What a UK invoice must include

An invoice that's missing required details gives a slow payer an excuse. Here's what GOV.UK says every invoice must show, plus the extra rules for sole traders and limited companies.

Every invoice

• A unique identification number (a sequence like INV-0042 works well)
• Your business name, address and contact details
• Your customer's business name and address
• A clear description of what you're charging for
• The date of supply and the invoice date
• The amount(s) charged, any VAT, and the total owed

Sole traders

Also show your own name and any business name you trade under. If you use a business name, give an address where legal documents can be delivered to you.

Limited companies

Use the full company name exactly as it appears on the certificate of incorporation. If you name any directors on the invoice, you must name all of them.

VAT-registered

If both you and your customer are VAT registered, you must issue a full VAT invoice, which needs more details. See GOV.UK's VAT invoice guidance.

State your payment terms

Put the due date and your terms on the invoice (for example "payment within 30 days"). For business clients, if no terms are agreed, payment counts as late after 30 days, and you can then claim statutory interest and fixed compensation. How late payment interest works →

Source: GOV.UK Invoices: what they must include. Not legal or tax advice.

General information, not legal advice. Figures checked against GOV.UK and the Bank of England on 1 October 2026. Your contract may set its own late-payment rate instead of the statutory one.