Freelance Journalist Invoice Generator — Printable UK Invoice with VAT

Publishers pay against a document, not against an email, and an invoice missing a reference or a due date is an invoice that sits in a queue. This produces a complete one in the browser without an accounting subscription.

Last reviewed: 24 August 2026Next review due: 24 August 2027

Invoice Generator

Fill in your details and line items, then print a professional A4 invoice or copy as plain text.

Your Details

Your Name / Business Name

Your Email

Your Address

Your Bank Details

VAT Number (optional)

Invoice Details

Invoice Number

Invoice Date

Payment Terms

Client Details

Client Name

Client Reference / PO Number (optional)

Client Address

Line Items

DescriptionQtyUnit Price (£)Total

£0.00

VAT applies (20%)

Expenses (£)

Subtotal£0.00Total Due£0.00

VAT note: If you are VAT-registered, charge the 20% standard rate unless the service is zero-rated or exempt. The threshold for compulsory VAT registration is £90,000 (as of 2026-08-30). Check HMRC guidance if you are unsure.

How it works

You fill in your name, address, email, optional VAT number and bank details; the client name, address and PO or reference; and as many line items as you need, each with a description, quantity and unit price.
The invoice number is generated after the page loads as INV- plus a random six-digit number, and is editable. The invoice date defaults to today. Payment terms are a choice of 14, 30 or 60 days, and the due date is that many calendar days after the invoice date.
Totals: subtotal is the sum of quantity x unit price across the line items. Expenses sit inside the VAT base alongside the subtotal, so when you tick the VAT applies box, VAT is charged on the subtotal plus expenses combined, at the site’s standard VAT rate (currently 20%, read from a shared, dated rates file rather than typed into this component). Total due is subtotal + expenses + VAT.
Two outputs: Print/Save as PDF opens a styled A4 invoice in a new window, and Copy as Plain Text gives you the same content for pasting into an email. Both carry a footer noting that late payments may incur statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

When to use it

Invoicing a commission where the publisher has no supplier portal and just wants a PDF attached to an email.
Splitting one job into separate lines — fee, expenses, extra rights — so the accounts department cannot query the total.
Setting a due date deliberately at 30 days, so that the date the clock starts is written on the document.
Reissuing an invoice a client claims never to have received, with the same reference and a new date.

What it does not do

The 20% VAT rate used in the calculation, and the compulsory registration threshold in the amber note, are both read from the site’s shared, dated rates file rather than typed in — so neither is a stale hardcoded figure any more. But the ’20%’ printed in the VAT checkbox label, the totals panel, the printed invoice and the plain-text copy are separate hardcoded strings, not tied to that same figure. If the standard rate ever changes, the maths would update automatically; these labels would not, without someone editing them by hand. There is still no reverse charge, zero rate, exempt or non-UK client handling.
Expenses sit inside the VAT base alongside the subtotal, so VAT is charged on them whenever VAT applies — an earlier version of this tool added expenses after VAT and never taxed them. Charging VAT on recharged costs that form part of your supply is HMRC’s general expectation, but the tool applies this uniformly and cannot tell a genuine disbursement, which may not attract VAT, from a recharge that should. Check your own position rather than assuming the tool has it right.
Nothing is saved. Refresh the page and the invoice is gone, and each fresh load invents a new random invoice number — keep your own numbering sequence, because two invoices generated here will not be consecutive.
It does not check that your invoice carries everything a valid VAT invoice needs, and it does not file anything, chase anything, or record what you have been paid.
This is a document generator, not tax advice. Confirm your VAT position and record-keeping duties with HMRC guidance or an accountant.

More tools

This is one of the free tools on UK JournoHub. See the full tools index for the rest.

Primary sources

VAT registration and thresholds— GOV.UK
Invoicing and taking payment from customers— GOV.UK
Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998— legislation.gov.uk