While most business news tends to be dominated by large companies with global branding, small businesses should nevertheless be overlooked. In 2013, there were 4.9 million businesses listed in the UK, of which, 99% of these businesses were small and medium enterprises. Micro businesses and small businesses in general are becoming more and more popular across the globe, and maybe you are one of them?
Being a small business, there are special requirements and information you need to consider when creating invoices. An invoice template for small business owners is nothing more than a standard template, that takes these conditions into account.
Are you a small business owner?
The definition of a small business, is one that meets the following conditions:
- Your business has a turnover of no more than £10, 000 000.
- Your business has no more than 50 employees.
Invoice content for a small business
When creating an invoice template, it is crucial to include the following points:
- Invoice title: in order for the invoice to be valid, the document must include the title “Invoice”. This is the basic principle for an invoice to have legal and tax validity.
- Information about your company: The relevant company information (company name, company address and VAT number).
- Information of your client: Corporate name, address and VAT number.
- Invoice number: The invoice number must be correlated. To enter this into your template, use the invoice number translation.
- Invoice date: Invoice date.
- Payment terms and expiration date: In the case of defaults, enter the deadline for the payment of the invoice (due date) and the payment method (terms of payment).
- Description of products or services: Construct the breakdown of the goods or services sold, with the corresponding name, description, quantity, unit price, and total amount.
- Breakdown of totals: Finally, end off your invoice template with the total Net Value (Total before VAT), amount and percentage of VAT (VAT%), and the total invoice amount due (Total Due).
If you are creating an invoice manually, make sure to include all above mentioned points for legal purposes. If you are using an invoicing software such as Debitoor, you can automatically generate invoices that take care of all the relevant requirements, saving you both time and effort.
Why do small businesses need to invoice?
Any company, no matter the size, should take care of their own invoicing and accounting system in order to keep track of their income and expenses. This also means that any company is obliged to create invoices, as it is the only legal form of documenting the purchase or sale of a product or service. An invoice cannot be substituted or replaced with delivery notes, quotations, or proforma invoices.
Why should I use an invoicing software?
The benefits of using an invoicing software like Debitoor is useful in the management of a business, but also to please your customers by being consistent in using the same software when issuing bills. An invoicing software also allows you to customize your invoices, and display all relevant information in a clear and coherent manner.
