ParrotNotes

Contractor Invoice Template

Bill the job you finished: labor, materials, equipment and subcontractors as lines, approved change orders in their own group, tax on the lines you mark taxable, then the deposit, payments and retainage taken off so the customer sees the amount due now. Print it, save it as a PDF, copy it as text or download the lines as a CSV.

How it works

  1. 1. Fill in the header

    Your business and license number, the customer, the job site, the invoice number and date, and the payment terms. The due date follows from the terms.

  2. 2. Add the work

    One line per item: pick the type, describe it, enter quantity, unit and rate, and tick taxable where you charge tax. Add change orders with their number and approval date.

  3. 3. Take off what is paid

    Enter the deposit and any payments received and the retainage percent. The invoice shows the amount due now and the retainage held back. Print, save as PDF, copy or download.

What a contractor invoice should include

  • Your business name, address, phone, email and license number
  • The customer's name and billing address, and the job site if it differs
  • A unique invoice number, the invoice date and the due date
  • The job or PO number the customer uses
  • When the work was done
  • Labor, materials, equipment and subcontractor lines with quantity, unit and rate
  • Approved change orders, each with its number and approval date
  • The discount, the tax rate and the tax amount
  • The deposit and payments already received
  • Retainage held back, and the amount due now
  • How to pay, and any late fee you agreed
  • A signature line

Labor, materials and sales tax

Put time on labor lines (hours at your rate, or a flat rate per visit or fixture) and everything you bought on materials lines. Equipment rental and subcontracted work get their own types, so the invoice shows a subtotal for each and the customer can see where the money went.

Sales tax on construction work varies by state and by the kind of job: some states tax materials and not labor, others tax both, and some jobs are exempt. Each line here has a taxable box, ticked by default for materials and not for labor, and the tax is worked on the ticked lines only at the rate you type. Check the rule for your state before you send the invoice.

This page is not tax advice.

Change orders and retainage

A change order is work added to or taken off the original scope after the job started, agreed with the customer. Add each one under Change orders with its number and the date it was approved; it prints in its own group with its own subtotal, so the customer can match it to the paper they signed.

Retainage is a share of each payment the customer holds back until the job is finished and accepted. Type the percent from your contract; the invoice works it on the invoice total, takes it off the balance and shows it as retainage held, to be billed when it is released. The percent and the release terms come from your contract and the rules where you work.

This page is not legal advice.

Invoices for each trade

  • Plumbing invoice template

    Labor by the hour or a flat rate per fixture, the water heater or fixture and fittings as materials, a permit under Other.

  • HVAC

    Install labor, the condenser, air handler and line set as materials, a crane or lift as equipment, the electrician as a subcontractor.

  • Roofing

    Tear-off and install labor by the square, shingles and underlayment as materials, the dumpster as equipment.

  • Electrical

    Labor by the hour, panel, breakers and wire as materials, a change order for the circuit the customer added.

  • Remodeling

    Your crew's labor, cabinets and tile as materials, the plumber and electrician as subcontractors, retainage until the final walk-through.

Estimate, invoice or receipt?

Estimate
Before the job: what the work should cost, valid until a date. Estimate Template
Invoice
After the work (or a stage of it): what the customer owes and by when.
Receipt
After the customer pays: proof of the payment. Receipt Template

Driving to job sites? Log the trips with the Mileage Log Template and bill or deduct the miles with the rest of the job.

More on selling and running the job: HVAC sales, roofing sales training.

You just billed the job from your own notes.

ParrotNotes records the walk-through and the change-order conversation, so every line on the invoice matches what the customer agreed to. You get a transcript, a summary and the action items. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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Contractor invoice questions