InvoicesThe right amount, on the right invoice.
Say “invoice the job” and it’s made from what’s on the job: the work, the extras, every deposit and stage taken off, and CIS, the reverse charge and VAT set by who the customer is and whether you’re registered.
iPhone. First month free, no card.
Tools Down: Done. £2,076 to pay, with the deposit and first fix taken off.
Rewire, 3 Hill Street
Mr and Mrs Morgan
- Full rewire, as quoted
- £5,500.00
- Extra double socket in the kitchen
- £80.00
- Subtotal
- £5,580.00
- Less Deposit (INV-0003)
- − £1,650.00
- Less Stage 1 (INV-0004)
- − £2,200.00
- Total excluding VAT
- £1,730.00
- VAT (20%)
- £346.00
Total£2,076.00
01Deposits and stages
A big job, paid as it goes.
Ask for a deposit as a percentage of the quote or an amount: “Add a 30% deposit to Mrs Jones’s quote.” Bill each stage the same way (“Invoice 40% for first fix”) and you’re shown what’s left to bill.
The final invoice takes every deposit and stage off at what each one invoiced, and asks for the balance, with VAT and CIS worked out on the balance. Once the final has gone, the deposits and stages it took off are locked, so the sums can’t drift.
02CIS, the reverse charge and VAT
Set by the customer, not by you remembering.
Mark a customer as a business that takes CIS off, once. Their invoices carry the CIS deduction on the labour: 20% if you’re registered for CIS, 30% if you’re not, none with gross payment status. Extras count as labour unless they’re materials. If you’re both VAT registered, the invoice carries the reverse-charge wording instead of charging VAT.
A householder’s invoice the same week carries VAT and no CIS. Not VAT registered? Invoices carry no VAT. Registered? Add your VAT number and they’re VAT invoices at 20%, or the rate you set, and a price you gave including VAT is never charged it twice.
Tools Down: Done. Kerr pays £1,470 after CIS.
First fix, Hill Street
Wilson Builders Ltd
- Labour
- £1,400.00
- Cable and boxesMaterials
- £350.00
- Subtotal
- £1,750.00
- VAT (20%) — reverse charge, not charged
- £350.00
- Total
- £1,750.00
- CIS deduction (20% of labour)
- − £280.00
Amount due£1,470.00
- Reverse charge: VAT Act 1994 Section 55A applies
- CIS deduction of 20% is taken from the labour on this invoice.
03Getting paid
Your bank details on it, paid by bank transfer.
Your bank details go on every invoice, its page and its PDF, with the reference to use, so customers pay by transfer. Share it as a link or a PDF. You add your bank details the first time you invoice and can change them any time in Settings; an invoice already sent keeps the details it went out with.
Householders pay on receipt unless you say otherwise; business customers get 30 days, or 14, or on receipt, as you choose. When the money lands, mark it paid (“Mrs Evans paid £103 by bank transfer”) and the reminders stop.
Flint Electrical
Invoice INV-0005Mr and Mrs Morgan
£2,076.00
Account name
Flint ElectricalSort code
12-34-56Account number
12345678Reference
INV-0005
Download PDF
In your trade
Shown in the work you do
Straight answers
Questions about invoices
Can I take a deposit before I start?
Yes. Ask for it as a percentage of the quote or an amount, and the final invoice takes it off. A deposit paid on a quote counts as the customer accepting it.
Does it do CIS and the reverse charge?
Yes, by customer. Mark a customer as a business that takes CIS off and their invoices carry the deduction on the labour; if you’re both VAT registered, the reverse-charge wording too. Householders’ invoices carry neither.
Do I need to be VAT registered?
No. If you’re not, your invoices carry no VAT. If you are, add your VAT number and they become VAT invoices.
How does my customer pay?
By bank transfer, from the details on the invoice page and the PDF. When it lands, mark it paid and any reminders still to go are cancelled.
Price and the free plan
Made for one. Priced for one.
£29.99 a month including VAT, or £24.99 if you reclaim VAT. One person, no minimum, no setup fee, no training.
- Your first month is free, with no card.
- After that, 50 messages a month to Tools Down stay free for good, and every screen keeps working.
- Tools Down Pro is paid monthly through Apple. It lifts the message limit, and the price you join at is the price you keep.
- Fair use applies on every plan, with limits set far above what one person books or asks for in a month.
Tools Down for iPhone
Coming soon on the App StoreFirst month free, no card.
Keep looking
What else it does
- Job memoryNotes and photos saved on the job as you go, and found again by asking.
- QuotesMade in your business’s name from what you say, and followed up when it goes quiet.
- Payment remindersUnpaid invoices chased at 3, 7 and 14 days, free, stopping when they’re paid.
- DiaryBooked in and moved by saying so, with any clash pointed out, and reminders the same way.
- Morning briefWhat’s on and what’s overdue each morning. Each evening, what’s not invoiced and which quotes are still waiting.
Free guides and templates
- Free invoice templateInvoice number, dates, priced lines with VAT shown correctly, when it’s due and your bank details.
- How to chase an unpaid invoice without falling out with the customerFriendly messages for day 3, 7 and 14, when to ring instead, and what the law says when a business customer pays late.
- How to quote a job professionallyPractical and UK-specific: VAT shown properly, how long the price stands, what’s excluded, deposits and stage payments.