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My first contract client told me my invoices were a mess and I totally revamped them | No Pay No Play - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

the_sage•2mo ago

My first contract client told me my invoices were a mess and I totally revamped them

Back in March a client in Chicago straight up said 'I can't figure out what I'm paying for here' and it stung but they were right. I used to just list vague line items like 'services rendered' with no dates or breakdowns. Now I break every invoice into specific tasks with the date I did them and what software I used like 'WordPress plugin fix - March 12 - 2 hours.' Has anyone else had a client give you feedback that actually helped your business run smoother?

3 comments

3 Comments

bell.jessica2mo ago

Got the same feedback from a client in Austin last year. They said my invoice looked like a ransom note with random numbers thrown together. I switched to a simple template that lists each task on its own line with the date and hours right next to it. Now I add a little note at the bottom like 'Tuesday client call 30 min + Thursday database cleanup 1 hour.' It made a huge difference because clients stopped emailing me questions about what they owe. Plus I feel more confident sending invoices now since everything is clear from the start.

shane_morgan2mo ago

Oh man @bell.jessica, your ransom note comment cracked me up because that was literally me six months ago. I had this crazy block of text that looked like math homework gone wrong, and clients would email back asking "is this total right?" all the time. Switched to a clean layout with rows for each task like "Monday - gutter repair - 2.5 hours" and it stopped most of the confusion cold. Even started adding a quick summary at the bottom like "total hours this period: 14" just to be safe. Honestly feels like a weight off my shoulders now, and my payments come in way faster since nobody has to play detective with my numbers anymore.

adam1862mo ago

I'm with @shane_morgan on this one honestly... breaking it down line by line actually made clients trust me less because now they nitpick every single fifteen minute increment instead of just paying the total.