How to Invoice as a Sole Trader: What Your Invoice Must Include

Do sole traders need to send invoices?

Here is what the official sources say, in their own words.

United Kingdom

"If you sell a customer a product or a service, you need to give them an invoice (bill) by law if both you and the customer are registered for VAT (a business to business transaction). An invoice is not the same as a receipt, which is an acknowledgement of payment."

HMRC's VAT guide says the same from the VAT side:

• "Whenever you supply standard-rated or reduced-rated goods or services to another VAT-registered person, you must give that person a VAT invoice." (paragraph 16.2.1)
• "You do not need to issue VAT invoices for supplies to customers who are not VAT registered." (paragraph 16.2.1)
• The time limit: unless you have already issued a VAT invoice that created a tax point, you must "normally issue a VAT invoice within 30 days of the tax point arising" (paragraph 16.2.3).

Source: HMRC, VAT guide (VAT Notice 700), section 16 (last updated 25 June 2026).

Whether or not you send invoices, GOV.UK says sole traders must keep records of "all sales and income" for their Self Assessment tax return (Business records if you're self-employed). A numbered invoice for each sale is one simple way to keep that record.

Australia

"If your business is registered for GST, you must give a tax invoice when: a taxable sale is more than $82.50 (including GST); a customer asks for one (regardless of the amount) – you have 28 days to give it to them."

"Businesses that aren’t registered for GST don’t need to give regular (non-tax) invoices – but it’s good practice to give one."

What a sole trader invoice must include in the UK

GOV.UK, word for word: "Your invoice must include:"

1. a unique identification number
2. your company name, address and contact information
3. the company name and address of the customer you’re invoicing
4. a clear description of what you’re charging for
5. the date the goods or service were provided (supply date)
6. the date of the invoice
7. the amount(s) being charged
8. VAT amount if applicable
9. the total amount owed

Under "Sole trader invoices": "If you’re a sole trader, the invoice must also include:"

• your name and any business name being used
• an address where any legal documents can be delivered to you if you are using a business name

The list does not include a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), a bank account or a signature. It does include the supply date, the date the work was done or the goods were provided, which is easy to forget when you invoice after the job.

Source: GOV.UK, Invoices - what they must include, retrieved 2026-09-25. For VAT invoices, GOV.UK says: "You must use VAT invoices if you and your customer are VAT registered."

If you are VAT-registered: what a VAT invoice adds

"You must register if either: your total taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000 (the VAT threshold); you expect your taxable turnover to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days"

Once registered, HMRC's paragraph 16.3.1 says: "You must show the following details on any VAT invoice you issue:"

• a sequential number based on one or more series which uniquely identifies the document
• the time of the supply (tax point)
• the date of issue of the document (where different to the time of supply)
• your name, address and VAT registration number
• the name and address of the person to whom the goods or services have been supplied (your customer)
• a description sufficient to identify the goods or services supplied
• for each description, the quantity of the goods or the extent of the services, the rate of VAT, and the amount payable excluding VAT
• the gross total amount payable, excluding VAT
• the rate of any cash discount offered
• the total amount of VAT chargeable — this must be expressed in sterling
• the unit price

HMRC adds that "you may issue invoices under a trading name, but you must show the name and address under which you’re registered for VAT somewhere on the document", and that the per-line and total amounts excluding VAT "can be expressed in any currency".

Source: HMRC, VAT Notice 700, paragraph 16.3.1 (last updated 25 June 2026).

Rates, reduced-rate and reverse-charge rules are covered in our VAT and GST invoicing guide. For the document itself, use the VAT invoice template or the VAT invoice generator, which has Tax ID / VAT number fields for you and your client and an optional Supply Date / Tax Point field that prints only when you fill it.

Australian sole traders: invoice or tax invoice?

Which one you send depends on GST registration. business.gov.au: "You must register for GST if: your business has a GST turnover of $75,000 or more" (Register for GST).

Registered for GST: a tax invoice

business.gov.au: "By law, you must include these details on all tax invoices:"

• the words ‘tax invoice’
• your business name
• your Australian Business Number (ABN)
• the date you issue the invoice
• a short description of what you sold (including quantity and price)
• the amount of GST payable (if any)

The ATO adds: "Tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more also need to show the buyer's identity or ABN." If a customer asks for a tax invoice, "you must provide one within 28 days, unless it is for a sale of $82.50 (including GST) or less" (ATO, Tax invoices, last updated 18 September 2026).

Not registered for GST: a regular invoice

business.gov.au: "There’s no law that sets out what to put in a regular invoice." Its common-practice list starts with "the word ‘invoice’ – you must not use ‘tax invoice’" and includes your business name and your ABN. Leave GST off. Our non-GST invoice template is built for exactly this case.

Why the ABN matters on your invoice

The ATO tells businesses that pay you: "If the supplier does not provide an ABN and the total payment for goods and services is more than $75 (excluding GST) you generally withhold the top rate of tax from the payment" (ATO, Withholding if ABN not provided). The ATO's Statement by supplier page puts that at "47% (from 1 July 2017)".

Sole trader (UK, Australia) or sole proprietor (US)?

"Sole trader" is the UK and Australian term. In the United States the IRS uses "sole proprietor": "A sole proprietor is someone who owns an unincorporated business by themselves" (IRS, Sole proprietorships). The invoice itself looks much the same, but the paperwork around it differs: US clients usually ask for Form W-9 and may report what they pay you on Form 1099-NEC. That is explained in our 1099 invoice guide; the self-employed invoice guide compares the countries.

Sole trader invoice example

A UK sole trader who is not registered for VAT, invoicing a business customer. The numbers mark each item on the GOV.UK list. Names are placeholders and the amounts are illustrative, not market rates.

1. Unique identification number. One number per invoice, never reused.
2. Your name and any business name, plus, if you use a business name, an address where legal documents can be delivered to you; then your contact information.
3. The customer's name and address.
4. A clear description of what you are charging for.
5. The supply date: on the freelance blank it goes in the Project / period box.
6. The date of the invoice.
7. The amounts being charged.
8. VAT, only if applicable. A sole trader who is not VAT-registered shows none.
9. The total amount owed.

Making a sole trader invoice online

The Freelance Invoice Generator fills the same fields in a browser form and returns a PDF. What to set for a sole trader:

• Currency: choose GBP (£) or AUD (A$) under Monetary Unit, or pick Custom Currency and type your own symbol.
• From: your own name, then any business name, then the address for legal documents if you trade under a business name. Australian sellers can add their ABN on a line of this block.
• Supply date: the freelance generator has no separate supply-date field, so write it in the item description (for example "Copywriting, work done 1–12 March") or in the Notes.
• Tax line: rename the tax label to "VAT" or "GST" and enter a rate only if you are registered. Left at 0, no tax line prints on the PDF.
• Document Title: change it to "TAX INVOICE" only if you are an Australian business registered for GST; business.gov.au says unregistered businesses must not use "tax invoice".
• VAT-registered in the UK? Use the VAT invoice generator instead: it has VAT number fields and the optional Supply Date / Tax Point field.

The generators are free and unmetered for normal use; an anti-abuse cap of 20 PDFs per device per day (200 per IP) applies, well above ordinary use, and the blank template downloads on this page are not metered. A one-line "Created free with myinvoicetemplate.com" credit is switched on by default and one free checkbox in the settings turns it off. Your draft is stored in your own browser on this device, so download and keep the PDF you need.

Numbering and keeping your invoices

GOV.UK asks for "a unique identification number"; for VAT invoices HMRC asks for "a sequential number based on one or more series which uniquely identifies the document". A simple running sequence (0001, 0002…) meets both. Our invoice numbering guide covers formats, and the invoice number generator builds one for you.

GOV.UK's example: "If you sent your 2022 to 2023 tax return online by 31 January 2024, you must keep your records until at least the end of January 2029." Payment terms: "Unless you agree a payment date, the customer must pay you within 30 days of getting your invoice or the goods or service" (GOV.UK, Payment obligations).

Sole trader invoice FAQ