Free Online Invoice Generator

You are on this page, which means you already know what is an invoice.

Again you are on this page, so most probably you are here to create an invoice. And especially if you are reading this then there might be good chances you are looking for a guide that helps you create invoices online.

Don’t worry by the end of this topic you will become an expert in creating invoices using Refrens invoice maker. I will share all the important information and fields required to create an invoice.

All the essential customizations, what type of templates best fits your business needs, setting up recurring invoices, different methods to send invoices, and many more such things. So read this article till the end.

So let's start creating your first online invoice.

How to Create an Invoice With Invoice Generator?

It becomes cumbersome for some people to create their own invoices for the first time, especially if you are a non-accountant.

Many get confused, about what details to add and where to add, what information to share, and what not to.

So starting with the first step:

Head to Refrens invoice generator. After that scroll a bit and you can see the blank invoice form (template) with predetermined fields.

Here you will see almost all the important information is predetermined for you. You just have to fill in the crucial details of the invoice which will be helpful in the future for report and tax purposes.

Here I am going to share with you some important fields that you must fill in every time you create an online invoice.

First at the top, always mention “INVOICE” as the title, so that your client is aware that they are skimming the invoice and not any document like a quotation or purchase order.

After that, it is always a good idea to add the logo of your company as it shows some professionalism and looks like a brand invoice. In addition, it helps the client understand the source of the invoice, and adding a logo enhances the client's experience as well.

Now moving forward, you will get the option to add the Invoice Number, Invoice Date ad Due Date of the Invoice.

Now, why is this required?

1. Invoice Number - Invoice number should always be unique and this is done to avoid confusion and also shows errors when filing the taxes. The invoice number can be a simple number like 00001 or it can be a combination of alphanumeric values like AB0001.

But by using tools like Refrens online invoice, you don’t have to add an invoice number every time you create an invoice, the system will take the invoice number automatically.

2. Invoice Date - In this field, you will give the invoice creation date. This helps you to know in which month or year the transaction took place which helps you to draw the overall receivables of the company for a particular period or month.

3. Due Date - Here you can add the last payment date of the invoice. This helps your client to know the last payment date of the invoice amount.

The next important step is to add the information of the parties included in the transaction.

4. The first part is the vendor (the person selling the service or product) and the information is added in the “Billed By” section.

   If you are a freelancer, add your name instead of your company name. You can add more additional information like address, city, state, and postal code. Moreover, you can also add email, phone number and custom fields if you need to add something more.

   The second part is your client (the person receiving the service or product) and the information is added to the “Billed To” section of the invoice.

   Similar to the billed by section, here you can add all the information related to your client.

5. “Item description”, is one of the most important sections of the invoice, because here you add all the essential details of the product or service you sold to the client.

   Add all the product or service names and descriptions you sold, along with quantity, rate, and discount. If you are creating a tax invoice, you just need to checkmark the Add TAX section, tax will be auto-added to the invoice.

6. “Terms and Conditions”, is important to add so that the client knows how to pay for the product, payment methods and also it includes the return policies and other policies of the product and company terms.

7. Refrens give one more option to add the signature on the invoice. You can either upload your sign or you can simply sign.

Apart from all these important fields, Refrens do provide other options to add to the invoice and you can customize the invoice as per your requirement.

You can add custom fields wherever you want to, it can either in billed by or billed to a section or at the bottom of the invoice as well.

You can also give a discount per line item wise or on the entire invoice. Along with this field, you can also add the image of the product.

Once the invoice is created, click on “Save and Continue”.

How to customize the invoice for your brand?

Now here comes the step to customize the look of your invoice.

Under custom invoice design, you will get multiple invoice templates for your needs. Select any of the templates that showcase your brand image and once the template is set, you can set the color of the invoice of your company.

Apart from this, you can add custom letterhead, set margin, and set paper size for printing purposes.

Once all is done, now it's time to send the invoice to your client.

Refrens offers you the option to download the invoice in PDF, email the invoice directly to the client, and also send the invoice via WhatsApp.

But the best suggestion would be to use, Email invoice features as you can easily track the invoice and check whether the invoice is delivered and whether the invoice is opened by the client or not.

Moreover, you can schedule and set auto-reminder invoices that sent invoices to clients within mentioned specified date.

You will never use only one type of document for your entire business. There are multiple documents that are important in different stages of the accounting process. In Refrens, you can create all the important documents within a minute. So starting with

Quotations & Estimates

A quotation or estimate is one of the first documents you create for your prospective client. Prospect reach out to for the pricing of the product or service. Here is where you send the quotation to the potential client. So having a feature of creating a quotation is one of the goods to have. If you want to create a quotation you can check out our quotation templates page here or you can also go for quote template word.

Proforma Invoice

A Proforma invoice is not a real invoice, but it acts as a confirmation invoice before sending a real invoice to the client. Proforma invoices can be used within the organization simply for verification or you can send them to the client stating that these are the products or services you have rendered. To create a proforma invoice you can checkout Refrens proforma invoice template page.

Purchase Order

Purchase Order is mostly used when you are in the product business, where you have to buy products or services for your business and it can be anything like raw materials, or to fill up the stocks in inventory. Here you can create a purchase order easily using the Refrens purchase order template.

Recurring Invoice

A recurring invoice is something that every invoice maker tool must have. Every business at some point in time or at least once requires the recurring feature. When creating the invoice, at the bottom itself our system asks the user whether the particular invoice is recurring or not.

There are multiple alternatives to online invoice generators. Here is the some I have listed below:

Using Templates Offline

There are multiple sites that offer you to download the invoice in PDF, Word, or Excel format. Once you download the invoice template, you can edit the invoice in offline mode and can make changes accordingly. But If you are using docs or PDFs then you have manually calculate the total of the invoice amount whereas in the sheet you can use formulas. But still, it requires quiet manual work.

Over and above, it is good if you have to create only 1 or 2 invoices, but doing this regularly can be cumbersome and time-consuming also you will never be able to get the report of the invoices you created.

Using Google Docs or Sheets for Invoice

Similar to offline invoice templates, there is an option to use online templates with docs and sheets. If you open the Google doc or sheet, there are already preformatted invoices created by Google. You can easily use those templates for your invoicing processes but in the end you won’t get any reports or anything.

Using Online Invoice Templates

Similar to an online invoice generator there is an option to create invoices using online invoice templates. Here you have to select the template you want to use and then you can start creating the invoice.

Mistakes to Avoid When You Create Invoice Online

The chances of invoices getting rejected increase if the invoice you create is not accurate. Some of the common invoicing mistakes are as follows.

Incorrect invoice date - When you create an invoice, always add the created date to the invoice. It helps the client to identify when is the last payment date of the invoice.

Incomplete details - The invoice must have detailed information on the vendor or service provider and client details. It should include all the detailed information about the product or service offered.

Spelling mistakes - Avoid spelling mistakes when creating the invoice. Create an invoice in simple terms and language. Avoid using technical jargon or the short form of any word.

Incorrect total - The price and quantity decided at the time of agreement are different, and the invoice created for the same deal is separate. It is the most common cause of the rejection of the invoice. Avoid adding the wrong tax rate.