Microsoft Excel seems a natural solution for invoices with its vast array of cell formulas and smart functions. However, it’s not a very intuitive tool to make them from scratch. That’s where this article comes in. Follow the steps below for a free and easy way to make your own invoices for clients in Microsoft Excel, with some additional tips on how to personalize invoices to your own business.
Before we begin, make sure you have access to the following:
Step 1: Open Microsoft Excel
Step 2: Select More Templates to show all options
Step 3: Search for Invoice or scroll until you find an invoice template > Create
Step 4: Fill out the relevant information
Once you’ve filled out the information, it should look something like this:
Note: You can add or delete item rows as needed by right-clicking to bring up the “Insert” or “Delete” options. In this case, since we’re not using many lines, we can delete them to clean it up a bit.
Step 5: Save As PDF
Once you’ve taken a look over all the details to make sure they’re correct, all that’s left to do is to save a copy as a PDF. When it comes to file types, PDFs are standard for invoices. To export the file as a PDF, do the following:
Here are some extra steps to personalize your invoice and make it look more professional.
To add your company’s logo:
As a default, the Microsoft Excel template will choose a color palette of blue. To make yourself stand out from the crowd and ensure company cohesion, it’s recommended to change these colors to match your company’s color palette. (If one doesn’t already exist, select colors from the company logo. If none exists, or if it’s monochrome, blue is always a safe choice when it comes to business matters.)
To change the color palette in Microsoft Excel:
As a general rule, avoid using red or yellow anywhere in the invoice, since red has a negative connotation with money, and yellow is hard to read against a standard white background. For example, avoid doing something like this:
See how harsh and difficult that is to read? Conversely, here’s a better example of you should do.
Much better.
If you’re interested in having a standard, personalized copy after changing the color palette and adding a logo, it’s a good idea to save a standard copy to use in the future to save yourself time in the future.
To do so in Microsoft Excel:
Always refer to any previous agreements with your client when it comes to how soon after submission an invoice will be paid.
The standard is 30 days from the date the invoice is submitted. However, there are some things to watch out for, such as weekends or bank holidays. These may necessitate the due date be extended by a day or two.
Always make sure this is up-to-date before you send it! If you work on an invoice over several days, make sure your invoice date accurately reflects the date you send it to your client.
Pretty straightforward, right? Using a Microsoft Excel template, you can create and personalize your own invoices, with the added bonus of not having to do the math yourself.
However, if you’re looking for an even easier option to invoice clients, Invoicer.ai offers additional services such as payment reminders and tracking, real-time updates, notifications, and more!
