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Had a client show me my invoices were confusing last year
I had a client in Seattle point out that my invoices made it hard to tell what they were paying for. They said I was lumping materials and labor together in one line. I changed to itemizing everything separately with dates and descriptions. Now I break down each job into categories like demo, install, and finishing. It cut down on payment delays by like two weeks. Anyone else deal with clients who got confused by your billing?
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craig.parker18d ago
In Seattle you actually want to include sales tax as its own line item too, since city rates vary by neighborhood and lumping it in can cause audit headaches.
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kellyallen18d ago
Yeah learned that one the hard way. First time I did a big batch of invoices for Capitol Hill and Ballard addresses I just lumped it all in. Then my accountant flagged it and I had to go back and redo like 20 invoices. Pain in the ass. Now I just have a column for subtotal, a column for the Seattle specific sales tax rate for that address, and a separate total. Keeps it clean for audits and for the customer too.
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rose_clark8118d ago
...and that's exactly why I started separating the shipping costs too. Not just tax but the actual delivery fees from USPS versus UPS. I had one client in Georgetown who swore I was overcharging because the shipping line was too high. Turns out I forgot that his neighborhood gets a different zone rate or something. My accountant was like "just itemize everything so people can see it." And honestly it made me realize customers get real weird about numbers they don't understand. Like they see a big total and assume you're marking stuff up when really it's just the city tax mixed with their specific shipping zone. So now I break down each fee on a separate line. Keeps everyone happy and my books match my receipts.
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