How To Write a Sales Invoice

Businesses are always focused in becoming profitable. In order to do that, increasing revenues is the name of the game. And, of course, revenues can only be achieved through sales. However, in order to complete a sale of any product, the customer must be given a sales invoice. It serves as a bill for the customer, which will inform him about the products he plans to purchase, the quantity, and the costs involved. From the sales invoice, the customer will be able to examine what he is buying, how many units he is purchasing, the price per unit, the price for the lot, the taxes associated with the purchase, and the overall cost that he will have to settle to finally get the goods he has ordered and get the official receipt closing the transaction.

Normally, most companies use customized software to prepare, write, and print out invoices. The software is often linked to an inventory system. However, some businesses, those that are still in the dark ages, prefer to prepare sales invoices manually. If that is the case with your business, then you will definitely want a guide that you can follow to create your very own sales invoice. Here is that simple guide.

* Create the letterhead. While it is alright to prepare a handwritten sales invoice, it would be better to do it digitally. Use a regular word processing program such as MS Office. Open a blank document and use the first two lines at the top of your page to create your letterhead. The company logo and the name go up top in a decently sized font. If you have a .jpg version of the logo and the name, you can insert it onto the document. Below that, insert the details of your company, particularly the business address and contact information.
* Indicate the invoice number. In order to differentiate a sales invoice from the other invoices, you will want to assign a number to each invoice you create. This particular number should be located top right, beneath the letterhead. This will enable you to easily track invoices later on.
* Add the client’s detail. Back to the left side of the page, start encoding the details of the client beginning with his name, address, phone number, and the order number (if necessary).
* Add the sales transaction. Below the client’s details, add a table with about 4 columns. The first column will be for the name, type, and description of the product to be purchased. The second column should be for the price per unit of that product. The third column is for the quantity of each product listed. And, the last column is for the sub total cost for the product relevant to the quantity and the price per unit. There should also be a lone row below that indicating the overall charge for the transaction, which should include all taxes associated with the transaction.

If your inventory system requires each product to be coded, make sure to include those codes in the product description column as well.


The final part of the sales invoice is a portion for the client to affix his signature as well as the business’ authorized representative to approve the transaction and legitimize the invoice. Print and submit the invoice to the client and wait for him to settle the charges. Once he completes payment, give him a receipt along with the goods he has just purchased. Keep the sales invoice for filing.