Download is the only button
Every free invoice generator says it is free and no signup. Go to the biggest one and you will find two buttons: Save & Send, which needs an account, sitting directly above Download, which does not. Most people press the first one, hit a wall, and conclude they were lied to.
Technically the claim was true. Practically it was not, and the entire difference was which button came first. So this one has one button, it says Download, and it produces the PDF.
The CIS reverse charge, where invoices go wrong
If you are a subcontractor doing construction work for a VAT registered contractor who is not the end user, you almost certainly should not be charging VAT at all. Under the domestic reverse charge introduced in March 2021, the customer accounts for the VAT instead of you, and your invoice has to say so.
Get it wrong in either direction and it costs you. Charge VAT you should not have and the customer's accountant bounces the invoice and you wait another month to be paid. Fail to include the wording and it comes back for the same reason.
Tick the reverse charge option here and the VAT line is removed, the net figure is shown as the amount due, and the wording HMRC requires is added to the document automatically. You do not have to remember it and you cannot forget it.
What has to be on an invoice
If you are VAT registered in the UK, a valid VAT invoice needs a unique sequential number, your name and address, your VAT registration number, the date, the customer's name and address, a description of what you supplied, the rate and amount of VAT, and the total excluding VAT. At £250 or less you can issue a simplified invoice instead.
The other three markets ask for different things. In Australia, a tax invoice needs the words "tax invoice", your ABN, a description, and the GST amount payable, and at $1,000 or more the buyer's identity or ABN as well. If you are not registered for GST, leave the heading alone: you must not use the words "tax invoice" at all, and the document is simply an invoice. In Canada, what has to be shown rises with the value of the sale: your GST/HST registration number and the tax once the total reaches $100, the buyer's name and an itemised description once it reaches $500. In the US there is no federal rule for what a domestic invoice has to contain at all. What does matter is state sales tax, which generally has to be shown as its own line rather than folded into the price.
Your details and tax registration number come from your branding, set once and carried onto every document you generate here after that. The rest is on the form above.
Numbering, and why sequential matters
In the UK, invoice numbers have to be unique and sequential, with no gaps you cannot explain. That is not pedantry: gaps look like invoices you issued and did not declare, and it is one of the first things an inspection looks at. Click the reference field and a sensible starting number is suggested, then carry the sequence forward yourself.
Australia, Canada and the US do not mandate a sequential run, only that an invoice number exists at all. Running one anyway costs nothing and answers the same question if your own accountant, or anyone else, ever asks where a number went.
Getting paid, not just invoiced
In the UK, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation gives you statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate on a commercial invoice that is paid late, plus a fixed compensation sum on top depending on the size of the debt. You do not need it in your terms for it to apply, because it is statutory.
The other three markets do not hand you that automatically. There is no single federal rule for business to business late payment in the US, and state prompt payment statutes vary. Australia has no uniform federal statute either, though state security of payment legislation gives interest on construction progress payments. In Canada, interest is a contractual entitlement that has to be agreed before the debt arises, or the realistic route is a lower rate a court awards once you sue. If you are invoicing from those three markets and your own terms do not set a rate, you probably do not have one, so put one in the terms box below.
Most people never claim what they are entitled to, and the mere fact that you mention it in your terms changes how quickly you get paid. Put your payment terms in the terms box and they appear on the document.
Your client, your rates, and what you charged them
Your client's name, your rates, what you charged and who you charged it to never reach a server, because there is not one. The document is assembled on your device and saved straight to it. On a page where you type what your day rate actually is, that is worth more than it sounds.
Common questions
Why do most free invoice generators want an account?
Because the "Save & Send" button, which needs an account, is usually placed directly above the "Download" button, which does not. Most people press the first one, hit a signup wall, and assume the tool lied about being free, when the actual difference was only which button came first. This one has a single Download button.
When should I not charge VAT on a construction invoice?
When you are a subcontractor doing construction work for a VAT registered contractor who is not the end user. Under the domestic reverse charge introduced in March 2021, the customer accounts for the VAT to HMRC instead of you, and the invoice has to carry specific wording saying so rather than a VAT line.
What happens if I get the CIS reverse charge wrong?
It costs you either way. Charge VAT that should not have been charged and the customer's accountant will bounce the invoice, so payment waits another month. Leave off the required reverse charge wording and it comes back for the same reason.
What has to be on a valid invoice?
It depends where you are invoicing from. In the UK a full VAT invoice needs a unique sequential number, your name and address, your VAT registration number, the date, the customer's name and address, a description, the VAT rate and amount, and the total excluding VAT, though at £250 or less a simplified invoice will do. In Australia a tax invoice needs the words "tax invoice", your ABN and the GST amount payable, plus the buyer's identity or ABN once the sale reaches $1,000, and if you are not registered for GST you must not use the words "tax invoice" at all. In Canada the requirement rises in tiers: your GST/HST registration number and the tax once the total reaches $100, the buyer's name and itemised descriptions once it reaches $500. In the US there is no federal content requirement at all, so the only rule that bites is at state level, where sales tax collected generally has to be shown separately from the price rather than folded in.
Why do invoice numbers need to be sequential with no gaps?
Because a gap in the sequence looks like an invoice that was issued and not declared, and it is one of the first things a tax inspection checks. That is a UK VAT requirement specifically: numbers should be unique and sequential, and any gap should be one you can explain. Australia, Canada and the US do not mandate a sequential run, only that you have a number at all, but running one anyway costs nothing and answers the same question if anybody ever asks.
Can I charge interest on a late invoice?
In the UK, yes, and it applies whether or not your terms mention it: the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation gives you statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed compensation sum on top depending on the size of the debt. The other three markets do not give you that automatically. There is no single federal rule for business to business late payment in the US, and state prompt payment statutes vary. Australia has no uniform federal statute either, though state security of payment legislation gives interest on construction progress payments. In Canada, interest is a contractual entitlement that has to be agreed before the debt arises, or the realistic route is a lower rate a court awards once you sue. If you are invoicing from those three markets and your own terms do not set a rate, you probably do not have one, so put one in the terms box.
I am not registered for GST in Australia. Can I still call my document a "tax invoice"?
No, and this is a prohibition rather than a formality. A tax invoice in Australia has to show the words "tax invoice", your ABN and the GST amount payable, but all of that assumes you are registered. If you are not registered for GST you must not use the words "tax invoice" on the document at all. Select Australia and mark yourself as not registered here and the heading is dropped automatically: the document is simply an invoice, which is the correct one to issue.