Dealing with payments as a beginner freelancer is tough. If you have no experience working with clients, it can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s vital to have a proper invoicing procedure in place. This helps you easily keep track of payments, and it can take a lot of the stress out of the payment process. There are several ways to do it, and lots of programs to choose from. This article discusses how to make an invoice in Google Docs.
The 4 steps to make an invoice in Google Docs are:
- Create a Gmail account and log in
- Find a template and save it
- Fill in the blanks
- Save and send your invoice
Invoicing With Google Docs
While you may have experience using Microsoft Word or Excel to invoice your clients, Google Docs also offers this feature. But what if you don’t have any experience with invoices at all?
Invoices are lists of goods and services made by the freelancer and provided to clients. Invoicing acts as a bill sent directly to the client, and they follow the instructions on the invoice to pay you for your services. With everything stated clearly in the invoice, there should be no issues regarding payment amounts or deadlines.
But what should you include on your invoice?
7 Things To Include on an Invoice
The 7 things to include on an invoice are:
- The word “Invoice” and a unique invoice number
- Your business’ information
- Your client’s details
- Date of issue and due date of payment
- Descriptions of goods/services provided
- Payment terms and disclaimers
- Thank you note
Next, let’s take a closer look at how to create an invoice in Google Docs.
In this guide, we will go through the method of using a template to create an invoice in Google Docs. If you’d prefer to create your own invoice from scratch, you’ll have to create your own template. This is fairly easy, but it requires some formatting skills, so we’ll just look at how to create an invoice in Google Docs using a downloaded template.
Does Google Docs Have an Invoice Template?
Google Docs doesn’t have a built-in invoice template, but you can download lots of different templates online. We use this one in the steps below. This is much easier and faster for beginner freelancers compared to making your own invoice from scratch.
How to Make an Invoice in Google Docs (4 Steps)
1. Create a Gmail Account and Log in
To create an invoice in Google Docs, you need a Google Account.
2. Find a Template and Save It
When you’re on your Gmail page, you should see a square made up of nine dots on the top right of the page. Hovering over this should say “Google apps.” Click on it and scroll down to find Google Docs.
When you open Google Docs, there is a “Template Gallery” tab at the top right. While there are no invoicing templates in here, this is where you can add your own for easy access.
To do that, search online for something along the lines of “Google Docs Invoice Templates” on the internet, and some free templates will pop up. Simply download the ones you want to try, and then submit them to the Google Docs template gallery.
3. Fill in the Blanks
With a ready-made template, it makes things much easier as you just have to fill in the blanks with the relevant information. Take note of the 7 key details above and add them into the template.
4. Save and Send Your Invoice
Once you finish creating your invoice, save it to your computer or Google Drive, and share it with your client. You can do so through the “Share” button at the top right of the document, but remember to change the settings to only allow your client to “View” the document, and not edit it.
However, we recommend saving your Google Docs invoice as a PDF instead, and sending that to the client. Not only is this a secure way of sending invoices, but it also gives you a hard copy that you can save offline for your own records.
Invoices are both easy to create and very useful for tracking payments. As a free invoicing solution, Google Docs is very easy to use. Through these simple steps, you can create your next invoice in Google Docs in minutes.