How to create a roofing invoice for customers

Invoicing your customers

Whether you’re just starting a roofing business, or you’re just learning to become a roofer, everyone knows that getting paid is essential for your business.

Naturally, this makes setting up an established payment method for your customers vital.

And while you could request ‘cash-in-hand’, it is a more professional to create a roofing invoice. It is also much clearer for your bookkeeping.

Using a roofing invoice template will help you factor in all costs, and also hopefully make a profit too.

But if you’ve never had to create an invoice before, you might not know where to start. Keep reading to learn more about what roofing invoices are, and what to include in an invoice to make sure you cover all your bases.

What is a roofing invoice?

Put simply, a roofing invoice is a business document given to customers so that they can pay for your work. It needs to include:

• A clear breakdown of the costs
• Additional fees
• Outline of roofing services provided
• Cost of materials if not included
• VAT

Your roofing invoice should also outline clear payment terms for your customers to follow.

A well-constructed invoice can also act as a useful finance tracking document. One that will make it much easier for you to calculate business costs when it comes to managing your finances.

Why are roofing invoices important?

As you may have already guessed, roofing invoices are important for many reasons besides collecting payment.

For one thing, having a consistent roofing invoice template will help your business show its professionalism.

But such a document also provides many other benefits, including:

• Better customer relations by outlining services and managing expectations
• Providing a clear breakdown of costs and payment times for accounting, including any fees associated with later payments
• Verification to a customer that you have completed all work agreed upon at the start of the project
• Easy cost tracking for improved financial organisation for your business
• Business protection against any customer payment disputes that may arise

Invoices are important for all tradespeople. With a negative perception of people in the roofing industry, due to ‘cash-in-hand’ cowboy roofers, using an invoice helps show you don’t fit with the stereotype.

On top of that, Checkatrade members get access to a handy quoting and invoicing tool. So as a roofer, you can generated invoices and keep a track of them with ease.

What should a roofing invoice include?

Now that we’ve covered what a roofing invoice is, let’s look at what should be included in an invoice layout. That way, you can be sure to cover all the important areas associated with this document.

With this in mind, a good roofing invoice should include all of the following criteria.

General details

• An invoice number – To identify each invoice with a specific number, making it easier for you to track projects
• Your business details – Such as your business, name, logo, contact information and any associated details (such as Ltd and VAT registration)
• Customer details – Who is the job for? Use the customer’s name and contact details to be as clear as possible

Job details

• Invoice date – The date upon which the invoice was sent, as well as the date/time showing when the project was completed
• A breakdown of work – Show all the work you provided, outlining each separate service and its associated cost

Payment and cost details

• Payment date – The latest date by which a specific invoice can be paid before potential late payment fees
• Estimated cost – If relevant, this is the original cost estimate (or reference) so your customer can compare it to the final amount
• Subtotal cost – This is the project cost based on the work and materials before any taxes and discounts have been applied
• Total cost – This is the overall total of the project after tax and discounts
• Payment terms – A clear and concise breakdown of the terms expected of the customer (including how and when they should pay you)

If you have terms and conditions for your roofing business, these can outline how late payment fees are calculated, what happens with missed payments, and any service warranty you provide as a business. Naturally, this is also where you should include any relevant disclaimers in relation to your work.

By including all of these areas, you’ll be able to present your customers with a professional roofing invoice.

Other tips for writing an invoice

While we covered the main area of what to include in a roofing invoice, these aren’t the only factors to consider.

You’ll also want to take a moment to think about how you write and layout the invoice itself.

Below are just a few tips to bear in mind when building your roofing invoice template:

• Keep it simple – It is a simple document, so be clear and concise so that it’s easy for your customers to understand
• Stay professional – Although a friendly touch is nice, an invoice is a vital document, so should retain a professional (though not forceful) tone
• Clear terms – Make sure that your terms and conditions are clearly written a leave no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation
• Thank them – It never hurts to leave a quick thank you to show appreciation to your customers for choosing your business specifically

Handwritten invoices are quickly becoming a thing of the past among tradespeople.

Using dedicated accounting software, or a quoting and invoicing tool (like ours) can quickly generate a professional roofing invoice that can be sent directly to your customers.

How long should I give customers to pay their roofing invoice?

Depending on the size of a project, the customer may not be able to immediately pay you the full amount for your work.

Therefore, your roofing business can choose to give your customers different ways to pay. Often leeway can be granted for a set time after the invoice deadline for final payment. As an example, this could be 30 days. But will need to be reflected in your business terms and conditions.

That way, your customers have plenty of time to gather the necessary funds without it impacting your bottom line.

You could also send friendly reminders following completion of a job to encourage payment as soon as possible. On top of that, technology such as card readers could help you take immediate payment.

Invoice factoring

As an aside, if you do find that immediate payment is needed for a particular project, you could look at invoice factoring.

This involves passing a given invoice to a third party for immediate payment so you’re not waiting on customers directly.

However, if you do choose to use invoice factoring, be sure to cover this in your payment terms and conditions.

Making invoicing easier with Checkatrade

Hopefully, you should now have a much better idea of how to create an invoicing template. And if you want further help in this area, then remember that as a Checkatrade member you can make use of our invoicing tool, which you can access through our dedicated trades app.

The app also gives you profile management, offers and discounts, job management, and the ability to upload photos of work.

There are a number of reasons to consider bringing your roofing business onboard with Checkatrade:

• A share of roofing leads and existing customer interest
• Exclusive discounts on business essentials
• Up to 20% off the cost of public liability insurance
• Savings on the cost of workwear and branding

Get in touch with our team today to learn more about joining and what your roofing business needs to pas our 12-point vetting process.