The invoice checklist: 12 lines that get you paid faster

Late payments are mostly friction: a missing purchase order, an unclear amount, a client who cannot find your bank details. This checklist removes the friction before the invoice leaves your hands.

Who and when

1. A unique invoice number. Sequential, never reused. INV-0042 is easier to quote on the phone than a date.
2. Issue date and due date. Write the date, not just "net 14". People pay dates.
3. Your legal name and contact. Business name, address, email, and tax ID if you have one.
4. The client as their accounts team knows them. Legal company name, billing address, their PO or reference number.

What and how much

5. One line per deliverable. Description, quantity, unit price, amount.
6. Discounts shown, not hidden. A visible discount is a gift; a silent one is a mistake.
7. Tax on its own line with the rate, applied after the discount.
8. One amount due, in one currency. Make it the largest number on the page.

How to pay

9. A payment QR. VietQR for Vietnamese bank transfers, or a PayPal.me or checkout link for everyone else.
10. Written bank details too, for clients paying from a desktop.
11. The memo you want on the transfer, usually the invoice number.
12. Terms in one sentence. "Payment due by 28 Nov 2026. Thank you!" beats a paragraph of legal text.

Before you hit send

Scan your own QR, open the PDF on your phone, and read the amount due out loud. If anything looks off to you, it will look off to the client.