Download the template for Google Docs or Google Sheets and open it in your Drive, or fill it in with the maker above and download a PDF or a Word file. The maker numbers the invoice, turns your payment terms into a real due date and adds up every line. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Below: which format to pick, how to make an invoice in Google Docs step by step, what to put on it, how to number it, how to invoice a brand deal, and what to do once it's sent.
Get the free template (Google Docs, Sheets, Word or PDF)
It's one template in four formats, with the same fields in the same order:
- Google Docs if you want a clean layout you edit like a letter.
- Google Sheets if you want the totals to add up for you. The line amounts, subtotal, tax, total, balance and due date are all formulas.
- Word (.docx) if your client or your accountant asks for a Word file.
- PDF to print or to send as it is.
Every field you need to change sits in square brackets, like [Client company], so nothing gets missed.
The Google buttons download the template as a file. Upload it to Google Drive and open it, then choose File > Save as Google Docs (or File > Save as Google Sheets for the spreadsheet). Until you do, Drive keeps it as an Office file. From then on, choose File > Make a copy for each new invoice, then name it and pick where to save it, as Google's help page on templates describes.
Fill in an invoice here (free, in your browser)
The maker at the top of this page fills the same template for you:
- Pick a preset. Freelance work, Hourly work or Brand deal. A preset only changes the column names (Rate, Hourly rate or Fee) and shows the brand deal fields. It never fills in prices.
- Add you and your client. Your name, address and how to reach you, then the client's company, contact and any reference or PO number they gave you.
- Add the lines. One line per thing you're charging for. The amount, subtotal, tax and total work themselves out, in whole cents, so the totals always match the lines.
- Download it. Choose Download PDF (then Save as PDF in the print window), Download Word, or Copy as text to paste into an email.
It runs entirely in this page and keeps nothing, so refreshing clears it. Use Save a copy to edit later to download a file you can open again next month. Then New invoice from this one keeps your details and how you get paid, clears the client and the lines, and moves the number on by one, from 2026-001 to 2026-002.
How to make an invoice in Google Docs, step by step
- Get the template into Google Docs. Download it with the Google Docs button above, upload it to Google Drive, open it and choose File > Save as Google Docs. You can also start from Google's own Template Gallery, which Google's help page says sits at the top right of the Docs home screen, and check it for invoice layouts.
- Replace every bracketed field. Your details, the client's, the work and the amounts. Give the invoice a number you haven't used before.
- Write the due date as a date. "Net 30" makes the client count. "Due Nov 25, 2026 (Net 30)" doesn't.
- Save it as a PDF. Choose File > Download, then PDF, or File > Print and choose Save as PDF, as Google's help page on downloading files explains. The same page notes that Docs saves your changes as you go while you're online, so there's no separate save step.
- Send the PDF, not a link to your Doc. A PDF can't be edited by accident, and your working Doc stays yours.
Google Docs or Google Sheets?
Docs is easier to lay out and reads like a letter, but you do the sums yourself. Sheets does the sums: in our Sheet, each line's amount, the subtotal, tax, total and balance are formulas, and the due date is the invoice date plus the payment terms in days. If you send one or two invoices a month, either works. If your invoices have many lines, use Sheets.
What to put on an invoice
Whatever template you use, check it has all of these:
- Your name or business name, address and contact details
- The client's company name and address
- A unique invoice number
- The invoice date
- The date of the work or delivery
- A clear description of each thing you're charging for
- The amount for each line
- Any tax, and how it was worked out
- The total
- The due date, written as a date
- How to pay you
What an invoice legally has to include depends on the country. In the UK, GOV.UK lists what an invoice must include: a unique identification number, your company name, address and contact details, the customer's company name and address, a clear description of what you're charging for, the supply date, the invoice date, the amounts, any VAT and the total owed. The same page says sole traders also include their name and any business name, plus an address where legal documents can be delivered if they use a business name; limited companies use their full company name as it appears on the certificate of incorporation; and VAT invoices are needed if you and your customer are both VAT registered. That's the UK only.
In the US, a client who pays you may ask you for a Form W-9 before they pay. According to the IRS page on Form W-9, it's how you give your correct taxpayer identification number to someone who has to file an information return with the IRS, for example to report income paid to you. None of this is tax advice. If you're not sure, ask an accountant.
How to number your invoices
Give every invoice its own number, and never reuse one. GOV.UK lists a unique identification number first among the things a UK invoice must include, and a clean sequence makes your own records easier everywhere.
A simple pattern is the year and a count: 2026-001, 2026-002, 2026-003. It sorts properly and tells you at a glance how many you've sent this year. If you cancel an invoice, don't reuse its number. Send a new invoice with the next number, and keep a note of what happened to the old one.
The maker suggests this year's first number and moves it on by one each time you start a new invoice from the last. It can't check what you've used before, because it stores nothing, so keep your own list.
Payment terms and due dates
Payment terms say how long the client has to pay:
- Due on receipt: pay as soon as the invoice arrives.
- Net 15: within 15 days of the invoice date.
- Net 30: within 30 days of the invoice date.
Whatever the terms, print the actual date. "Net 30" on an invoice dated Oct 26, 2026 means Nov 25, 2026, and writing the date saves everyone the counting and the argument. The maker works it out for you and prints both: "Nov 25, 2026 (Net 30)".
For more on what net 30 means in practice and what to do when the date passes, see how to chase an unpaid invoice.
Invoicing a brand deal (for creators and managers)
A brand or an agency often has to match your invoice to a deal before it can pay. Make that easy by including:
- Their PO or reference number, if they gave you one.
- The campaign name, as they call it.
- Each deliverable on its own line, with the platform and its live date or link.
Check the contract for who you invoice, the brand or its agency, and when you're allowed to send it. The Brand deal preset in the maker adds a campaign field, an agency field and a platform and live date for each line.
If the deal includes usage or whitelisting, put the agreed usage on the invoice, such as "Organic usage, 3 months from first post", so both sides have it in writing. For how to price it, read how much to charge for usage rights. If exclusivity was paid for separately, give it its own line. Exclusivity clauses covers how those windows work.
Managers invoicing for a roster: one invoice per creator per deal is easier to track than one invoice covering several creators.
The media kit gets the reply; the invoice gets you paid. If you're at the start of that, here's how to make an influencer media kit.
Common invoice mistakes
- Reusing a number. Every invoice gets its own.
- "Net 30" with no date. Write the due date.
- A vague line like "content". Say what it was: "Instagram Reel, live Oct 14".
- Missing the client's PO number. It's often what lets them pay you.
- Sending a link to your editable Doc. Send a PDF.
- Forgetting how to pay you. Bank details, a payment link or a check address.
- Totals that don't match the lines. Use Sheets or the maker, which add up for you.
- Adding tax without checking whether you should. Ask an accountant or your tax authority.
After you send it: who has paid?
Here's the honest limit of any template: a Doc doesn't know whether you've been paid. Once you've sent a few invoices, you need a list of every one, with its number, client, amount, due date and whether it's paid. A spreadsheet works if you keep it up.
When one is late, a polite reminder usually does it. How to chase an unpaid invoice has four reminder emails to copy, from a friendly heads-up to a final reminder.
If keeping that list is the part that slips, that's what we built Kromadic for. In Kromadic, finished work becomes an invoice in one click, and Money shows who owes you, how much and how late. There's no fee on invoices: your client pays you directly, and the money never passes through Kromadic. If a deal starts as an email or a contract, paste it into Kroma and it becomes a deal card with the fee, dates and terms, which you check before it's saved. We wrote about why we built it, and the Free plan covers 10 active deals with no card.
Questions people ask
Does Google Docs have a template for invoices?
Google Docs has a Template Gallery at the top right of the Docs home screen, as Google's help page describes, and you can check it for invoice layouts. Or use ours: download it with the Google Docs button at the top of this page, then open it in Google Docs and save it as a Google Doc.
Is there a free invoice template for Google Sheets?
Yes. Ours is free, and in it the line amounts, subtotal, tax, total, balance and due date are worked out by formulas. Download it with the Google Sheets button at the top of this page, then open it in Google Sheets and save it as a Google Sheet.
How do I make an invoice in Google Docs?
Start from a template, replace every bracketed field with your details, the client's and the work, give it a new invoice number and write the due date as a date. Then save it as a PDF and send that.
How do I save a Google Docs invoice as a PDF?
Choose File > Download, then PDF. You can also choose File > Print and pick Save as PDF, according to Google's help page on downloading files.
Can I create an invoice in Google Drive?
Yes. Upload the template to your Drive, save it as a Google Doc or Sheet, and edit it there; Google Docs and Sheets files live in Drive. Keep each sent invoice as a PDF in the same folder so you have a record.
How do I make a simple invoice?
Include your details, the client's, a unique invoice number, the invoice date, the date of the work, a description and amount for each line, any tax, the total, the due date and how to pay you. The maker at the top of this page lays all of that out for you.
What is the best free invoice template?
The one that has every field your client needs and that you'll actually keep using. Check it against the list in "What to put on an invoice", and make sure it prints the due date as a date.
What should I put on an invoice for a brand deal?
Everything a normal invoice needs, plus the brand's PO or reference number, the campaign name, each deliverable with its platform and live date or link, and any usage that was agreed. Check the contract for whether you invoice the brand or its agency.
Do I need to charge tax on my invoice?
It depends on where you and your client are, so ask an accountant or your tax authority. In the UK, GOV.UK says VAT invoices are needed if you and your customer are both VAT registered. This isn't tax advice.
