What a personalised invoice book says about your business
Most print is handed to people who did not ask for it. An invoice is different. The customer is waiting for it, they read every line of it, and a good number of them file it somewhere they can find it again. It is the one piece of print in your business that is guaranteed an audience.
A blank book says something too
A generic pad from a stationery shop with your name written in biro at the top is not neutral. It says the job was small enough not to bother with, or that the business is newer or looser than it is. Nobody decides that consciously. They just feel it while they are deciding whether to ring you again.
What to put on it
Not everything. A form crowded with logos is harder to fill in and harder to read. The useful list is short:
- Your logo, at a size that reads from arm's length without taking over the page.
- Your trading name, address, phone, email and website, in that order of size.
- Your VAT number if you are registered, and your company registration number if you are a limited company.
- Boxes that match the job: description, quantity, rate, total, and a line for a signature if you need one.
- Your terms on the back, where they are available and out of the way.
Use the same colours you use everywhere else. If your van, your website and your invoice look like three different companies, the invoice is the one that will be looked at hardest.
It makes you easier to pay
This is the part people forget. Branding on an invoice is not only about looking established. Your bank details, your payment terms and a phone number that is answered all live on the same sheet. A customer who can see exactly who to pay, how, and by when, pays sooner. An invoice that is easy to act on is worth more than one that is merely handsome.
The cheapest branding you will buy
You need invoice books anyway. Printing your details on them instead of writing them by hand costs a few euro across a book that lasts months, and the design work is free with every new order here. Look at the range of NCR books, or start with personalised invoice books if you want the standard layout. Send us your logo, or a photograph of the book you use now, and our designers will set it and show you a proof first.
