How to Write an Effective Sales Invoice Letter in Minutes

When it comes to invoicing for your business, there’s no room for mistakes. Clear invoicing ensures your customer knows what they’re paying for, how much they owe, and where to make payment. This avoids confusion for your client and ensures that you get the money you are due promptly, maintaining critical cash flow. Simply sending an invoice isn’t always enough, however.

An invoice business letter provides added context and information about the invoice. It also presents a more professional appearance, allowing you to directly address your customer in writing instead of just putting a bill in front of them.

The Skynova sample invoice letter template makes it fast and easy to create professional invoice letters. Below, we take you through the process of creating your tailor-made letter step by step.

Why Do I Need to Include a Sales Invoice Letter?

Including an invoice letter with an invoice is a best practice in the business world. This is like a cover letter for your invoice. It serves a few benefits. First, you can highlight critical points regarding payment, such as how much is due and when. Your customers can get the most important information in just a few lines of text, without having to read the fine print on the invoice.

Second, an invoice letter is an opportunity to add a personal touch. As a small business owner or freelancer, nurturing positive relationships with your clients is critical to long-term success. This is what wins you repeat clients. An invoice letter presents a more professional appearance and gives you a chance to jot a personalized note, thanking the client for using your product or services, for instance.

Finally, thanks to its personalized nature, an invoice letter can support your efforts to collect prompt payment. It’s easy to set aside a bill and have it get lost in a stack of paperwork. However, when a person receives a personalized letter addressed to them, they may be more likely to pay attention.

This is valuable not only for initial invoicing purposes but also for chasing payments. If you have to follow up on unpaid invoices, an invoice letter allows you to send a professional reminder. While reminding people that they owe money can feel awkward, collecting the cash that you are due is critical to maintaining your business operations.

How to Create a Sales Invoice Letter

The Skynova invoice letter template makes it easy and stress-free to create invoice letters. Here, we show you how it’s done. Follow these simple steps to make your own invoice letter fast.

Make an Invoice Letter Template

Create a basic template that’s already preformatted and includes basic details that won’t change, regardless of the invoice timing and client, such as your own company name and contact information. We give you a handy template you can copy and paste into an MS Word document below.

Include Your Contact Information

Add your name, business name, address, and contact details, including your email and telephone number. If your client has questions about the invoice letter, they can easily find how to reach you.

Add the Invoice Date and Due Date

Include the date of the invoice and the due date in your letter. Common payment terms include "Net 7," "Net 14," and "Net 30" (one week, two weeks, and one month). For the date, include the month, day, and year, for example, "Nov. 7, 2020."

Include the Recipient Address

Here’s where you put in your client’s name, address, and contact details. Obviously, you will have to adapt this portion of the invoice letter to each client.

Start With a Greeting

Insert a standard professional greeting. Don’t use nicknames, but use the client’s actual legal name. Possible greetings include:

• "Good [morning/afternoon/evening], [client’s name]"
• "Dear [client’s name]"

Write the Body of the Letter

Now, you can write the body of your letter. First, set up your formatting. You should single space your letter and left justify the paragraphs. You can set up these formatting details in a template to avoid having to redo the formatting every time. As you write, include a blank line between each paragraph.

Start with a friendly opening. Then, get right to the point — the invoice itself. Essential payment details include:

• Payment terms
• Any discounts for early payment or returning customers
• How you accept payment

Then, include current contact information in case the client has questions. Finally, add a friendly conclusion like "Thank you for your business." You might also ask them to confirm that the invoice has been received, such as "Please confirm that this invoice has been received."

Mention and Include Attachments

You want to attach the relevant invoice to the invoice letter. Make sure to mention and include this attachment and any other relevant documents, such as a project delivery timeline, line-item clarifications, work contracts, and more.

Invoice Cover Letter Tips

Your invoice letter shouldn’t be too long. Clarity and conciseness are critical. Avoid overwhelming people with lengthy writing and multiple pages of paperwork by keeping your letter to just one page. This should be enough space to cover the relevant details. Remember, the invoice will contain other details, like debit account information for making payment.

Here are some other tips for writing an effective invoice cover letter:

• Tailor the letter to the client. This means not only changing the name in the header but also addressing specific project details and timelines in the body.
• Include the reason for the invoice and the total due in the first paragraph of the body of the letter.
• Always include your contact information so that the client can address any concerns about the invoice immediately.
• If there are additional invoices to come (for example, if you are sending an interim invoice), mention this in the letter.
• Avoid jargon. Keep in mind that you may use language specific to your field that others don’t know. Use everyday terminology that a nonexpert will know.
• Use active voice and short sentences. Be clear and to the point.
• Each paragraph of the body should focus on one point.
• Maintain a professional and respectful tone.
• Proofread your work. Errors in your letter will present an unprofessional appearance. Ask a friend or co-worker to review the letter if you aren’t confident in your writing.

When to Deliver an Invoice Letter

There are a few times that you might invoice clients. Your invoice letter template should clarify which of these types of invoices you are issuing.

Prepayment or Deposits

For larger projects requiring you to invest significant time and capital upfront, you may request a prepayment or deposit. This protects your investment and binds the client to the job. You will submit a prepayment or deposit invoice letter before starting any work.

Upon Purchase or Project Completion

For smaller projects that don’t require you to go out on a limb in terms of investing time, energy, manpower, or money, you don’t need to request a prepayment or deposit. Submit your invoice and invoice letter upon project completion (or, if you sell products, upon sale).

At Milestones

For longer projects, you may choose to submit interim invoices. For example, if you are completing a remodeling project that will take months, you might submit a monthly invoice to cover costs as the project progresses. Time-based milestones could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Alternatively, you can define milestones based on deliverables. For example, if you are editing an e-book, you might submit your interim invoice and letter after delivering a certain number of chapters.

Late Payments

As a small business owner or freelancer, you will sometimes have to chase late payments. It’s inevitable. Sometimes, clients forget. Your original invoice should have clarified specific time payment terms, such as "Net 30," meaning payment is due within 30 calendar days of the invoice date. Wait one week after the pay period has expired, and submit your late payment invoice letter and invoice (in case the client misplaced the original) as a reminder.

Invoice Emails vs. Traditional Invoice Letters

You can send your invoice letter via email or through traditional mail. While this choice is up to you, email is faster and reduces delays since you don’t have to wait on the post office for delivery. Alternatively, you can send email invoices directly to your client via Skynova’s free invoice email form.

That said, there are some times when it may be better to send an invoice by mail. Say you are dealing with an unpaid invoice, for example. You may want to send a new copy of the invoice with an invoice letter via registered post or courier. This requires the documents to be delivered to a person who must sign for them.

In case the issue escalates and the client tries to claim that they never received your invoice, you will have proof of delivery. While it’s not fun to think that you might have to take a client to court for unpaid invoices, you can’t rule out this possibility. Hopefully, it won’t come to that, but if it does, you’ve taken positive steps to protect the integrity of your business. It’s a best practice.

Invoice Cover Letter Template

Below, find an invoice letter template that you can copy, paste, and adapt to your needs. This template follows the letter format described above. Of course, you’ll have to change the details, like the contact information. This template will make the general process of writing invoicing letters faster and easier, however.

Of course, the body of the template will have to be adapted to your unique needs. For example, if you are chasing an overdue invoice, you might write a payment reminder like: "This is a friendly reminder that you currently owe the [your business name] payment for the following past due invoice(s): [insert unique invoice number ]."

Track and Manage Invoices With Skynova’s Invoicing Software

An invoice letter is practical while also allowing you to give a personal touch to invoicing — a task that’s otherwise pretty impersonal. You can use an invoice letter to highlight key points related to an invoice, such as how much money is due and when. You can also use an invoice letter to follow up on unpaid invoices. This ensures you get the money you need to keep your business running.

Skynova’s invoicing software makes the process simple and stress-free. You can use Skynova’s free invoice template and submit invoices directly to your customers, avoiding the need for Microsoft Word or Excel. We also have 37 software products that you can access online to simplify your billing and accounting, covering everything from accounting to credit notes.

Find out how Skynova’s software and sample invoice template can help you streamline business operations and support your success as a business owner.