Invoice app for tradesmen and sole traders

What a UK invoice must include

GOV.UK says an invoice must include:

• a unique identification number
• your business name, address and contact details
• the name and address of the customer you're invoicing
• a clear description of what you're charging for
• the date the work was done (the supply date) and the date of the invoice
• the amounts charged, any VAT, and the total amount owed

If you're a sole trader, also include your own name alongside any business name and, if you use a business name, an address where legal documents can be delivered to you. A limited company must show its full registered company name.

How a Bojit invoice covers that list

A Bojit invoice is made from the completed job, so nothing is typed in twice. It carries its own invoice number in the form INV-YYYYMM-NNNNNN, your business details, who it's billed to and the job address, the work completed, the completion date and the amount due.

If you've turned on automatic VAT, the invoice shows the price, the VAT and the total. If you've saved bank details, they're printed under “How to pay” with the invoice number as the payment reference.

Check your own details are complete in Settings, especially the name and address rules above for sole traders.

VAT invoices

If you and your customer are both VAT registered, GOV.UK says you must use VAT invoices, which carry more information than an ordinary invoice, including your VAT number, with the VAT shown separately.

Save your VAT number in Quote settings to include it on newly generated quotes and invoices. Documents already generated stay unchanged. The number is checked for format only, not verified with HMRC.

A VAT number alone doesn't make every invoice compliant. Use your VAT-registered name and address, the customer's billing address and a description of the full service. Bojit uses one price for the job: where you need quantities, hourly or unit prices, multiple VAT rates, a separate tax point, discounts or special VAT wording, arrange an invoice containing those details. The VAT on quotes guide covers registration and the 20% rate.

Payment terms

Say when you expect to be paid and how. In Bojit you choose your payment terms in days in Settings, and the invoice's due date follows from them. Your bank details go on the invoice; Bojit can't access or move your money and doesn't take payments.

• Agree the terms when the customer accepts the quote, not after the work is done.
• Keep the terms the same on every invoice, so customers know what to expect.
• Bojit sends one invoice for the full amount. If you agree a deposit or stage payments, keep track of those yourself.

Late payment: between businesses only

GOV.UK's late-payment guidance covers another business paying you late. It isn't about homeowners and other consumers.

• If you agree a payment date with a business customer, it must usually be within 60 days; a longer period must be fair to both businesses.
• If no date was agreed, payment is late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice, or after you do the work if that's later.
• You can usually claim statutory interest at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, unless your contract sets a different rate. To add interest, send a new invoice.
• You may also be able to claim debt recovery costs. Check GOV.UK for the amounts and conditions.

From quote to invoice in Bojit

Invoicing lives inside the job, alongside the quote it came from.

• Your customer accepts the quote online in one tap, and it becomes a job.
• When the work is done, mark the job completed and create the invoice from it.
• Email the invoice from the app. Your customer opens it from a link in the email, without an account.
• Each invoice shows as draft, sent, paid or overdue. Mark it paid in one tap when the money arrives.
• If an emailed invoice passes its due date unpaid, Bojit marks it overdue and sends your customer one reminder email in your business's name.