Small Business Invoice Template
A small business invoice template pre-filled with the nine fields your invoice needs to clear AP and satisfy the IRS — your legal name and EIN, the client's legal entity, an itemized list, sales tax where applicable, and ACH plus card payment instructions. Download as PDF, Word, Excel, Google Docs, or Google Sheets. No signup, no watermark, generated in your browser.
Part of our free invoice template library — 80+ industry-specific templates in five formats.
- Best for
- Sole props, single-member LLCs, and 1–10 person businesses across any industry
- Typical line items
- Products sold or services rendered, sales tax (where applicable), shipping or delivery
- Standard terms
- Net 15 for solo operators, Net 30 once you bill larger clients
- Doesn't fit if
- You bill 10+ invoices a month or use formal POs — you've outgrown templates
Download this invoice template
Pick a style, choose a format, and download — generated locally in your browser.
Style
Format
Fixed layout for sending and printing
Word
Editable in Word or Google Docs
Excel
Live formulas for recurring invoices
Or create and send invoices online
Create onlineWhat to include on a small business invoice
Nine fields. Every US small business invoice needs them, regardless of whether you're a sole prop selling crafts on Etsy, a single-member LLC consulting at $150/hour, or a five-person landscaping S-corp. Get the legal name, the EIN, and the payment instructions right and you'll get paid faster than the 7.8-day-late US average tracked in Xero's March 2026 Small Business Insights.
- 01
Your business legal name (and DBA if you use one)
Sole proprietor: your legal personal name, plus your DBA on a second line ('Jane Doe dba Doe Design Co.'). Single-member LLC: the LLC's registered name exactly as filed with the state. S-corp: the corporate name. The IRS and your client's AP department both check.
- 02
Your address, phone, and email
Use the address on file with the IRS for your EIN. A PO box is fine if that's your business address. AP departments will reject invoices where the remit-to address doesn't match the W-9.
- 03
Your EIN (or SSN if you're a sole prop without one)
Use an EIN whenever possible — it's free from IRS.gov in five minutes and keeps your SSN off documents that get emailed around. SSN-only is acceptable for sole props but exposes you to identity-theft risk if a client's mailbox is compromised.
- 04
Client's legal entity name and billing address
Match exactly what's on their W-9 or contract. 'ACME LLC' and 'ACME Inc' are different legal entities and AP will bounce a misaddressed invoice back to you for a reissue — costing you 7–14 days.
- 05
Unique invoice number
Sequential (INV-0001, INV-0002) or date-keyed (2026-04-25-A). Never reuse a number, never skip — your accountant and any auditor flag both as red flags.
- 06
Invoice date and due date
Net 15 is the default for solo and small operators. Net 30 is standard once you're invoicing established businesses. State the due date as a calendar date ('Due May 10, 2026'), not just 'Net 30' — clients pay calendar dates faster.
- 07
Itemized line items (description, quantity, rate)
One line per deliverable or product. Vague single-line invoices ('Services rendered — $4,500') get held up in AP for 'detail required'. Three or four specific lines clear faster than one generic one.
- 08
Subtotal, sales tax, total
If you sell taxable goods or taxable services in your state, add a sales-tax line with your state registration ID nearby. 45 states plus DC have a state sales tax — check your state Department of Revenue for the current rate and what's taxable.
- 09
Payment instructions and accepted methods
Bank ACH details for invoices over a few hundred dollars (cheapest at ~$0.80–$5 per transfer per Stripe pricing); Stripe/PayPal/Square link for cards (2.9% + $0.30 for online card, per Stripe Apr 2026). Add a late-fee clause: '1.5% monthly interest on overdue balances' is the typical state cap.
The numbers behind small business invoicing in 2026
You're not alone, and you're not making this up — late payment is the single biggest cash-flow problem for US small businesses. The benchmarks below are pulled from the SBA, Xero's small business data, IRS publications, Stripe's published pricing, and recent QuickBooks and Bluevine surveys.
| Field | 2026 figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US small businesses | 36.2 million (99.9% of all US businesses); ~33.2M are non-employer firms | SBA Office of Advocacy, FAQ Feb 2026 |
| Self-employed Americans | ~16.6 million (≈10% of the workforce; incl. ~6.7M incorporated) | BLS / FRED, Dec 2025 figure |
| Average days an invoice is paid late (US) | 7.8 days late (lowest in 4 years) | Xero Small Business Insights, March 2026 |
| Average outstanding receivables per SMB | $17,500 owed at any given time | Intuit QuickBooks 2025 Late Payments Report |
| SMBs delayed their own paycheck due to late invoices | 29% (nearly 1 in 3) | Bluevine SMB Survey, March 2026 |
| Stripe processing fees (online card) | 2.9% + $0.30 per charge; ACH 0.8% capped at $5 | Stripe published pricing, April 2026 |
| 1099-K threshold (third-party processors, 2025–2026) | Reverted to $20,000 AND 200 transactions | One Big Beautiful Bill Act §70432 (signed Jul 2025); IRS FAQ |
| 1099-NEC threshold for paying contractors | $600 (rises to $2,000 for tax year 2026; inflation-indexed after) | IRS Instructions for 1099-MISC/NEC, post-OBBBA |
| CPA fee for 1040 + Schedule C (sole prop / SMLLC) | ~$300–$700 typical (varies by region and complexity) | Industry surveys, 2026 (e.g. Toran Accounting, SDO CPA) |
The single most useful benchmark in that list: average outstanding receivables of $17,500 per small business. If you're sitting on less than that, your invoicing is healthier than the median. If you're sitting on more, fix the chase loop before you fix anything else in the business.
How to invoice as a small business: a 7-step workflow
From entity name on day one to clean handoff to your CPA in January. Run this loop monthly and you'll never be the small business chasing March receipts in October.
- 1
Pick the right legal name to put on the invoice
Sole prop with no LLC: your personal legal name, with a DBA on the next line if you operate under a brand. Single-member LLC: the LLC's name exactly as registered with the state. S-corp or C-corp: the corporate name. This is the name your client's AP cuts the check to and it must match your W-9 — mismatches are the most common reason a small business invoice sits in someone's inbox for a month.
- 2
Get an EIN if you don't have one
Apply online at IRS.gov in about five minutes; it's free and you receive the number immediately. An EIN keeps your SSN off invoices that get forwarded around. Sole props can technically use an SSN, but every freelance and small-business advisor suggests getting an EIN the moment you have a client outside your immediate circle.
- 3
Set up payment methods before the first invoice
ACH bank transfer is the cheapest — Stripe charges 0.8% capped at $5 per transaction (Stripe pricing, April 2026), and your bank's direct ACH is often free for small volumes. Card processing runs 2.9% + $0.30 for online and 2.7% + $0.05 in person on Stripe. Zelle is free but consumer-only at most banks. Pick one of each (an ACH option and a card option) and list both on the invoice.
- 4
Number your invoices sequentially from day one
Start at INV-0001 and increment by one. If you ever void an invoice, leave the number gap intact and add a 'voided' notation in your records — never reuse the number. Your CPA and any future audit will reconcile invoice numbers against your bank deposits, and gaps without explanation look like missing income.
- 5
Save every invoice as PDF for your records
The IRS requires you to keep records that support items on your tax return for at least three years (longer if you under-report income by more than 25%, in which case six years applies). Save each invoice as a PDF named with the invoice number, date, and client, and back up to a second location. A simple folder structure beats any system you'll abandon.
- 6
Reconcile monthly — match bank deposits to invoices
On the first of every month, open your bank statement and your invoice log side by side. Mark each invoice paid, follow up on anything past Day 16 (Net 15) or Day 31 (Net 30), and write off truly uncollectible balances at year end. Doing this monthly means you spend an hour each time. Doing it once a year means you spend a weekend in March remembering what a $2,400 deposit was for.
- 7
Hand off clean records to your CPA in January
Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs file Schedule C with their personal 1040 (typical CPA fee: $300–$700 per recent industry guides). Multi-member LLCs file Form 1065 by March 15. S-corps file Form 1120-S by March 15. Get your invoice records, expenses, and 1099s to your accountant by mid-January and you'll dodge the late-March rush surcharge most firms charge.
How to invoice as different business types
The name on your invoice and the tax form you file are tied together. Get the structure right and the rest of the year is paperwork — get it wrong and you'll be reissuing invoices and amending returns.
| Entity | Name on invoice | Tax ID | Tax return filed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietor | Your legal name, plus DBA on a second line if used | SSN or EIN (EIN strongly recommended) | Schedule C with personal Form 1040 |
| Single-member LLC | LLC's registered name (e.g. 'Doe Design LLC') | EIN | Schedule C by default (disregarded entity) |
| Multi-member LLC | LLC's registered name | EIN (required) | Form 1065 partnership return; K-1 to each member |
| S-corp (or LLC taxed as S-corp) | Corporate or LLC name | EIN (required) | Form 1120-S; payroll required for owner-employees |
| C-corp | Corporate name | EIN (required) | Form 1120; entity-level tax |
The most common upgrade path: sole prop in year one, single-member LLC once the business has a brand and a client list, S-corp election once net profit clears roughly $40,000–$50,000 and the self-employment tax savings outweigh the added payroll complexity. Talk to your CPA before electing — the numbers depend on your state, your salary requirement, and whether you have other W-2 income.
When this template is the wrong tool
- You're sending more than 10 invoices a month. A static template can't track who paid, send reminders, or embed a Pay button. Switch to invoicing software — Agiled has a free plan built for this volume.
- You sell on Net 60 or Net 90 with formal POs. You're invoicing a corporate AP department that needs PO matching and a vendor portal — use the business invoice template built for B2B AP workflows.
- You bill per project with retainage held back. Construction and trade work needs progress billing and lien waiver fields — use the contractor invoice template instead.
- You sell physical products with inventory tracking. An invoice template can record a sale, but it can't decrement stock or trigger a reorder. Use accounting software with inventory (QuickBooks, Xero, Wave) and let it generate the invoice as a side effect of the sale.
Small business invoice questions
What information should be on a small business invoice?
Nine fields cover virtually every US small business: your legal name (plus DBA if you use one), your address and contact info, your EIN (or SSN as a fallback for sole props), the client's legal entity name and billing address, a unique sequential invoice number, the invoice date and due date, itemized line items with description and rate, subtotal plus sales tax plus total, and payment instructions with accepted methods. The tenth optional field is a late-fee clause — without one written into the invoice or a prior agreement, you can't legally charge a late fee in most states even if the client is months overdue.
Do I need an EIN to send invoices?
No — a sole proprietor can legally use a Social Security Number on invoices. But an EIN is free from IRS.gov, takes about five minutes to obtain, and keeps your SSN off documents that get emailed around. Anyone you've sent a $600+ invoice to in a calendar year can ask you for a W-9, and putting your EIN on it is much safer than your SSN. Bottom line: legally optional, practically mandatory the moment you have a real client.
How do small businesses get paid faster?
Five things move the needle. First, state the due date as a calendar date ('Due May 10') rather than 'Net 30' — clients respond to dates, not jargon. Second, offer ACH alongside cards; ACH is free or near-free and removes the friction of typing in card numbers. Third, send a polite reminder on Day 1 past due. Fourth, add a 1.5%/month late-fee clause to the invoice — even unenforced, it changes priority order in AP. Fifth, send invoices the day work is done, not weekly or monthly in batches. Xero's March 2026 small-business data shows US small businesses still get paid an average of 7.8 days late — the lowest figure in four years, but still a bite out of cash flow.
Should I use my SSN or EIN on invoices?
EIN, almost always. Get one free from IRS.gov in five minutes. The only situation where SSN is reasonable is if you're a sole prop with one or two long-time clients you trust completely and you haven't yet bothered with the EIN form. An invoice with your SSN on it can sit in a client's email inbox indefinitely; if their account gets compromised, that SSN is in the wild. The EIN gives you exactly one risk: somebody knows your business tax ID. The downside is meaningfully lower.
What's the cheapest way to invoice as a small business?
A free template plus ACH bank transfer is essentially zero cost — generate the PDF on your computer, email it from your existing email, and ask the client to ACH the funds to your business bank account. Most banks process incoming ACH for free up to a reasonable monthly volume. For card payments you'll pay roughly 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction with Stripe, PayPal, or Square (Stripe pricing, April 2026); ACH on Stripe is 0.8% capped at $5. The crossover where ACH becomes cheaper than card is around $670 per invoice.
When should a small business switch from templates to invoicing software?
Three signals: you're sending more than 10 invoices per month, you're chasing more than two overdue invoices at any one time, or you're spending more than two hours a month on invoice admin. Software automates the reminders (Day 1, Day 7, Day 14 past due), tracks who owes what without a spreadsheet, and gives clients a Pay button on the invoice itself. Intuit QuickBooks' 2025 small business late payments report found small businesses are owed an average of $17,500 in unpaid invoices at any given time — at that scale, a $20–$50/month tool pays for itself the first time it speeds one collection by a week.
Outgrown the template?
Agiled handles invoicing, reminders, ACH and card payments, and reconciliation in one place — built for small businesses graduating from PDFs and spreadsheets. Free plan, no card required.