Guide to Invoicing with Free Templates

1. What is a Field Service Invoice?
2. Six Simple Ways to Improve your Field Service Invoices
3. What Types of Invoices are There?
4. How to Write an Invoice
5. When’s the Best Time for Your Client to Pay an Invoice?
6. Download Free Invoice Templates with Joblogic

Whether you operate in construction, electronics or HVAC services, invoicing should be fundamental to your business process. An excellent invoicing strategy lets you maximise revenue, better manage cash flow and track expenses. As a result, free invoice templates are an essential tool for both large field service businesses and independent tradesmen in 2022.

What is a Field Service Invoice?

A field service invoice is a document sent to a client detailing the work performed with an agreed-upon price. It generally includes an itemised list of costs, such as materials, parts etc., along with the total amount due and preferred payment methods. Essentially, this breakdown helps to clarify the total value of the project and increase your chances of being paid on time and in full.

Using Joblogic’s customisable invoice management software templates, you can quickly generate invoices and encourage payment within the agreed timeframe. As a result, you can keep your cash flow clear, record accurate accounts, and spend less time chasing payments.

Six Simple Ways to Improve your Field Service Invoices

1. Use one of our free invoice templates to build consistency in your invoicing process and save time on administration.
2. Select an invoicing format for your chosen business model – Parts and Labour, Flat Rate or Service Level agreements.
3. Structure and label information clearly and correctly to avoid confusion.
4. Send an invoice to your client as soon as a job has been completed on-site.
5. Set realistic payment deadlines for your customers.
6. Organise and automate your invoice management software workflows with our field service invoicing software.

What Types of Invoices are There?

Field service companies in 2022 have a range of billing options available, depending on the type of work and client requirements. Some invoices agree to a flat fee, while others add a markup to the parts, materials and labour costs after completion. Joblogic’s field service invoicing software supports the following billing types:

• Flat rate invoices
• Service agreements
• Parts and labour invoices

Flat Rate Invoice

A flat rate invoice is a document that details the scope of work and set price before job completion. With flat-rate invoicing, you’ll avoid billing your clients for hours, parts, or mileage (unless agreed beforehand) tracked at the end of a job. However, its main drawback is potential revenue loss from any additional work your contractor may have performed.

Joblogic flat rate software can improve your invoicing process with faster data collection on-site and billing. Once your field staff have input their hours and job costs, Joblogic will automatically tally their hours and expenses to calculate the final rate.

Service Agreement

Not every service job will require a one-time payment. Some clients may need regular planned maintenance for their equipment and ongoing support. Service agreements allow your clients to commit to a set number of payments over a monthly, quarterly, or annual timeframe for your service. This makes your invoices more predictable and helps you maintain a healthy cash flow.

Service agreement invoices are typically applied to the following industries:

• HVAC maintenance contracts (e.g. for installing and maintaining air conditioners)
• Tech support (e.g. for computers and software systems)
• Property management (e.g. commercial buildings)

In addition to ensuring a steady income during your quieter months, service agreements help you introduce new client services or update existing ones. Company owners can gain or seek clientele feedback throughout, allowing them to accommodate their needs better.

Parts and Labour Invoice

A Parts and Labour invoice is essential for any business providing on-site repair, maintenance or installation services. In this invoice, you include all mileage, materials and labour costs, along with their additional markups. You may also wish to include spent on the job if you’re charging by the hour.

Joblogic simplifies the billing and invoicing process with our flexible and easy-to-use cloud-based field service invoicing software. Begin by selecting from one of our free invoice templates, and input your expenses with their markup rates.

Our tools can also enhance your job costing capabilities by providing a breakdown of your estimated and quoted costs. This information can then be measured against your actual expenses, providing visual metrics useful for future growth.

How to Write an Invoice

Field service invoices detail completed work delivered and provide clients with an accurate account of service costs. However, writing one can be intimidating, especially if you’re new to invoicing. Follow these essential invoice management software steps using Joblogic’s software, and you’ll be invoicing like a pro in no time:

1. Select and customise your favourite templates or build your own from scratch.
2. Choose your preferred invoicing method.
3. Write an invoice number to differentiate client field service invoices and help monitor jobs.
4. Add client contact information and account details, i.e. name with their billing address.
5. Include service descriptions and associated costs with their markup.
6. Specify the total amount due for services.
7. Enter the billing date and terms of payment, including when invoices are due.

Once you’ve sent your bill, following up on overdue invoices helps maintain good client relations and encourages faster payment. Joblogic’s invoicing software automates this process by sending overdue reminders at the set intervals of your choice. An email can be sent every week, month or quarter created with a customisable payment reminder template.

When’s the Best Time for Your Client to Pay an Invoice?

When it comes to setting an invoice payment deadline, the choice lies entirely with your chosen business model. Payments can be due immediately, weekly, monthly or whenever the client is satisfied. Prompt payments reflect positively on you as a business owner and help your company sustain a positive cash flow.

Many service maintenance companies prefer to collect a deposit to cover initial costs and provide an added financial level of security. If you decide to charge a deposit fee, it must be included in your quote and agreed upon before work starts.

Download Free Invoice Templates with Joblogic

Joblogic’s customisable invoice templates speed up the invoicing process, simultaneously adding a professional and uniform appearance. Saved invoices are stored in your Joblogic account, allowing you to access them at any time without constantly entering the same information.

Other benefits of using custom invoice templates include:

• Access and manage your invoices anytime, from any device.
• Use our customisable invoice template to add your company logo and branding.
• Efficiently add customer information and service details.
• Copy invoices to save time creating new invoices from scratch.
• Provide your engineers, technicians and clients immediate invoice access via Joblogic’s mobile engineer app or customer portal.

With Joblogic, you can build free electronic job sheets to fit your unique business needs, while we also provide free job sheet templates and free quote templates to cater for your other processes.

Book your demo today to use our custom invoice templates and start streamlining your invoicing process.