The Canadian invoice, done right
A Canadian invoice is a tax document. Miss the GST/HST registration number and your customer's input credit claim is at risk; blur the tax breakdown and yours is.
What it must contain
- Your business name and GST/HST registration number
- Invoice number (sequential — gaps invite questions) and date
- Customer name; ship-to when it differs (place of supply!)
- Line items with quantities and unit prices
- Tax shown by component — GST, PST, HST as applicable
- Payment terms and due date
Use the free generator to produce one now — or let SeroBooks number, tax and post them automatically.
The mistakes that cost money
Three recur. A missing GST/HST registration number puts your customer's input tax credit at risk, which turns your invoice into their problem. A tax line shown as a single blended figure in a province that levies two taxes leaves both sides unable to reconcile it. And duplicate or reused invoice numbers make a year impossible to audit cleanly.
The fourth is subtler: terms stated as 'due on receipt' when you actually expect payment in thirty days. Vague terms are unenforceable and make chasing awkward.
When a template stops being enough
A template is fine while you can hold the whole picture in your head — a handful of invoices a month, all paid promptly. It stops working when you need to know what is outstanding and how overdue, because a folder of documents cannot age, cannot tell you what was paid, and cannot post itself to a ledger.
The tell is usually a spreadsheet appearing beside the folder to track payment status. That spreadsheet is a second set of books, and reconciling it against the folder is the work software removes.
Templates are training wheels. The software is the bicycle.
Free to start, on Windows, Mac, iPad and Android. No credit card.