My Job Goblin

Free tool

Free UK invoice generator

Fill it in, check the preview, download the PDF. No signup, no email wall, no watermark, and nothing you type leaves your browser, including your logo. It also tells you what HMRC requires the invoice to contain, which is the part most free generators leave out.

For UK sole traders and limited companies · Requirements checked against GOV.UK on 31 August 2026

About you

How do you trade?

It changes what the invoice is legally required to say.

Your logo (optional)

PNG or JPEG

Read in your browser and put straight into the PDF. It is never uploaded and no copy is kept.

Your customer

The invoice

When the work was done.

What you are charging for

Your invoice

Subtotal
£0.00
Total due
£0.00

Nothing you type here leaves your browser. There is no account, and no copy is kept.

What this invoice has to say

HMRC’s required fields for a sole trader.

  • A unique identification number
  • Your business name, address and contact information
  • The name and address of the customer you are invoicing
  • A clear description of what you are charging for
  • The date the work was done or the goods supplied, known as the supply date
  • The date of the invoice itself, which is often not the supply date
  • The amounts being charged
  • The VAT amount, if VAT applies
  • The total amount owed
  • Your own name, as well as any business name you trade under
  • An address where legal documents can be delivered to you, if you are using a business name

What a UK invoice has to contain

An invoice is not just a demand for money, it is a record both sides are expected to be able to produce later. HMRC publishes the list of what one has to carry, and it is shorter than people fear.

  • A unique identification number
  • Your business name, address and contact information
  • The name and address of the customer you are invoicing
  • A clear description of what you are charging for
  • The date the work was done or the goods supplied
  • The date of the invoice
  • The amounts being charged
  • The VAT amount, if VAT applies
  • The total amount owed

The generator above fills every one of those, and the checklist beside it changes when you switch trading structure, because the next section is where it stops being the same list for everybody.

Sole trader and limited company are not the same invoice

This is where the free templates on the internet stop being reliable, because most of them are American and the ones that are not tend to assume you are a company.

Do not put VAT on it unless you are registered

If you are not VAT registered, you must not put VAT on an invoice. Not as a line, not folded into the prices, not as a rounded-up total that happens to include twenty per cent. Charging tax you are not registered to collect is a different order of problem from a paperwork slip.

The generator has the VAT row switched off by default for that reason. It appears only when you say you are registered, which is the way round it should be.

The number has to be unique, and that is all

The requirement is a UNIQUE identification number. It is not a requirement that the numbers run in an unbroken sequence, which is the thing people worry about when they void an invoice and leave a gap.

Sequential numbering is still the sensible default, because it makes uniqueness automatic and a missing number obvious. A year prefix, as in 2026-014, is a common and perfectly acceptable scheme. What matters is that you never issue the same number twice.

Invoice date and supply date are different dates

HMRC asks for both, and they are genuinely different. The supply date is when you did the work. The invoice date is when you raised the paperwork. A job finished on the Friday and invoiced on the Tuesday has a Friday supply date and a Tuesday invoice date.

It matters more than it looks, because the supply date is what puts a job into one VAT period or accounting year rather than another, and that is decided by when the work happened rather than by when you got round to the admin.

Sources

  1. Invoicing and taking payment from customers: what invoices must include, GOV.UKThe required fields for every invoice, plus the extra ones for a sole trader and for a limited company. Read on 31 August 2026.
  2. VAT record keeping: VAT invoices, HMRCWhat a full VAT invoice must carry, which is more than a plain invoice. Read this before assuming a VAT total is enough.
  3. Register for VAT, HMRCThe threshold, and when registration stops being optional.

Invoicing one at a time is fine until it is not

This generator has no memory, which is the point of it: nothing is stored and nothing is tracked. That also means it cannot tell you who has not paid, chase anybody, or carry the numbers into your year end. When that starts to matter, that is what the app is for.

Start free, no card neededWhat to do when it is not paid

This tool produces a document from what you type and checks nothing about your business. The requirements listed are HMRC’s, read on 31 August 2026, and they are general information rather than advice about your own position. A full VAT invoice carries more than this, and if you are VAT registered you should read HMRC’s VAT invoice guidance rather than relying on this page.

Frequently asked questions

Is this invoice generator really free?

Yes, and there is no signup, no email wall and no watermark. Fill the form in, preview the invoice, and download the PDF. Nothing you type is sent anywhere: the PDF is built in your browser, and that includes your logo, which is read from your device and put straight into the document rather than uploaded.

What does a UK invoice legally have to include?

A unique identification number, your business name and address and contact information, the customer's name and address, a clear description of what you are charging for, the date the work was done, the date of the invoice, the amounts, the VAT amount if VAT applies, and the total owed. A sole trader must also give their own name alongside any trading name. A limited company must give the full company name as registered.

Do I have to put my address on an invoice?

Yes. If you are a sole trader using a business name, HMRC also asks for an address where legal documents can be delivered to you, which is the part people trading under a name tend to miss. It does not have to be where you work from, but it has to be somewhere post can reach you.

Can I charge VAT if I am not VAT registered?

No, and it is the most expensive mistake on this page. If you are not registered you must not show VAT on an invoice or add it to your prices. That is why the VAT row on this generator is off by default and only appears when you tell it you are registered.

Do invoice numbers have to be sequential?

HMRC's requirement is that the number is unique, not that it runs in an unbroken sequence. Sequential numbering is the easiest way to guarantee uniqueness and to spot a gap, which is why almost everybody does it, but a number like 2026-014 is fine as long as you never issue it twice.

What is the difference between the invoice date and the supply date?

The supply date is when the work was done or the goods were provided. The invoice date is when you raised the paperwork. They are often different, sometimes by weeks, and HMRC asks for both. On a job finished on a Friday and invoiced the following Tuesday, the Friday is the supply date.

Is this a VAT invoice?

Not necessarily. A full VAT invoice, which you must use when you and your customer are both VAT registered, carries more than this generator asks for, including your VAT registration number and the rate applied to each line. Use HMRC's VAT invoice guidance for that, rather than assuming a document that shows a VAT total is sufficient.

How much does My Job Goblin cost?

Pro is £29 a month or £290 a year, with no per-seat fees and no contract. Every new account starts on a 14 day free trial of Pro with no card needed, and drops to the free tier rather than switching off. The free tier runs 3 quotes and 3 invoices a month, end to end: build the quote, send the PDF, let the customer approve it in the portal, and invoice it. The AI pricing and description tools, expense tracking, certificate filing and reports are Pro. The HMRC year-end tools are Pro + Tax.

Why is the free tier so small?

The cap is small on purpose. A free tier big enough to run a trade on has to be paid for by the traders who do pay, and they are one-person businesses on a flat £29 a month with no per-seat fee. What the free tier proves is the whole loop rather than the volume: build the quote, send it, let the customer approve it, invoice it.