I worked the trade for about four years and I have not taken a side job in fifteen. I manage projects for a general contractor in Salt Lake now, so I review invoices and change orders most weeks of the year. This is what a good one looks like and why.
What has to be on a side job invoice?
Your name and contact, the owner’s, a short scope write-up, the date, and a line for every item you quoted. If the invoice matches the estimate line for line, there is nothing to argue about — you have turned the estimate into a checklist.
Your invoice is your estimate with checkmarks
This is the whole thing, so I am putting it first.
If you are explicit about what is included in the estimate, and then you perform exactly that, there is no argument at the end. The invoice is the same document with the work done.
Which means the work happens back at the estimate. Quantify what you are doing. If the work is in different areas of the house, identify them separately.
And do not forget to write down what is not included. Paint touch-up. Drywall repair. Whatever is going to get looked at when you are done and somebody wonders whose job that was.
Qualify it, too. If the space is not one hundred percent ready when you show up, say in the estimate that a second trip charge applies, and say what that charge is. Do not leave it as a feeling you will bring up later.
What actually goes on the document
If you have never made one, here is the whole list.
- Your company logo, name, address and phone number
- The contact person and their phone number — whoever quoted the project
- The owner’s name, address and phone number
- A scope write-up. A few sentences describing the work
- A way to title it — “Juniper Street duct add,” or a number
- The date of the invoice
- An itemized line for every item you quoted
- Payment terms
The date matters more than it looks. It starts the clock on when you get paid.
Your estimate should also carry a time frame for when the work gets done. That protects both of you.
If you would rather not build this from scratch every time, I made a free invoice and estimate tool for tradespeople. It runs in your browser, nothing gets uploaded anywhere, and there is no signup and no subscription: quickdrawinvoice.com
Say when you want to be paid, not when they can pay
This is the one that quietly costs people money.
If you want to be paid that day, do not put net 15 or net 30 on the invoice. You just told them they have fifteen or thirty days, and most people will take every one of them.
On a side job, write payment terms as due upon completion.
Be careful with percent complete terms on residential work. They sound reasonable and they open a door you do not want opened. Percent complete turns into “you damaged my drywall so you are not really complete,” and now you are not getting paid for a job you finished.
Most homeowners only want to pay for work that is one hundred percent done anyway. A side job should take a couple of days at most. Bill it when it is done.
The deposit invoice
The first invoice is the material money, and yes, it gets its own invoice.
Once you and the owner agree to go, and the job is on your schedule, invoice the deposit. Do not order material out of your own pocket on a handshake. This changes in commercial, usually you would include stored material as a billable line item instead of work complete. The subcontractor might not have the material just a paid invoice and a bill of lading with a guarantee on materials. If you are working on a house, the material is readily available, typically.
Then keep all your itemization intact through the whole project. Say the job is $1,000 and they paid $200 up front. On invoice number two, that $200 line stays exactly where it was, showing as paid, and the invoice is for the work completed. If the job is done, that is $800.
Do not rebuild the document each time. The owner should be able to lay invoice one next to invoice two and see the same job.
When they ask for more while you are standing there (scope creep)
This happens on almost every job. You are halfway through and the owner says, while you are here, can you do one more thing?
Do not price it on the spot. What you say is: let me look at it and I can price it if it is appropriate.
Then finish your day, look at it properly that night, and send them another estimate. That is a change order, and it is a separate document.
Price it honestly. You already collected the trip charge and the preconstruction on the original job, so do not charge for those again — you are probably going back anyway to finish one last thing. Keep it reasonable.
You are standing in that house because somebody trusted you enough to let you work in it. Do that part right and you do not have a side job, you have a repeat customer.
On the final invoice, change work gets its own line at the bottom, itemized, at the amount you agreed to. Not folded into the original lines. Separate, so it is obvious what was added and when.
Paper trail is the whole point. It protects them and it protects you.
The second trip charge
If you show up and the space is not ready, you lost the day. Not just the work time — a drive home and a drive back.
On the commercial side I have seen remobilization charges run from $150 plus mileage all the way up to thirty thousand dollars, depending on the scale of what got stopped.
For a side job, a fair place to start is two hours at your labor rate, or one unit rate. Whatever your number is, put it on the estimate before you start. A trip charge you never wrote down is a conversation you are going to lose.
Numbering, and why 0001 beats 1
If you are doing six jobs a year, you do not need a system. A customer’s last name or the house number works fine.
If you do use numbers, here is the thing nobody tells you until it is annoying: start at 0001, not 1.
Files sort by name, not by value. So a folder full of invoices numbered 1 through 100 sorts as 1, then 10, then 100, then 2. With leading zeros, 0001 is followed by 0002 and everything stays in order for as long as you keep doing this. If you want to start over every year start with the year-xxxx. 2026-0001 or 26-0001. if you are building a company that is going to be around for a few hundred years keep the 2026 format. when you get to 2126, 2026-0001 and 2126-0001 will sort together.
Some people number by year. Some run one continuous sequence across all customers — invoice 1 is Dan down the street, invoice 2 is Harold out in Denver, invoice 3 is the rest of Dan’s project. You can also use a job number, where 1000-001 means job 1000, invoice 1.
Any of them work. Pick one before you need it.
How you get paid has changed
When I was doing this it was cash or check. That is not the world anymore.
Zelle and Venmo are what most people reach for now, and they are going to reach for them whether you planned on it or not. If that is how you are getting paid, build the fee into your price. Do not eat it quietly.
I would not take a check today from anybody who is not a company or an old person. Most people under forty do not own a checkbook and have written maybe three in their life.
Electronic is the fastest way to have the money actually in your account paying your suppliers, credit cards or funding the next job. Cash is a hassle in that you have to go to the bank. Although nobody has ever complained about cash in their pocket.
Common Questions
What if the customer says “just tell me what I owe you”?
Send it anyway. You have their phone number, so text it to them. Close the loop on your end so there is no open loop.
It comes down to transfer of liability. If you documented it and they did not want a copy, that is their choice. If you never documented it, that is yours.
Can I skip the invoice and just ask for the money?
That is how everybody starts, and it works right up until it does not.
An invoice tracks what was agreed and what was done, so there is no accusation later. A paper trail protects the owner as much as it protects you.
Is an invoice to a contractor different from one to a homeowner?
Completely.
A homeowner does not really know what to do with an invoice. It is a bill with a payment date on it, and usually they pay you while the two of you are standing there.
A contractor will not pay without one. It is a document that has to go into their process, and how long that takes depends on their contract and their accounting. If you are doing side jobs you are usually the general contractor for that scope, working directly with the owner, and that is why side work pays faster than commercial does.
Should I itemize labor and material separately?
Reviewing change orders, I always want to see labor, material and equipment broken out. But a lump sum for a complete project with lines indicating the scope is a standard first submission.
If there is push back, that usually becomes itemized lump sums. More push back after that usually gets you to unit rates. Unless your contract says you will bill in quantified labor, material quotes and equipment receipts, you will not be sending those and the owner will not be seeing them.
Does my license number go on the invoice?
Often it does, not always. It would not hurt to put it on. If you have LLC next to your name and a logo on the document, it is generally read as a legitimate business anyway.
Some states require it on contracts and invoices. Check yours — that one is worth two minutes of looking rather than guessing.
Do I charge sales tax on labor?
That varies by state and sometimes by the type of work. I am not going to guess at yours. Find out before you invoice, not after.
Do I need a registered business to invoice for side work?
That is a real question and it has a tax answer, which depends on your state and how you are set up. Talk to somebody who does taxes for a living before you take the work.
What I will say plainly: if you earned it, report it.
Not sure what to charge in the first place? Start with how to price a side job, and then what an hour actually costs you.