How To Use an Invoice Number to Track Your Income

Invoice numbers are an overlooked way to track your income and clients and keep your business financials organized. Here’s how create an invoice with an invoice number to manage your business.

Step #1. Create an Invoice Template

If you haven’t read our post on creating an invoice template, check it out now to get started on creating your first invoice. You’ll want to include some important information. Don’t have time to read a full post? Here’s the summary:

Include the following info in your invoice template to reuse with each new invoice you send out.

• Your company name and contact info (get an EIN here)
• Client name and contact info
• The job performed (job project name, # of hours or materials/labor detailed by line item)
• The date you are sending the invoice
• The date the invoice is due (usually one month out)
• Payment methods accepted and all payment contact info

You may want to save an invoice template for each client you have, so you can repopulate the next invoice with the same contact info and update the details.

Step #2. Fill Out Your Invoice

Each time you send out a new invoice, the following info needs to be updated:

• The project name or #
• The date you are sending the invoice
• The date the invoice is due
• The invoice number

Step #3. Save Your Invoices In Client Folders

Have a dedicated folder for each client on your desktop or Google drive, wherever you keep your files. Make sure you have a single place where you keep invoices for each client so you can find them when you need them.

Every time you send out a new invoice, you simply update the invoice job details and total payment required if that has changed, and update the job # and invoice #. Now if you need to refer back to an invoice, you can track it by invoice #.

If you use a tool like Yottled for your invoicing, the software will also track when invoices are paid and you can be paid by ACH bank transfer deposit so you don’t even have to worry about cashing checks. Then all your invoices are saved on Yottled for future reference along with processing fees, total income received, and all client info in one place. It will even automate an invoice number along with everything elsPretty convenient, huh?