Invoice template

A plumber invoice template that has the right fields on it

Most of a plumbing invoice is the same as anyone else's. The exception is VAT, because a good share of heating work is not standard-rated at all — and charging 20% on it overcharges your customer by a fifth.

Your invoice has to show

Your own name as well as any trading name you use, and an address where legal documents can be delivered to you if you trade under a business name.
No VAT. If you are not registered you must not show a VAT amount or a VAT number on the invoice — charging VAT you are not registered for is the expensive version of this mistake.
A unique invoice number, and one that does not repeat or go backwards.
Your business name, address and contact details.
The customer's name and address.
A clear description of what you are charging for.
The date the work was done — the supply date — as well as the date of the invoice, which is often not the same day.
The amount charged, and the total owed.
The right VAT rate for the work, not a habit. Installing qualifying energy-saving materials in a home in Great Britain is zero-rated until 31 March 2027, so a heat pump, insulation or a set of heating controls goes on the invoice at 0%, not 20%.
A gas safety record kept separate from the invoice, if the job needed one. It is a distinct document with its own retention rules, and the invoice does not stand in for it.

Heat pumps and insulation are zero-rated, not 20%

Installing qualifying energy-saving materials in residential accommodation in Great Britain carries a zero rate of VAT until 31 March 2027, after which it reverts to the reduced 5% rate. The qualifying list is specific and worth knowing: heating and hot-water controls, insulation, draught stripping, solar panels, ground, air and water source heat pumps, batteries, smart diverters and wood-fuelled boilers. Charge 20% on one of those and you have overcharged the customer by a fifth of the job — and HMRC does not keep the difference, so it is yours to refund.

The rate belongs to the work, not to the invoice

One job can carry two rates. A heat pump installed alongside an unrelated bathroom repair is zero-rated on the first and standard-rated on the second, and the invoice has to show them separately rather than averaging them into one number. That is the practical argument for itemising a plumbing invoice properly even when the customer only asked for a total.

The rest of it is the same for everyone

Whatever the trade, HMRC wants a unique invoice number that does not go backwards, your name and address, the customer's, a clear description of the work, the date it was done as well as the date of the invoice, and the total. The general invoice template covers those in full, and the quote template is the document that should have come before it.

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