Whether you are a multi-company freelancer or a business that plans to extend a line of credit to its clients, you will need an invoice. Creating a custom invoice in Excel is not difficult. You will be ready to submit your invoice and receive payments in no time.
Using an invoice template
Creating a simple invoice in Excel is relatively easy. Create some tables, set up some rules, add some information and you’re done. In addition, there are many websites that provide free invoice templates created by real accountants. You can use them instead, or even download one to use as inspiration for your own.
Excel also provides its own library of invoice templates that you can use. To access these templates, open Excel and click the File tab.
Here select «New» and type «Account» in the search bar.
Press Enter and a collection of invoice templates will appear.
Browse through the available templates to find the one you like.
Create a simple invoice in Excel from scratch
To make a simple invoice in Excel, we need to first understand what information is required. To keep things simple, we will create an invoice using only the information needed to receive payment. Here’s what we need:
Seller Information
name
Address
Telephone number
Buyer Information
Company name
Address
Invoice date
Account number
Description of the product (service or product sold)
The price of a product (an individual product or service)
Total amount payable
Payment method
Let’s start.
First, open a blank Excel sheet. The first thing we want to do is get rid of the grid lines, giving us a blank Excel sheet to work with. To do this, go to the «View» tab and uncheck «Gridlines» in the «Show» section. » chapter.
Now let’s resize some of the columns and rows. This will give us extra space for some longer information such as item descriptions. To resize a row or column, click and drag.
The default height for rows is 20 pixels and for columns is 64 pixels. Here’s how we recommend setting up your rows and columns for optimal customization.
Rows:
Row 1: 45px
Speakers:
Column A: 385px
Column B: 175px
Column C: 125px
Line 1 will have your name and the word «Invoice». We want this information to be immediately understandable to the recipient, so we give a little extra space to increase the font size of this information so that it grabs the recipient’s attention.
Column A contains most of the important (and potentially lengthy) information in the invoice. This includes information about the buyer and seller, a description of the item, and the payment method. Column B contains the specific dates of the items listed, so it doesn’t take up much space. Finally, column C will contain the invoice number, invoice date, the individual price of each item in the list, and the total amount due. This information is also short, so it doesn’t take up much space.
Go ahead and set up your rows and cells according to the suggested specifications, and let’s get started by adding our information!
In column A, line 1, enter your name. Give it a larger font size (about 18pt font) and highlight the text so it stands out.
In column B, line 1, enter «Invoice» to immediately understand what kind of document it is. We recommend a 28pt font, using all caps. Feel free to give it a lighter color if you like.
In columns A, lines 4, 5 and 6 we will enter our address and phone number.
In columns B, lines 4 and 5, enter «DATE:» and «INVOICE:» in bold and right-align the text. In columns C of lines 4 and 5, you enter the actual date and account number.
Finally, for the last piece of basic information, we will enter the text «Accounts:» (in bold) in column A, line 8. Below, in lines 9, 10, and 11, we will enter the recipient. Information.
Now we need to create a table with a list of our products, due dates and specific amounts. Here’s how we’ll set it up:
We first merge columns A and B on row 14. This will act as a heading for our listed items (column A, lines 15-30) and due dates (column B, lines 15-30). After merging columns A and B in row 14, set a border for the cell. This can be done by going to the Font section on the Home tab, selecting the border icon, and choosing the type of border you want. For now, we will use «All Borders».
Do the same for cell C14. Feel free to shade your cells if you like. We will make light gray. To fill cells with color, select the cells, click the arrow next to the Fill Color icon in the Font section of the Home tab, and choose your color from the drop-down menu.
In the first highlighted cell, type «DESCRIPTION» and center the text. For C14, enter «AMOUNT» centered. Bold text for both. You will now have a table header.
We want to make sure we have a large enough table to list all of our items. In this example, we will use sixteen lines. Give or take as much as you need.
Go to the bottom of the table and give the first two cells in the row a bottom border.
Now select cells C15-29 and give them all the left and right borders.
Now select cell C30 and give it a left, right, and bottom border. Finally, we’ll add the «Total Amount» section to our table. Select cell C31 and circle it around the entire cell. You can also give it a touch of color to make it stand out. Be sure to mark it «TOTAL» in the box next to it.
This completes the frame of our table. Now let’s set up some rules and add a formula to wrap this up.
We know that our due dates will be in column B, lines 15-30. Go ahead and select these cells. Once they are all selected, click the Number Format field in the Number section of the Home tab.
Once selected, a drop-down menu will appear. Select the «Short date» option. Now, if you enter a number like 12/26 into any of those cells, it will automatically reformat it into the short version.
Similarly, if you select cells C15-30, where the amount of our product will go, and select the «Currency» option, and then enter the amount in these cells, it will be reformatted to reflect this amount.
To automatically add all individual amounts and reflect them in the Sum cell we created, select the cell (C31 in this example) and enter the following formula:
= СУММ (С15: С30)
Now, if you enter (or delete) any number in the individual sum cells, it will automatically appear in the sum cell.
This will make your business more efficient in the long run.
Moving on, enter the text «Payment Method:» in A34.
The information you place alongside is between you and the recipient. The most common forms of payment are cash, checks and bank transfers. Sometimes you may be asked to accept a money order. Some companies even choose to make a direct deposit or use PayPal.
Now for the finishing touch, don’t forget to thank your client or client!
