Optimize Your Company Invoice Format for Research and Development

Company invoice format for Research and Development

- Yeah, look, I know the payment's late, but really, it's not my fault. I mean, the invoice that you sent me didn't even include your bank details, let alone your contact details, and I mean, how many fonts do you wanna include in there? I think I counted about 15. Oh, and your brand colors. I mean, your logo was different to the back. Oh, yeah, no need to shout. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll pay it today. Oh, sorry you had to hear that. It's just really frustrating when businesses forget to include basic stuff on their invoice or when the design is so cramped and disorderly, it's difficult to interpret. There's really no excuse when you can make fabulous designs within minutes using Canva. Let me show you how. (upbeat music) Hey, I'm Rachel and I'm from Canva's Design School. In today's tutorial, I'm going to show you how to create professional invoices that'll leave a lasting positive impression on your customers. A bill they'll really look forward to paying. We'll cover how to get started using a template, what to include, and different ways to send it digitally. I'll even show you how to add a hyperlink so clients can follow you on socials or visit your website in one click. Before we get started, make sure you subscribe to our channel so you don't miss a thing. Done, already? Alrighty, well then, let's get onto it. On Canva's homepage, I'll search invoice. This will bring up loads of ready to customize templates. Scroll down until you see one that you like. The crown symbols are for Pro and Canva for Teams users, but all the rest are free for all to use. I think I'll go with this one. I like that it's simple and easy to read and there's enough blank space for me to add a few personal touches. (upbeat music) Speaking of which, let's quickly cover off what to include. So as a bare minimum, an invoice should have the names and contact information of both parties, the invoice number, and any other important numbers or codes, a description of the work and how much it costs, and of course, payment details, terms and timelines. While those are the must haves, you may also want to include some visual elements like a company logo, photo, or graphic or perhaps even a thank you note. Hmm. Tax registration details might also be needed, depending on the type of business. It sounds like a lot, but really it's simple when you start with a template. So say, I'm creating this for a garden maintenance business. I'll start by adding the logo. (upbeat music) See how how the pink lines work as guides. It makes it so easy to check measurements and alignment. Of course, I could always go up to the position menu here, whatever way you prefer to work. (upbeat music) Next, I'll change this table as, oh, hold on a sec, this isn't a table, it's just individual text boxes. Well, we can change that easily. Go to elements and scroll down. Tables make it so much easier to quickly adjust amounts and add or delete lines. (upbeat music) Ah, I don't need a quantity column, because it's always going to be one. I'm gonna change the color of the lines by going here and the size of the line strokes, here. If I need an extra line, I just click here and hit add row. And as for this empty space, well, that's actually something to consider. Because this invoice template will need to work for different jobs, and there may be more or less rows, the blank space could work more or less too, so it's about finding that balance. Another great thing about using a table is that you can move it around the page as a single element. Names and contact info can go over here. (upbeat music) The invoice number is important so let's give it its own space up here. (upbeat music) Payment details can go down here along with the due date. Alright, I think that's everything. Oh, we need a thank you. Just do a quick search for thank you lettering, and you'll get a bunch of different options. (upbeat music) This is looking ready to download and print. Simply head up to share. Click here and select PDF print. Once you hit this button, it'll land in your download's folder. If you prefer to send a digital copy, there's a way to do that too. But before I show you how, let's add a hyperlink to the document first. Simply highlight the text you want to link, then head up to this icon, type or paste the website in here. Then hit done, it's that easy. This tool can also be used to auto fill an email address into a blank email. When a customer clicks on the link, the email address will automatically appear in the to section, saving them time and avoiding any potential misspellings. With the hyperlink in, the invoice is ready to be shared digitally. There are two ways to do this. The first and my personal favorite, is to create a view only link. Simply go to the share menu and click this icon. Now you can copy and paste it straight into an email or text message. When the customer clicks on the link, this is what it'll look like. Now, they can't make any comments on it apart from reactions but they can copy text from the document if they need to grab your bank details. All the hyperlinks are also preserved and they can print it by Right Clicking. It's an incredibly fast way to get an invoice out to your customer. It will only download as a HTML file though, and some customers would prefer a file that they can download and keep on their desktops like a PDF. The good thing about this is you can duplicate invoices in the same document, saving you a lot of time, helpful for ongoing relationships with customers where you'll need to produce invoices on a regular basis. Just duplicate the page, change the details. (upbeat music) And you have a whole new invoice ready to send. You can even change the name of the page by going into the grid view and clicking here to edit the name of the page. For instance, you could change this to the invoice number or the date. When you go to the share menu, select download. Standard PDF is perfect as it'll reduce the file size, making it quicker to send and download as an attachment. Choose the invoice you want to send. You can see the name of the page shown here. Hit done, and then download and it will be saved to your download's folder. Now, before we go any further, I'd love to know if you'd like a printout, you can stick on the fridge or do you pay more attention to whatever's in your inbox? Drop me a comment below. Alrighty, I feel like we've covered a lot, but there are still a few things I want to show you like when to incorporate photos and social media handles and how to do it without going OTT. First, let's talk photos. Consider if it makes sense to include them in your invoice. Yeah, if you're a photographer, artist, or florist, sure. But if you're a trades person, consultant, or healthcare provider, perhaps not. The same goes for socials. If you use Instagram to sell products or interact with customers, you may want to include your handle, but if you haven't posted in months, consider if and how it provides value. Let me quickly show you how I added visual components for a wedding photographer. I started with a template that already included photos so I could simply switch them out. To upload my own, I dropped the files in here and dragged them across like this. If a photo doesn't crop the way you want, click here and drag it into position. Now to add an Instagram logo. (upbeat music) And other symbols alongside the contact details. (upbeat music) I'll just quickly update this design so it has more of a wedding feel. (upbeat music) Now while I do this, here's a hot tip. To find popular logos, you can simply go to the elements tab and search for them, and for symbols, I recommend trying the keyword icon. Okay, that's looking better. Now you'll notice that the item description, quantity and price are all just text boxes, so we could use a table again. Tables are so handy if the invoice is evolving and you need to add more lines and items. Just click here on the table and you can see all the different options available to you. (upbeat music) Choose add a row and start adding in a new item. (upbeat music) Now, I can't say I've ever wanted to receive an invoice, but I'd certainly welcome a beautiful design like this. It's highly personalized, yet professional, and leaves a lasting impression. What do you think? Do you prefer this standout design or the simpler one I showed you earlier? Type standout or simple in the comments to let me know your fav. And drop your questions in there too, I'll make sure I answer them as soon as possible. (upbeat music) Hey, you're still here. If you've got time for one more video, why not check out the playlist or this one? That's my favorite. But just before you do, please, please, please hit the like button so others can benefit from this video too. Oh, and don't forget to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already. Thank you so much for watching and catch you next time.