Workshop Invoice Template

The invoicing process is an essential part of any mechanical workshop. It highlights the jobs that have been performed, along with the specifics of those jobs and the fee for completing them. If you run a workshop and want to get paid reliably by your clients, you need a workshop invoice.

There are no two ways about it—workshop invoices are essential. But a standard invoice template and a few half-hearted inputs won’t suffice. The workshop invoice must include all of the necessary details to ensure that the client is happy and questions are kept to a minimum.

Here are some of the things that a workshop invoice may include:

• Labor Costs: The bulk of a workshop invoice is usually devoted to the labor costs. This is the time that the technician spends working, and while the costs don’t need to be too descriptive, they should cover the basics, including the jobs performed and the results achieved. It keeps the client happy and facilitates smooth payments.
• Material Costs: The secondary focus of a workshop invoice is the material costs. Anytime that you use materials for the repair or refurbishment of a client’s project, you can use the workshop invoice to bill them. Detail is more important with this aspect of the workshop invoice as the client will want to know where their money was spent.

The more specific you are when describing the tasks and itemizing the costs, the fewer problems there will be at a later date. The main purpose of an invoice is for the contractor to get paid, but it’s much more than that as it also limits questions, confusion, and other such issues.

Spending a few more minutes on your workshop invoice and using the quality templates provided by Indy could save you hours of questioning and confusion at a later date.

You can bill your clients by sending them an invoice. There are a few things to get right with your billing. Here’s a short list:

• You can bill by the hour, milestone, or project. 
• Hourly billing is really common and you can use Indy’s Time Tracker to track your hours easily. You can even add your time tracks to your invoices as line items.
• Milestone billing is useful for larger projects that will take place over several weeks or months. Set some milestones, such as the delivery of first stages, and send an invoice when those milestones happen. 
• Billing by the project is very common for freelancers. Once the client approves the final proof, send them the bill.
• Many freelancers take a deposit at the beginning of the project. This protects you from shady clients and sets you up for cash flow success. Deposits up to 50% are normal.
• You should set out your billing and payment terms in your contract. If you don’t have a contract, use Indy’s Contracts tool to create one before you start work.
• Once you finish the work or pass the milestone, send the client an invoice. If you don’t have an invoice, you can use Indy’s invoice generator to create a professional invoice in just a few moments.

That’s it! Those are the basics of how to bill someone for your work. 

Short answer: 

Most freelancers work 36 hours per week and charge $21 per hour according to a survey by Payoneer. Experience level is the most important factor in determining the best hourly rate to charge. New freelancers usually charge a lower amount, while experienced experts charge two to three times the average rate for their industry.

Knowing how much to charge for your work is a complicated area. We want to help freelancers, so we’re going to give you some general tips here about settling on the best amount to charge clients for your services.

Let’s think about this from a few different perspectives:

First, how much do you want/need to earn? You should create your rates to reflect what you need to earn. Keep in mind that you won’t get paid for some of the things you must do, such as preparing your taxes, looking for more customers, and weekly admin work. So, your hourly or project rate needs to be a little higher to make up for the unpaid work that is part of every freelancer’s life.

Second, how much do others charge for similar services at your level of expertise and experience? This question can be a little difficult to answer, but you can just ask. Join a Facebook group and ask. Call a local competitor and ask. Once you know what they charge, you can go under that if you’re new to the market or over it if you’re the boss.

Another massive item you should plan for is taxes. You’ll be paying your own taxes as a freelancer, so your rates should incorporate the taxes you’ll eventually have to pay. The average tax amount paid by Americans, for all taxes, is about 29%. This means you’ll end up paying $3 in taxes out of every $10 you earn. Price your work to pay your taxes and be left with the income you want.

Your best rates will be different, because everyone’s market is different. What works on the East Coast might not be successful in Nevada. Try a few different price points until you find the rate clients accept and you can live on.

This part is simple! Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting your invoice done:

1. Open one of Indy’s Freelance Invoice Templates.
2. Add your business branding and information.
3. Insert your client’s contact information.
4. Number your invoice in a useful way.
5. Fill in the lines with your work completed and the cost per task/hour.
6. Check the invoice total and details.

Once you’ve finished these six steps, you are ready to send your invoice to your client. Save it in your Indy workspace or download it as a PDF. Then, email it to your client so they can pay you.

Indy offers an all-in-one platform for freelancers to manage all their admin work. When you sign up with Indy, your invoicing gets better because the other tools work together. For example, you can use Indy’s Time Tracker to note the time spent on a project. When you’re ready, the Invoice tool can automatically pull your unbilled hours for the project onto your invoice to make it ready to use. This makes your billing more accurate and saves time as well. When you set up your customers and projects with Indy, your entire workflow becomes smoother.