The Art of Invoicing Hourly: Excelling in Invoicing and Invoice Numbering

A man is making an invoice

The trend of the hourly rate is prevailing in this arena. The scope of hourly billing is quite vast. Therefore, there are some important norms to be followed too. First of all, both the client and hired employee must be clear about the description and nature of the ask. Secondly, the criteria for payment must be decided pre-task for calculating the hourly billing rate.

In the capital market, a lot of employers prefer to get tasks done within hours. Similarly, freelancers seek contracts in the same way. So, if you are serving some clients, you must keep in mind the track of billing invoices. The total hours spent completing it should be on your record (to avoid late payment issues), whether the payment follows up weekly, fortnightly, or even monthly. While creating the hourly invoice, you should clarify the purpose of charging the amount and time spent in offering that service, whatever that might be.  

Writing an Invoice for Payment

Invoicing is an art, so technical assistance should be prioritized because it aids in reducing work. Billing software can also be used for invoicing purposes. For example, creating an Excel sheet or word document can be an auxiliary tool of assistance. Besides these, there are some online prepaid documents that help with track keeping. Well, the following feature must be part of creating an invoice.

  • Make a brief title of the hourly invoice.
  • Then name your business and contact details.
  • On the right, enter the invoice number and expiry of the task.
  • Next comes the details of the employer, contacts, etc.
  • Afterward, the details of the work decided or to be done, and the hours spent on completion, most importantly. The amount decided according to the nature of the work can be utilized in different blocks.
  • Utilize the taxes if applicable, then add the subtotal at the end of the amounts.
  • At the end of the table, you can enter the payment method and its details; cash, online transfer, etc., and a brief description of any extra charges after the due date if applicable.
  • Send this invoice to employers to avoid any excuses and keep the copy for record.
  • In the end, thank your employer for the contract.

Numbering Invoices

Invoice numbering is a unique method of keeping track of your service history. Either for tax authorities or the employer or for any other purpose, numbering invoices makes it easy to get the record. However, there are different methods of numbering invoices, which are described below.

One of the easy ways is sequential numbering. In this way, an employer is allotted any sequence number to be kept on the record. It is always up to your ease how you prefer to give a sequence; for example, you may give a 3-digit sequence or even a single number sequence.

Another easy way of sequencing is customer and project number. Where the same sequence may go with the initial letters of the name of the customer or the project, the list may go on; if you want to avoid any confusion, you can add alphabets with numerals; for example, a client XYZ may have a sequence number ABC12, etc. the project COMPANY may have sequence number COM123, etc.

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