Free Invoice Generator for Contractors and Trades

This free invoice generator builds a clean, professional invoice while you type: your logo and license number at the top, labor and materials in separate tables, sales tax on the lines you choose, a deposit already paid and the balance due in bold. Download it as a PDF, Word or Excel file, or print it. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

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How to Create an Invoice Online, Free

It takes about three minutes the first time and under a minute after that, because your business details stay saved on your device.

1. Add your business once. Logo, name, address, phone, email and, if you are licensed, your contractor license number. These are remembered for next time.
2. Add the client and the date. Choose when payment is due: on receipt, Net 15, Net 30 or a date you pick. The due date is worked out for you.
3. Add the work. Labor goes in as hours times a rate, or as a flat price if you leave the hours empty. Materials go in at your cost, and the generator adds your markup so the client only sees the final price.
4. Set tax, discount and deposit. Pick a sales tax rate and whether it applies to materials only or to everything. If the client already paid a deposit, enter it and the invoice shows the balance due.
5. Download or print. Press Download PDF. Word and Excel are there if you want to edit the file later or keep your own records.

Need to bill a job that started as a work order? Fill in our work order template and press Convert to invoice. The labor and parts come across, ready for rates.

What Makes This Generator Different

Most free invoice tools are built for freelancers who bill a few hours of work. Trades jobs look different, so this one is built around them.

• Labor and materials kept apart. Clients can see what was time and what was parts, and you can tax them differently.
• Markup on materials. Enter what you paid for a part and your markup percentage, set once for all materials or line by line. Your cost never appears on the invoice.
• Deposit and balance due. Show the deposit you already collected and the amount still owed, so nobody has to do the maths at the door.
• License, permit and warranty. Turn on Trade fields to add your license number, a permit number, labor and parts warranty in months, and a sample lien notice.
• Trade presets. Choose HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cleaning, handyman and more from the Trade menu. Each loads common line descriptions and job fields, such as SEER2 and refrigerant for HVAC. No preset fills in prices: those are yours.
• No account, no email, no watermark. The PDF is made in your browser. The only branding is a small “Made with fieldservicelab.com” line at the bottom, and one switch removes it.

What to Put on an Invoice

A clear invoice gets paid faster, because the client has nothing to ask about. Check that yours has:

• Your business name, address and contact details, plus your license number if your state or trade requires one.
• The client’s name and billing address, and the service address if the work was somewhere else.
• An invoice number that you never reuse. The generator starts at INV-1001 and moves to the next number when you start a new invoice.
• The invoice date and the due date, so “Net 30” turns into an actual day on the calendar.
• A short description of the job, and the estimate or work order number it came from.
• Labor lines with hours and rate, or a flat price.
• Materials and fees, such as a trip charge or disposal.
• Subtotal, discount, sales tax and total, then any deposit paid and the balance due.
• Payment terms and methods: check, ACH, Zelle, card or cash, and what happens if payment is late.
• Warranty terms for labor and parts, if you offer them.

Late fees and lien notices follow state rules, so the wording in the generator is a neutral starting point, not legal advice. Check your state’s rules before you rely on either one.

PDF, Word, Excel or Print

Each format does a different job, and the generator makes all four from the same form.

• PDF is what you send. It looks the same on every phone and computer, and the client cannot change the numbers. It is built at US Letter size with half-inch margins.
• Word (.docx) is for when you want to tweak the wording later or paste the invoice into your own letterhead.
• Excel (.xlsx) keeps the amounts as real numbers, so you can total a month of invoices or hand them to your bookkeeper.
• Print sends the invoice straight to your printer, for clients who still want paper or for a clipboard on the truck.

Invoice Templates for Trades

The Trade menu above the form switches the line items and job fields to suit your work. A few examples of what each preset loads:

• HVAC: service call, diagnosis, tune-up, filter, capacitor and refrigerant by the pound, plus equipment, SEER2 and maintenance plan fields.
• Plumbing: service call fee, parts, fittings and haul-away of an old water heater, with fixture and water pressure fields.
• Electrical: diagnosis, breakers, wire and devices, permit and inspection fees, panel amps and circuits.
• Cleaning: standard, deep or move-out cleans, rooms and visit frequency.
• Handyman: small tasks on one invoice, a trip charge and a minimum charge.
• General contractor: phases, percent complete and retainage for progress billing.

Switching trades keeps your business and client details. If you change your mind, the Undo button brings your previous lines back.

When to Move to Software

A generator is enough when you send a handful of invoices a week. Once you are chasing payments, retyping the same client details or sending invoices from the truck, field service software saves real hours: it sends the invoice by text or email, takes card payments, and most can remind clients when a payment is late. Here is how Jobber’s plans and prices break down by crew size.