As an interior designer, you often double as an
accountant, creating and sending invoices to your clients. After all, without
an invoice, you cannot get paid for all your hard work. When billing an
interior design client, you must create an invoice that includes the time you
spent consulting with the client, the time you spent working on the project and
any materials you purchased. Listing these items individually and creating a
single invoice cuts down on confusion and errors, and allows the client to review
project costs with ease.
Decide on an hourly rate for your services. Having a
set hourly rate will help you create an accurate invoice after completing the
project.
Conduct an initial consultation with your client.
Discuss the project with your client to get an idea of the time you'll need to
invest and the materials you must buy. Inform your client of your hourly rate.
Keep a record of how long the consultation takes.
Create a record for the hours that you work. Each
day, write down the date, total hours worked and and the time of day you
worked. Include time spent consulting with the client on the phone, as well as
the time spent shopping for or purchasing materials. Include your travel time.
Create a record of any materials or supplies you
purchase. Save all the receipts.
Keep records of any money you paid to third-party
contractors. For example, you might hire a contractor to install drywall in the
house. Save the invoice from the contractor.
Divide
your final invoice into three sections. (1) Add up your
billable hours in the first section. Include a list of dates and times worked,
as well as a total. (2)Add up any materials or supplies purchased in the second
section. Create an itemized list showing all materials and total. (3) Add up
the cost of hiring third-party contractors in the last section. Show the total
paid to the contractors. Include a final total that combines billable hours,
materials and contract work.
Attach the receipts from materials and supplies
purchased, and invoices for third-party contractors, to the back of the
invoice. Deliver the invoice to the client in person, by mail or by email.
Retain copies of all paperwork.
Tips
Do not forget to bill for phone calls, meetings and
other time spent working with the client during the project. These hours add
up.
Bill
& Invoice - Difference
- Bill is a term used to describe transactions that are owed to vendors/suppliers.
- When your vendors/suppliers send you an invoice to collect money from you, it is referred to as a Bill.
- Since you are a customer to the vendor/supplier, you will receive an invoice from them and enter it as a bill that you are expected to pay.
- Invoice is a term used by vendors/suppliers when they want to collect funds from their customers.
- When you create transactions to receive money from your customers you would refer to it as an Invoice or Sales Receipt.
- Invoices are the individual sales transactions that partially comprise a statement of a customer's account activity.
- In layman terms, when you create a transaction manually or in a software that generate some income, you are basically creating an invoice for your customer. It’s your invoice that becomes a bill for your customer to pay.
- If a vendor raises an invoice for a service (internet, phone, rent etc.) for you, that’s a bill for you that you need to pay.
- An invoice is a request for payment for goods or services, usually in the context of a credit account. (I have an account with you; you supply me with goods, and invoice me for them; 30 days later I pay the invoice.)
- It should contain ST, GST etc info.
- Bill is for the goods/services already supplied and user can immediately pay for them. e.g. Credit card, mobile companies provide bills to us not invoices.
A bill of materials (also known
as a BOM or bill of material) is a
comprehensive list of parts, items, assemblies and other materials required to create a product, as well as instructions
required for gathering and using the required materials.
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