Contractor Invoice Template
Free, no-signup contractor invoice template: itemize labor, materials, and change orders, track each draw and retainage, then download the finished PDF. No email wall.
A general contractor’s invoice is rarely a single document for a single visit. On a kitchen remodel or a ground-up build you’re billing one slice of a fixed contract sum, month after month, while change orders push that number up and a portion of every payment sits in retainage until the job closes out. Build it right here, free and without a signup: itemize the period’s earned work, then print it or save the PDF and hand it over. Your numbers never leave the browser tab — the page stores nothing and uploads nothing.
What a contractor invoice carries that a service bill skips
A one-visit service bill is labor plus a part or two. A GC invoice has to show a phase of a larger contract, the costs you fronted to other trades, and the adjustments that pull the total in both directions. Here is what tends to land on one, and where each piece goes in the builder above:
| Invoice element | What it records on a contractor’s invoice |
|---|---|
| Schedule-of-values line | The phase earned this period — site prep, framing, rough-in — at the amount earned, not the full contract |
| Change-order line | Approved extra work, labeled and dated, kept off the base-contract lines |
| Material category | Lumber, fixtures, finishes — grouped so the owner can see what the money bought |
| Subcontractor line | The electrician, plumber, or concrete sub’s work, named rather than buried in a labor total |
| Retainage deduction | The held-back percentage, shown as a negative line so the draw nets out |
| Draw + contract-to-date note | Draw number, original contract sum, and percent complete, carried in the notes field |
Price the phases first with the contractor estimate template, and most of these lines write themselves from numbers you already agreed to.
Progress billing: one invoice per draw
Most contractor billing is progress billing: you and the owner agree on a contract sum up front, break it into a schedule of values, and invoice the work earned at the end of each billing period. The builder above doesn’t carry a formal schedule of values, so the practical move is to make each draw its own invoice. List the line items completed in that period with the amount earned for each, and put the contract-to-date context in the notes field: the original contract sum, the percent complete, and which draw number this is. That gives the owner and their lender the running picture they expect without forcing the document to pretend it’s accounting software.
If you’d rather bill cumulatively, enter the contract value billed to date and record prior draws as an amount paid; the builder then shows the current balance due as the difference. Either way, keep your draw numbering consistent so payments are easy to reconcile.
Materials, subcontractors, and a markup you can stand behind
A GC invoice usually carries costs you paid to someone else — lumber and fixtures, plus the electrician, the plumber, the concrete sub. Decide up front whether you’re billing these as pass-through at cost or with a markup, and bill them the same way on every invoice so the document stays consistent and defensible. List major material categories and each subcontractor’s work on their own lines rather than burying them in a labor total; an owner is far more comfortable paying a subcontractor line they can identify than a vague allowance. If you mark costs up, apply one consistent rate — the markup vs margin converter keeps you from confusing the two when you set it.
Change orders and retainage pull the contract sum both ways
Two adjustments move the number you actually bill, and they move it in opposite directions: a change order pushes the total up, retainage holds part of it back. Each belongs on its own labeled line so the math stays transparent.
The fixed contract sum only stays fixed until the first change order. When the owner adds a wall, upgrades the finishes, or a hidden condition forces extra work, that work isn’t in the original price — and billing it without a signed change order is how contractors end up eating the cost. Document the scope and the price change first with the change order template, get it signed, then bring the approved amount onto the invoice as its own clearly labeled line: “Change Order #3 — relocate panel, approved 6/14.” The owner sees exactly what they authorized beyond the original deal, and you keep a paper trail if the final number is ever questioned.
Retainage runs the other way. On larger and commercial jobs the owner withholds a percentage of each approved payment, held back until the work is complete and accepted. The holdback rate and release terms live in your contract, not on this page, so there’s no retainage cell here — handle it by hand. Either show the retained amount as a deduction line so the current payment is net of the holdback, or track the running retainage in the notes field and invoice it all on the final draw at closeout. State whichever method you use plainly so the owner’s accounts-payable team isn’t surprised. When a retained balance or a net-terms invoice drifts past due, the invoice late-fee calculator pencils out a defensible charge; whether a late fee actually holds up depends on your contract and your state’s law, so treat the number it gives as a starting point you can edit.
The rule for when to stop using this template
Bill here as long as the paperwork fits the page: a fixed-sum job, a handful of draws, a few change orders, and retainage you reconcile by hand. The day you’re carrying a formal schedule of values across dozens of line items, issuing lien waivers against each draw, or syncing your billing to a lender’s funding schedule, you’ve outgrown a fill-in template — that’s the point where construction-billing software or your accountant earns its keep. Until then, one clean invoice per draw, handed off the moment the phase passes, is the whole job.
Frequently asked questions
How do I show progress billing or a draw on this contractor invoice?
Where do change orders go on a contractor invoice?
Change Order #3 — relocate panel. Keeping change-order lines separate shows the owner exactly what they authorized beyond the original deal and protects you if the final total is questioned.