Invoicing guides
Short, specific answers to the questions that come up when you start sending invoices for real money.
How to number invoices, and why the sequence matters
A numbering scheme you can defend to an auditor: what belongs in a reference, why gaps and duplicates cause trouble, and how to run several companies without the sequences colliding.
VAT on a Ghanaian invoice: what has to be on the document
The fields the Ghana Revenue Authority expects to see, how VAT, NHIL, GETFund and COVID-19 levies stack, and where each one belongs on the page.
Payment terms that actually get you paid
Net 30 is a habit, not a decision. What each common term commits your client to, why a due date beats a duration, and the wording that shortens the gap between sending and being paid.
Chasing a late invoice without losing the client
A sequence that works: when to send the first reminder, what to say at each stage, when to pick up the phone, and the point at which you stop sending polite emails.
What has to be on an invoice
The fields every invoice needs regardless of country, the ones that only apply if you are tax registered, and the handful that are not required but stop clients querying the document.
Invoicing under more than one business name
Running two companies, or a company and a side practice, without the paperwork bleeding together: separate numbering, separate branding, separate books, one place to work.
Proforma invoice or invoice? The difference that matters
A proforma is a quote that looks like an invoice. What each document commits you to, when to send which, and what to change when a proforma becomes the real thing.