Some invoices are simple. Others can get into double digit page numbers and feature lengthy descriptions of products or services provided. In either case, the most important thing is to make sure that you communicate clearly and effectively with your customer.
It’s an age old lesson, applicable not only to business dealings, but also to daily life. Too often, miscommunication or unclear information is the root of problems and disagreements the world over. But before I start waxing-poetic on the state of the world, I’ll get back to how this relates to you as an entrepreneur.
The format of your invoice is one place where extra care should be taken to provide detailed information in the clearest possible manner.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen many online invoices that are needlessly unclear - replacing simple layouts to ensure all the necessary details are included with unprofessional designs that interfere with the content. Other invoice templates try to cram all the information onto one page - resulting in a dense, unpleasant document.
It might seem like common sense, but a good invoice template means a clear invoice for your customer, and this is a crucial part of business communications.
Keeping the customer in mind when creating an invoice is a simple way to ensure that your invoice comes out in a way that is straightforward for your customer. After all, that is the aim of the document and will help you get paid.
That means that if your invoice falls onto two pages - better that than on one piece of paper too dense with text to bother going through.
Keeping it professional
Some users might argue that a multiple-page invoice is less professional. However, if being able to include all the information on one page is at the cost of a clear invoice, this comes across as far less professional than turning to a second page.
Creating business documents shouldn’t bring up past memories your student days: stretching the margins of your Word or Excel invoice template to its limits just to make it all fit.
Instead, a good invoice template will take the correct spacing into account to ensure that the resulting invoice has a clear layout and is easy to read. But that doesn’t sacrifice on design.
With invoice software like Debitioor, all of your invoices will include your uploaded company logo, and all of the information you enter is automatically placed in the template of your choice, ensuring that your invoice layout is always clear and professional. Which means better communication with your customer, and increasing the chances of you getting paid fast.
