A good contractor invoice template has eight parts: your business details, the customer and job address, an invoice number and dates, a clear description of the work, line items for labour and materials, tax, deposits already paid, and payment terms with a way to pay. Copy the blank layout below, or use the filled-in example as your model.
If you’re in Canada and registered for GST/HST, your invoice also has to carry certain details so your customer can claim the tax back. Those rules are near the bottom, with the US equivalent.
What goes on a contractor invoice
Here is every field, why it’s there, and whether you can skip it. The “required” column reflects the CRA rules covered later; the rest is what gets you paid without a phone call asking what the charge is for.
| Field | What to put | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Business name and contact | Legal or trading name, phone, email, address, logo | Customers pay faster when they know exactly who’s billing them |
| GST/HST number (Canada) | Your 15-character number, e.g. 123456789 RT0001 | Required on invoices of $100 or more if you’re registered |
| Invoice number | A unique, sequential number (INV-2207) | Lets you and the customer match payments to jobs |
| Invoice date and due date | The date issued and the date payment is due | A real due date beats “net 30” that nobody counts |
| Bill to | Customer name, billing address, email and phone | Required on invoices of $500 or more in Canada |
| Job address | Where the work was done, if different | Separates two jobs for the same customer or landlord |
| Job reference | Quote or contract number, PO number if they gave one | Commercial clients often won’t pay without their PO |
| Description of work | One or two plain sentences, plus dates of work | Required on invoices of $500 or more in Canada |
| Line items | Labour, materials, equipment, disposal, permits, each with quantity and rate | Fewer “what is this?” calls, fewer disputes |
| Change orders | Each signed change order as its own line | Shows the extra was agreed, not invented |
| Subtotal, tax, total | Tax shown separately at the applicable rate | Required in Canada on invoices of $100 or more |
| Deposits and payments received | Each payment with its date | The customer sees credit for what they already paid |
| Balance due | The one number they need to pay, in bold | The most important line on the page |
| Payment terms and methods | Due date, pay link, e-Transfer email, late fee if any | Required on invoices of $500 or more in Canada |
| Warranty and notes | Workmanship warranty, care instructions, a thank-you | Builds trust and sets expectations after the job |
The blank template
Copy this into your word processor, spreadsheet or invoicing app. Keep the order: customers read top to bottom and look for the balance last.
[YOUR BUSINESS NAME] INVOICE
[Street address, city, province/state, postal code]
[Phone] · [Email] · [Website]
GST/HST No. [123456789 RT0001] (Canada, if registered)
Invoice #: [INV-0000] Invoice date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Quote/contract #: [Q-0000] Due date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
PO #: [if the customer gave one]
BILL TO JOB ADDRESS
[Customer name] [Street address]
[Billing address] [City]
[Email] · [Phone]
DESCRIPTION OF WORK
[What you did, in one or two plain sentences. Dates of work: ___ to ___]
ITEM QTY UNIT RATE AMOUNT
Labour: [trade/crew] [ ] hrs $[ ] $[ ]
Materials: [item] [ ] [ea/sq ft] $[ ] $[ ]
Equipment rental [ ] day $[ ] $[ ]
Disposal / dump fees [ ] load $[ ] $[ ]
Permit fees [ ] ea $[ ] $[ ]
Change order #[ ] (signed [date]) $[ ]
Subtotal $[ ]
[GST/HST/sales tax] [ ]% $[ ]
Total $[ ]
Less deposit received [date] -$[ ]
BALANCE DUE $[ ]
PAYMENT TERMS
Due by [date]. Pay by card: [pay link] · e-Transfer: [email]
[Late fee, if your contract has one: e.g. 2% per month after due date]
NOTES
[Warranty: e.g. 1-year workmanship warranty from completion date.]
Thank you for your business.
Never reuse or skip invoice numbers. A simple running sequence (INV-1001, INV-1002…) is easiest for you, your bookkeeper and an auditor to follow.
A filled-in example
Here’s the same layout for a bathroom repair in Ontario, where HST is 13%. The customer paid a deposit when they signed the quote, and one change order was added during the job. These numbers are a worked example, not a price guide.
| Invoice INV-2207 | |
|---|---|
| From | Northline Renovations · 44 Mill St, Guelph ON · GST/HST No. 123456789 RT0001 |
| Bill to | Sarah Chen · 18 Birch Rd, Guelph ON · sarah@example.com |
| Invoice date / due date | November 3, 2026 / November 17, 2026 |
| Reference | Quote Q-1042 · Change order CO-1 signed October 28 |
| Description | Replace rotted subfloor and tile around tub, install new toilet. Work done October 27 to 30. |
| Item | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour, 2-person crew | 32 hrs | $85.00 | $2,720.00 |
| Subfloor plywood and fasteners | 1 lot | $310.00 | $310.00 |
| Porcelain tile, setting materials, grout | 1 lot | $640.00 | $640.00 |
| Toilet (supplied and installed) | 1 | $420.00 | $420.00 |
| Disposal | 1 load | $150.00 | $150.00 |
| CO-1: replace shut-off valves (signed Oct 28) | 1 | $560.00 | $560.00 |
| Subtotal | $4,800.00 | ||
| HST 13% | $624.00 | ||
| Total | $5,424.00 | ||
| Less deposit received October 20 | −$1,000.00 | ||
| Balance due | $4,424.00 |
Payment terms on this invoice: due within 14 days, pay by card through the link or by e-Transfer. In the US, the same job would show your state and local sales tax line instead of HST, or no tax line at all if your state doesn’t tax that kind of work.
What a Canadian invoice must show (GST/HST)
The CRA doesn’t hand out an official invoice form, but it does set out what information your GST/HST-registered customers need on the paperwork to claim input tax credits. Landlords, property managers, builders and other businesses will ask for a corrected invoice if yours is missing something, which delays payment. The CRA’s input tax credit page lists three tiers:
| Information on the invoice | Under $100 | $100 to $499.99 | $500 or more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your business or trading name | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Invoice date | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Total amount paid or payable | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GST/HST charged (or a note that the total includes it, and at what rate) | Yes | Yes | |
| Your GST/HST registration number | Yes | Yes | |
| Which items are taxable or exempt, if the invoice has both | Yes | Yes | |
| Customer’s name or trading name | Yes | ||
| Brief description of the work or goods | Yes | ||
| Terms of payment | Yes |
Almost every contractor invoice is over $500, so in practice: put all nine on every invoice. A few more Canadian points:
- Not registered yet? If you’re a small supplier (taxable revenue of $30,000 or less over four consecutive calendar quarters), you don’t charge GST/HST and you don’t show a number. Once you pass the threshold you must register, per the CRA’s registration rules.
- Use the right rate for the place of supply. HST provinces and GST-plus-PST provinces work differently, and materials are taxed too. Our guide on charging HST on materials has the rates by province.
- Quebec has its own sales tax (QST) administered by Revenu Québec; check its rules if you work there.
- Don’t make up a number. Customers can check your GST/HST number in the CRA’s online registry, and a wrong number can cost them their credit.
General information, not tax advice. Confirm your situation with the CRA or your accountant.
What a US invoice should show
There’s no federal invoice format in the US. The IRS lets you use any recordkeeping system that clearly shows income and expenses, and it lists the invoices you issue as supporting documents for your gross receipts (IRS: what kind of records should I keep). So the template above works as is, with three US-specific checks:
- Sales tax depends on the state. Some states tax contractor labour, some only tax materials, and some treat the contractor as the end consumer of materials. Check your state’s revenue department and show the tax on its own line where it applies.
- Business customers may ask for a W-9. They file a Form 1099-NEC when they pay you enough in a year. For payments made in 2026 that threshold is $2,000, up from $600, per IRS Publication 1099.
- Home improvement rules are state law. Several states set what a residential contract must say, including deposit limits and written change orders. Your invoice should match the contract and every signed change order.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Check with the IRS, your state and a professional.
Invoice mistakes that delay payment
| Mistake | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “As quoted” with no detail | Customer asks for a breakdown, pays next week | List labour, materials and extras as lines |
| Extras the customer never signed | Dispute, partial payment, bad review | Only bill signed change orders |
| No due date | It sits at the bottom of the pile | A real date, 7 to 14 days out |
| Deposit not shown | Customer thinks you double-billed | Show the deposit and its date as a credit |
| Only one way to pay | “I’ll drop off a cheque” | Card link plus e-Transfer or ACH |
| Sent days after the job | Less urgency, more forgetting | Send the day the job is done |
When and how to send it
Walk the customer through the work, then send the invoice by text and email while they’re still looking at it.
A card link they can tap from the text gets paid far more often than “details below”.
A short note on the due date with the link again.
Reminders at set intervals, then a call. Our guide on how to get paid faster as a contractor has the full schedule and scripts.
Most of the friction with invoicing is retyping. If your quote already lists the line items, the invoice should come from it. In Contruva, a signed quote turns into a job and an invoice, signed change orders are added to the bill once, and the deposit shows as already paid. You send the invoice from site by text and email with a card pay link through Stripe, and Contruva adds no fee of its own on top of standard card processing. Overdue invoices get automatic reminders at your local hour.
Not sure what to charge in the first place? Start with how to price a contractor job and how to write a contractor estimate. Contruva Pro is one plan with invoicing included, free for 7 days.
Rather fill in a form than a template? Our free contractor estimate generator builds the same layout as a quote or an invoice, adds HST, GST or PST for your province, and downloads a clean PDF. No login needed.