Contractor Invoice Template

Your business name, address, contact details and licence or registration number where required, the client's name and the job site address, a unique invoice number, issue and due dates, labour and materials on separate lines, any approved change orders with their numbers, the contract value and percentage complete if you are billing progress, retainage held, any deposit already paid, tax, and the balance due with payment details.

You break the contract into a schedule of values, then each period invoice the percentage of each item completed. The invoice shows the total contract value, the value completed to date, the amount already invoiced in previous periods, and the amount now due. This lets the client verify the claim against what is physically built rather than taking the total on trust.

On a fixed-price contract the markup is already inside the price and needs no separate disclosure. On a cost-plus or time-and-materials contract the markup percentage must be stated on the invoice, because the client is entitled to see the cost base you are applying it to. Undisclosed markup on a cost-plus job is the most common cause of a contractor payment dispute.

Retainage is a percentage of each payment (commonly 5% to 10%) that the client holds back until the work is complete and any defects are corrected. Show it as an explicit deduction line beneath the subtotal, not as a quiet reduction in the amount claimed, and invoice its release as a separate final invoice once the release condition has been met.

Get a written change order approved before doing the work, give it a number, and invoice it as its own line referencing that number and date. Extra work folded into existing line items looks like overcharging even when it is not, and a variation with no written approval is very difficult to collect.

Enough to cover materials and mobilisation without financing the whole job, commonly 10% to 33%, and often capped by law or by trade licensing rules in residential work, so check the limit where you operate. Invoice the deposit separately before starting, then record it under amount paid on the final invoice so the balance due reflects only what is outstanding.

In most US states, an unpaid contractor can file a mechanics lien against the property, but the process is entirely state-specific and often requires a preliminary notice sent before a payment dispute, not after. Missing that early notice can forfeit the right, so check your state's deadlines as soon as the job starts, not when payment is already late.

An estimate first, always: it is the proposed scope and price the client signs off on. The invoice comes after work is performed (or at agreed milestones) and should reference the estimate number so a disputed line item is easy to trace back.

Where licensing is required for the trade, yes: many jurisdictions require it on all customer-facing documents, including invoices, and omitting it can complicate collecting on a dispute. Check your state or local licensing board's requirement rather than assuming it is optional.

A lien waiver is a statement that you have been paid and will not file a lien for that amount. Clients and their lenders often require one before releasing final payment. Provide a conditional waiver with the final invoice and an unconditional one only after the payment actually clears.