Google Docs solves the version problem that dogs Word invoices. There is one file, it is the current one, and it is reachable from a phone on a job site as easily as from a desk. For anyone who invoices between visits rather than at a desk on Friday, that alone is worth the switch.
It introduces a sharing problem in exchange. A Google Doc has an access model, and the default habits around it are wrong for invoices: sending a link rather than a PDF gives the recipient a live document that can change after they have seen it, and possibly one they can edit.
Use Docs or Sheets to compose, then download a PDF to send. Never send the link.
Number, both addresses, dates, line items, total, terms, bank details.
Use File then Make a Copy for each invoice so the master stays clean.
The master should be private. Nothing about invoicing needs "anyone with the link".
File, Download, PDF Document. The link is for you, the PDF is for them.
The client sees a document that can change, and if permissions are loose they can change it. It also breaks the moment you tidy your Drive.
Version history means the old invoice is technically recoverable, but nobody wants to reconstruct an invoice from revision history during a payment dispute.
Some corporate networks block Google Drive entirely. A PDF attachment always arrives.
Yes, in the template gallery at the top of the Docs home screen, and Google Sheets has one too. Both are US-oriented, so the tax row and date format need adjusting for UK use. The Sheets version is the better starting point if your invoices have quantities and rates, since it will do the arithmetic.
Download it as a PDF and attach that to an email. Do not send the document link. A link gives the recipient a live file that can change after they have approved it, may expose your Drive structure, and fails entirely on networks that block Google Drive.
Yes, and it is the main advantage over a desktop Word file. The Docs and Sheets apps let you copy your template, fill it in and export a PDF on the same device you finished the job on, which is usually the difference between invoicing that day and invoicing at the weekend.
The free generator fills in this structure, totals it and gives you a PDF, with no sign-up. If the same clients come round every month, Suitekore can send them without you opening anything.
Open the generator