms. Note any interest or fee you flagged up front. |
| + 30 days | Formal letter of demand. Stop doing further work. |
| Beyond that | Disputes Tribunal for smaller amounts, or a debt collection agency. Weigh the cost against the amount and the relationship. |
Quotes, scope changes, approvals and reminders. If it ever goes to a tribunal, the person with the paper trail wins. A mailbox on your own domain keeps that trail in one searchable place instead of scattered across texts and a personal inbox.
Free invoice generator
We built a simple one. Fill in the fields, get a clean printable invoice or PDF, with GST handled automatically. Nothing is uploaded anywhere; it all runs in your browser.