Free Contractor Invoice Generator

How to use the Contractor Invoice Generator

1. Add your business and customer details
2. Add each item or service with a quantity and unit price, then add tax, a discount or shipping if needed
3. Pick a template and check the live preview
4. Use the Copy or Share buttons to save or send your result, or print / save it as a PDF.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Leaving the tax rate blank when your jurisdiction requires one — the tool never guesses a rate for you.
• Setting a due date before the issue date, which makes the invoice confusing for the customer.
• Forgetting to mark items as non-taxable when only some of your line items should be taxed.

Each line item's total is quantity multiplied by unit price. Those line totals are added up into a subtotal. Your discount — either a percentage or a fixed amount — is subtracted from the subtotal next. Tax is then calculated only on the items you've marked as taxable, using the discounted amount, so a discount always reduces the tax you owe too, not just the pre-tax price. Shipping or any extra charge is added after tax, since it typically isn't part of the taxable goods or service. The result is your total. Subtracting anything the customer has already paid gives the balance due.

When to use this tool

Use it any time you need a one-off, itemized invoice — a single project, a service call, a freelance milestone, or a simple recurring bill — without opening spreadsheet or accounting software. It's built for speed: enter items, see the total and a print-ready preview instantly.

Contractor invoices usually need to separate two very different cost types — labor and materials — because customers, lenders and sometimes local permitting authorities want to see them itemized rather than lumped into one number. This tool keeps that split simple: add a labor line at your hourly or flat rate, add materials as their own line, and mark whichever ones are taxable in your area (materials are commonly taxed; labor sometimes isn't, depending on your state or province).

Tips for this preset

• Put the job address and a short project reference in the Notes field so the customer can match the invoice to the right property.
• Break out equipment rental (scaffolding, dumpster, generator) as its own line rather than folding it into labor — it makes disputes easier to resolve.
• For multi-phase jobs, consider one invoice per milestone (foundation, framing, finishing) rather than a single invoice at the very end.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Combining labor and materials into a single line item, which makes it hard for the customer to see what they're paying for.
• Forgetting to note the job address when you have multiple active job sites for the same customer.
• Leaving retainage or holdback terms out of the notes on larger jobs where a percentage is withheld until completion.

Choosing an invoice template

All four templates share the exact same data and totals — switching between them is purely visual, so you can try each one against your brand without re-entering anything. Classic is a traditional, teal-accented layout. Modern uses a bold dark header band. Minimal strips styling back to clean typographic lines. Professional uses a double-rule header and a monospaced invoice number, closer to a formal accounting document.

Whichever template you pick, the exported version always renders on a plain white background with dark text — even if you're browsing TickmarkTools in dark mode — so the PDF or printout stays readable and professional.

Quick reference: common invoice terms

A short glossary of terms used throughout this tool.

These are general definitions, not legal or tax advice for your specific situation.

Accuracy & limitations

This invoice generator is built for speed and correct math, but it's worth understanding what it does and doesn't do:

• Not legal or tax advice. It creates a professional invoice document, but invoicing, tax and record-keeping requirements vary by location and business circumstances. Verify applicable requirements with the relevant authority or a qualified professional.
• No currency conversion. Changing the currency only changes how amounts are formatted — it does not convert entered values between currencies.
• No saved history yet. Turning on "Remember my business info" saves your business details locally in this browser only; it does not save a history of past invoices or sync across devices.