Freelance work, simple invoice in English

I am a mobile shop man. Sometimes I also do extra work.

A small company in Jodhpur send me phones by courier. I flash software, remove junk, test. I send back.

They pay per piece. In 2023 it was 180 rupee a phone, some weeks 40 phones.

September they said, send invoice in English. Our auditor is from Pune. He don't like Hindi shop bill.

My normal bill is item qty rate. Like charger 2 piece.

This work is hours and piece. No box. No IMEI always, because they already own the phones.

I tried to squeeze it in GST item list. It look like I sold 40 phones of 180 rupee. Wrong picture.

So I used freelance invoice.

Freelance work, what actually happened

I wrote my name and shop address. I wrote their company name.

Description, software flashing and testing of customer owned devices. Qty 40. Rate 180.

Or I write 12 hours at 600 when they ask hour basis for a rush Saturday.

The page allow hours or project fee. I like that. I don't need Tally for this.

English I keep simple. I don't write hereby engaged as consultant.

I write, flashing work for 40 units, September 2023.

Pune auditor passed it. They paid.

December 2024 they still use same style. I only change dates and qty.

I put DRAFT. I am not their full time employee. This is a bill for work.

If GST apply on my service, CA tell me. I don't guess 18 on everything because a YouTube uncle said.

When CA say put GST, I put. When he say this small thing is different, I listen.

BillOnDesk is not GSTN. I don't file on that page. I file official portal with CA.

What I learned writing English invoice from a Rajasthan shop.

Don't use heavy words. Pune people also understand flashing of 40 phones.

Don't mix shop sale and freelance on one invoice. If I sold them a battery, that is shop invoice. Flashing is freelance invoice.

I mixed once. Auditor asked, did you sell phones or repair.

I had to call and explain. Two PDFs after that.

Put invoice number. F-2023-09-01. Something. Don't leave blank.

Put due date if they pay later. Jodhpur pay in 10 days usually. I write due 21 September.

If they pay UPI, I still send this invoice, then a payment receipt if they want.

Put bank details. They NEFT. My account name must match. Once I wrote shop name, account is my personal. Money bounced around for two days.

Now I write account name as on passbook.

Hours. If I write 12 hours, I keep a small note in notebook, Saturday 8 am to 8 pm. If they question, I have something.

I don't fake hours. If work was 7 hours, I write 7. Rush job they themselves saw on WhatsApp timestamps.

Project fee. Sometimes they say 7,000 for a bulk lot, don't count pieces.

I write project fee 7000, description bulk flashing lot of 22-28 Sep.

Don't write 7000 and also 40 x 180. Double.

A designer friend in Udaipur use same freelance invoice for poster work. She charge 1500 a poster. She is not a shop. She still need English because a hotel client want it.

She asked me how I write. I told her, short sentences. Date. Work. Amount.

She was putting a poem in the invoice. Hotel accounts don't need poem.

How I bill hours on freelance invoice

Signature. I type my name. I don't scan a flowery signature that look like a different person.

If they need GSTIN, I put mine in header. If they need their GSTIN, they send, I put in buyer.

Don't copy a GSTIN from Google. I saw a boy in Sikar do that to look big. That is stupid and dangerous.

Don't put Ashoka. Don't put hologram. Freelance invoice is not a government stamp.

If the company ask to write extra amount so they can show more expense, I say no.

Jodhpur asked once, write 12,000 we pay you 8,000 cash and 4,000 NEFT.

I said no. I write what I receive in bank, or I write total honestly if cash also, but I don't write fake higher.

They found another technician for one month. Then they came back because that guy bricked two phones.

I still said no to fake amount. Work continued.

English mistakes. I make some. Light ones. I don't care if I miss a the.

I care if 40 x 180 is not 7200.

Numbers first. Grammar second.

I don't write a speech. I write, here is bill for September flashing.

If they want HSN or SAC, I ask CA, I put the code he give. I don't invent a code from memory.

If they want place of supply Rajasthan, I write Jaipur shop address. I am here. I don't write Jodhpur just because they are there.

Courier of phones is their lookout. My work happen on my desk.

I take photo of a sample invoice, not with customer data, to remember layout. Next month I fill again.

When tab close, data go. I copy PDF to email to myself. Subject, Jodhpur flash Sep 2023.

I lost one November invoice because I closed Chrome. I made again from notebook. Qty I remembered 36, it was 38. They corrected. I felt small.

Now notebook plus PDF email.

A cousin in Bikaner shoot wedding photos. He is not me, but he sit in my shop one evening and we fill his first English invoice together.

His client was a hotel near Lallgarh. They wanted invoice for 18,000, two days work.

He had written in WhatsApp, photo package, thanks.

Hotel said, that is not invoice.

We opened freelance invoice. Description, wedding photography 12 and 13 November, 16 hours, extra album not included.

He put project fee 18,000 because they didn't want hours. Hours we still wrote in the line so later nobody say it was 4 hours.

English he was scared. I told him write like you talk, just slower.

Work done. Amount. Date. Name.

Hotel paid in 18 days, not 10. He had not put due date. Next time he put due 10 days. They still late. At least paper said it.

If you do side work from a town like Jaipur, Kota, Sikar, English invoice is not a London thing. It is just words the other city can read.

Keep it human. Keep it true.

Use the freelance page twice if you need, one for hours week, one for a project.

Shop sale stay shop sale.

And when tax time come, show CA both. Don't hide freelance because it feel small.

Small become big in three years. I learned.

The Pune auditor never met me. He only saw a clean English page.

That was the whole requirement. Not a novel. A page.