Freelance Copywriter Invoice Generator
Updated 25 September 2026
Blank freelance invoice template: PDF · Word (DOCX) · Excel (XLSX)
About the copywriter invoice editor above
- Copywriting lines priced per word, per piece or per project, and an Additional Revision Round line, with unit prices left blank for your own rates
- Terms that start with placeholders for your payment terms and a Rights line (what is assigned or licensed to the client, and from when)
- An Expenses total for costs you pass on, printed as its own Expenses row when it is above zero
- A Deposit Paid field: any amount entered is subtracted and the total is shown as Balance Due
- An editable tax label and rate (starting at 0), eight preset currencies including GBP (£) plus a custom symbol, and logo upload (PNG, JPEG or WebP)
- Live preview and free PDF download
Free to use — no signup, no account. Unmetered for normal use, with an anti-abuse cap of 20 generated PDFs per device per day. Each PDF carries a one-line credit for this site, on by default — one free checkbox in the settings turns it off. Your draft autosaves in your own browser, and when you download, its content is sent to us over an encrypted HTTPS connection to create the PDF. The blank template downloads above are the general freelance invoice and are not metered.
What a UK freelance copywriter’s invoice must include
| GOV.UK: “Your invoice must include” | Where it goes in this editor |
|---|---|
| a unique identification number | Invoice # (starts at 2026-001; keep your own sequence) |
| your company name, address and contact information | From (Sender): name, address, email, phone |
| the company name and address of the customer you’re invoicing | To (Client): client name and address |
| a clear description of what you’re charging for | Line descriptions: the piece title, project name or word count |
| the date the goods or service were provided (supply date) | Add the delivery date to the line description or to Notes (there is no separate field) |
| the date of the invoice | Date (defaults to today) |
| the amount(s) being charged | Quantity × your rate on each line |
| VAT amount if applicable | Tax line (starts at 0; only if you are VAT-registered, see below) |
| the total amount owed | Calculated automatically; shown as Balance Due if you enter a deposit |
About this page
GOV.UK sets out what goes on an invoice in its guide Invoices: what they must include. Here is each item, word for word, and where it goes in the editor above.
If you are a sole trader, GOV.UK adds that the invoice must also include “your name and any business name being used” and “an address where any legal documents can be delivered to you if you are using a business name”. Put both in From (Sender), for example “[Your name], trading as [Business name]”, with the address below it. Our sole trader invoice guide covers these lines in more detail.
When an invoice is required by law: GOV.UK says “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)”.
Freelance copywriter invoice example
Placeholder figures to show the layout and the arithmetic. They are not market rates.
#2026-027
| Description | Rate | Qty | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copywriting — per word: [blog post title], delivered [date] | £0.10 / Word | 1,000 | £100.00 |
| Copywriting — [landing page title], delivered [date] | £100.00 / Piece | 1 | £100.00 |
| Additional Revision Round | £50.00 / Round | 1 | £50.00 |
Payment terms: [as agreed]
Rights: as set out in clause [x] of our agreement dated [date]
Arithmetic: 1,000 words × £0.10 = £100.00; 1 piece × £100.00 = £100.00; 1 extra round × £50.00 = £50.00; total £250.00. No VAT line, because this example copywriter is not VAT-registered.
Per word, per piece or per project
The editor starts with four lines. Keep the ones that match how the brief was priced, type in your own rates and delete the rest.
- Copywriting — per word (unit: Word). Quantity = word count; price = your rate per word.
- Copywriting — [piece title] (unit: Piece). One line per article, email, landing page or other piece.
- Copywriting Project — [project name] (unit: Project). A single fee for a whole project.
- Additional Revision Round (unit: Round). For rounds beyond those your fee includes.
Kill fees. If a commissioned piece is cancelled and your contract provides a kill fee, add a line such as “Kill fee — [piece title], as agreed in our contract dated [date]” with the amount the contract sets.
Deposits. If the client paid part of the fee up front, enter it in Deposit Paid; the invoice shows the deposit and the remaining Balance Due.
Copyright: put the assignment in your contract
In the UK, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 decides who owns the copy you write and how that ownership can pass to a client:
- Section 11(1): “The author of a work is the first owner of any copyright in it, subject to the following provisions.” The main exception, in section 11(2), is work made “by an employee in the course of his employment”.
- Section 90(3): “An assignment of copyright is not effective unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor.”
- Section 90(2): an assignment “may be partial”, limited to some of the things the owner has the exclusive right to do, or to part of the period the copyright lasts.
The PDF this generator makes has no signature block, so on its own it is not the signed written assignment section 90(3) describes. Agree the rights in your contract, and use the Rights line in the invoice’s terms to point to it:
- “Rights: copyright in the delivered copy is assigned as set out in clause [x] of our agreement dated [date].”
- “Rights: licence to use the copy for [purpose, media and period], as set out in our agreement dated [date].”
General information, not legal advice. For anything beyond a standard commission, ask a solicitor.
VAT: only if you are registered
The editor starts with the tax rate at 0, which suits a copywriter who is not VAT-registered. GOV.UK’s when to register for VAT page says 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”
Below that you “can choose to register for VAT” voluntarily. Once registered, a VAT invoice needs more than an ordinary one. HMRC’s VAT Notice 700 (paragraph 16.3.1) lists, among other details, “your name, address and VAT registration number” and “the total amount of VAT chargeable — this must be expressed in sterling”. For that, use our VAT invoice generator, which has VAT-number fields for you and your client. This is general information, not tax advice.
Sources
Official pages quoted on this page, checked on 25 September 2026:
- GOV.UK, Invoicing and taking payment from customers: Overview
- GOV.UK, Invoices: what they must include
- GOV.UK, Register for VAT: when to register
- HMRC, VAT guide (VAT Notice 700), paragraph 16.3.1
- legislation.gov.uk, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 11
- legislation.gov.uk, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 90
General information for freelance copywriters, not legal or tax advice. You are responsible for the details and amounts you enter and for the invoices you send.