An invoice is more than a request for money — it's the last impression a client has of a job well done, and often the thing standing between you and getting paid. Done well, it's clear, professional and easy to pay. Done badly, it's the reason you're still waiting three weeks later. Here's how to invoice a client properly and get paid on time.
What to include on an invoice
Every invoice should answer, at a glance, "who owes what, for what, and by when." Include:
- Your business name and contact details — so there's no confusion about who's billing.
- The client's name and email — addressed to the person who actually pays.
- An invoice number and date — for your records and theirs.
- A clear description of the work or product, itemised if it helps.
- The amount due, plus any tax, and the total in bold.
- A due date — "Net 15" or a specific date beats "on receipt".
- How to pay — ideally a single button or link, not a list of bank details.
How to send an invoice
You have a few options, roughly from most manual to most automatic:
- A PDF by email. Fine to start, but the client still has to arrange payment separately — which is where delays creep in.
- Accounting software. Tools like QuickBooks or Xero send invoices and track them, but they can be heavy and expensive if invoicing is all you need.
- A card-payment link. The fastest way to get paid is to let the client pay by card the moment they open the invoice — no bank transfer, no friction.
How to get paid faster
A few small changes make a measurable difference:
- Make it payable in one tap. The easier it is to pay, the sooner you're paid. A "Pay now" button beats "please transfer to…" every time.
- Set a clear due date and put it near the total, not buried in the footer.
- Take a deposit on larger jobs so you're not carrying all the risk. Collecting a deposit up front also filters out clients who were never going to pay.
- Send it promptly. Invoice the day the work is done, while it's fresh — not at the end of the month.
- Follow up automatically. A gentle reminder near the due date recovers more late invoices than you'd think.
The easy way: branded invoices that pay by card
If you already use Stripe — or you're happy to — the simplest setup is a tool that turns your Stripe account into branded, one-tap invoices without any code. That's exactly what CrexiPay does: you fill in the customer, the amount and a description, and your client gets a professional invoice they can pay by card in seconds. You see the fee and your net before you send, get an alert the moment it's paid, and every invoice is tracked in one place.
Whatever tool you choose, the principles are the same: be clear, make it easy to pay, set a due date, and follow up. Do that consistently and "getting paid on time" stops being a chase and starts being the default.