If you are a freelance or self-employed nanny, or run a daycare business, you have a number of things to take into account when invoicing your customers.
Just like many other businesses, once you have completed your service for a customer, the job is done and now it’s time to get paid. How do you get paid? You need to invoice your customers.
Obligations as a nanny
Over past few years, it has become apparent that more and more nannies and child services are paid for by the so called ‘under the table’ method. We all understand that the reason people do this is because it tends to be beneficial for both parties - you as the service provider, and your employer as the hirer.
However! Keep in mind that from the moment you are hired as a nanny by an employer, you instantly become legally obligated to a number of things - including paying tax on your income earned.
The best way to go about this is to actually draw up a contract between you and your employer outlining the terms of your working arrangement. By having a clear outline on paper, you have a valid document that can help you avoid many potential issues. And the exact same goes for invoicing!
Invoicing for nannies
Invoicing your customers is a professional way to document your services performed and the total price you are charging. It is also probably the best way for both you and your customer to have legal documentation of the work you performed for them, and the money owed.
In your invoice you can also include a descriptive list of all other expenses including product or service details. Nanny services often ended being more than just the hourly nanny rate - why is this? Well you also have to take into account all the overhead expenses such as gas, food, field trips, parking prices - and the list goes on!
By using invoicing software you can easily organise all your products, services, customers, invoices and expenses all in one place - saving you a lot of time! Furthermore, one of the perks of invoicing is that it encourages your customers to pay you within a reasonable amount of time.
What should I include on my invoice?
As you probably already know by now, in order for an invoice to be considered a legal document, it needs to include the following points:
- Invoice title: in order for the invoice to be valid, the document must include the title “Invoice”.
- Invoice number: The invoice number must be correlated (without gaps between invoices)
- Your company information: The relevant company information (company name, company address and VAT number)
- Your customer’s information: Name, address and VAT number.
- Invoice date: The date the invoice is issued
- 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: Net Value (Total before VAT), amount and percentage of VAT (VAT%), and the total invoice amount due (Total Due).
If you are using invoicing software such as Debitoor then you can relax and not worry about whether you have included all these little items because we will take care of that for you!
Debitoor invoicing software helps you keep track of which invoices are paid, unpaid, and overdue. And if that wasn't enough, we also have a feature which allows you to instantly send out a reminder letter to those customers with outstanding or delayed payments!
