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.

File Tab

Here select «New» and type «Account» in the search bar.

New - Account Search

Press Enter and a collection of invoice templates will appear.

Invoice Templates

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.

hide grid lines

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.

Resize GIF

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.

enter a name on the invoice

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.

enter account in invoice

In columns A, lines 4, 5 and 6 we will enter our address and phone number.

enter the address on the invoice

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.

enter 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.

enter 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».

give cells borders 1

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.

fill cells with color

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.

enter a table title

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.

set the bottom border of a row cell

Now select cells C15-29 and give them all the left and right borders.

left 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.

finished table

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.

format number field

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.

GIF date

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.

currency gif

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) 

general formula

Now, if you enter (or delete) any number in the individual sum cells, it will automatically appear in the sum cell.

SUM GIF

This will make your business more efficient in the long run.

Moving on, enter the text «Payment Method:» in A34.

payment method

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!

Thanks

Start sending your invoice and getting paid!

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