A friend of mine recently told me that in her boutique clothing store, everything is done by hand. Each piece of clothing is sewn individually, with the labels attached by hand and they even add their logos to the bags themselves.
While this is certainly a selling point for the clothes, the sales process doesn’t also need to be done by hand. Yet she wants to stress the unique identity of her business and is concerned that online invoicing won’t allow her the creative expression.
She needs her invoices to reflect not only her brand but the fact that she is involved in the fashion retail industry.
Take your field into consideration when invoicing
When creating an invoice, it’s important to consider your industry and therefore your customers. This should directly affect the layout and customisation of your invoice.
For example, a freelance accountant will have a significantly different invoice design than a graphic designer or a trend hunter.
Similarly, someone working within fashion and retail should have a clear understanding of their competitor’s design and how they can promote their own brand through marketing materials, as well as through their invoices.
Even within the fashion industry, you’ll find difference between each profession. Stylists and fashion photographers for example will have a different invoice from my friend with the shop because they offer a service rather than a product.
You should also take into consideration whether you will be billing individuals or companies, and how this should reflect on your invoices.
Whether you invoice customers only within the UK or if you’re fulfilling orders coming from EU countries and need to keep in mind VAT and/or currency conversion.
Invoicing as a fashion retailer
In the UK, most clothing items fall under the standard 20% VAT rate, which is what should be included in invoices as a fashion retailer. However, children’s clothing falls under the zero-rated goods category, which means there is a 0% VAT rate - an important fact to keep in mind in your invoicing.
With invoicing software like Debitoor, you can put away the calculator and stop googling how to set up formulas in an Excel sheet. The subtotals, total, and the VAT as you’ve indicated are all automatically calculated as you create the invoice.
Invoice templates that promote your brand
The fashion world is complex and often incredibly competitive. While vintage style might be trendy, it’s certainly not applicable to your invoicing system.
In the case of my friend and her boutique, the brand she aimed to promote was the handmade, crafted image of clothes with a classic aesthetic. What do you want your brand image to say about your business?
Changing the design of your invoices can quickly help you promote the image you have in mind for your business and give your interaction with customers an extra touch that further enhances your brand in their mind and improves communication and increases your professionalism.
With Debitoor, our invoice designer lets you customise your invoices by selecting the right layout, uploading your logo, your own photos, and selecting your colour-scheme to suit your brand and the image you wish to express to your customers.
And with fashion often comes international markets. Debitoor invoices allow you to easily change your language and currency if you’re invoicing in London, Paris, or New York.
