If you run or operate a business entity, particularly ecommerce, you probably need an invoice that may help you in your daily transactions with your clients. An invoice is a type of billing form given to buyers when collecting payments before the stated due date.

Also, an invoice may serve many significant purposes other than a bill, including a legal record as it clearly states the names of two parties, the terms of payment, and the products purchased.

On top of that, an invoice may protect you from fraudulent activities because it clearly defines a contract between two parties, the seller and the buyer, particularly pricing irregularity issues. On a side note, it makes sure that your e-commerce platform is paying taxes regularly.

Now, you probably understand how important an invoice is in every business, e-commerce or not. In this article, you’ll learn how easy creating an Excel invoice template is, which you can edit and send whenever you need. Here’s how you can go about it:

1. Launch The Excel Software

The first step of creating an invoice for your -commerce business is to launch the Microsoft Excel application on your PC. You may double-click on the icon, right-click, and select ‘Open.’ This is the step for Windows OS users.

For Mac users, you’ll need to click the ‘File’ button from the menu options after launching the Excel app. Then, click the ‘New’ button from Template. After these two additional steps, you’ll see a collection of templates from the platform.

Hereafter, the succeeding steps are applicable to Windows and Mac users.

2. Look For The Right Template

The great thing about Excel is its wide array of templates for business operations, which you personalize however you want. You may click the search bar and type ‘invoice’ to narrow down and remove other options not related to invoices. However, you want to make sure that you’re connected to the Internet to search.

While searching, you’ll see a vast amount of invoices of different types, including shipping, commercial, credit notes, pro forma, etc.

3. Choose A Template

After searching through the sea of invoices, you might’ve already found the right template fit for your business. The chosen template should be blank but filled with general details, such as the term ‘invoice’ on the upper portion of the template, etc.

Now that you’re done selecting the premade template, the next step is to download it on your PC. Again, you’ll need an Internet connection to do this.

4. Launch The Downloaded Template

Once you’ve completed downloading the chosen invoice template, the next step is to open it. Click the preview of the downloaded template and click the ‘Create’ button to launch the blank Excel spreadsheet using a new window.

5. Customize Your Invoice

Once you’ve opened the chosen template, the next step is to personalize it with all the necessary information your business has. This will help ensure that your customers will pay on good terms. With that said, here are the details your invoice should contain:

• Business logo and business name on the upper portion of the invoice
• The word ‘invoice’ prominently displayed on top
• Invoice serial number
• Local business address and mail addresses for different departments, such as customer services
• Client information, including the address and contact details
• List of particulars with clear and straightforward descriptions, including the quantity, unit price, and total price
• Modes of payment, including all choices where your customers can use
• Deductions and additions, such as discounts, taxes, postage, shipping fees, credits, coupons, and previous dues
• Well-defined and instructed terms and conditions

Furthermore, you need to make sure that your invoice, particularly the terms and conditions, amount, and due date, is easy to understand and readable at a glance. This is important because one of the common reasons for late payments is a confusing and vague invoice.

6. Save Your Invoice

After customizing your invoice, you need to save it immediately to avoid losing your progress and start all over again. You may save it as .xls to allow editing it when necessary. You may also save it as a PDF to prevent anyone from editing the template.

7. Send Your Invoice

At this point, you have your own company invoice. You may now edit it whenever necessary and send your invoice to your client through email or include it together with the items purchased.

Final Words

An invoice is one of the most crucial documents every business should have. It’s used not only to collect payments from your customers, but also for other essential purposes, such as bookkeeping, legal recording, and protection from fraudulent activities.

Moreover, it’s easy to create your own invoice. All you need is a template from Excel, and from there, you can personalize it according to your business needs. But, most importantly, your invoice should be easy to read and understand. If it’s not, you’d probably have problems regarding your customers’ payments.

Source: Plato Data Intelligence: PlatoData.io