Select your province The invoice may have tax GST, HST, QST, PST or RST depending on the selected province.
| [[config.headerDescription]] | [[config.headerQuantity]] | [[config.headerUnit]] | [[config.headerUnitPrice]] | [[config.taxes[index + 1].title]] | [[config.headerTotalPriceHT]] | [[config.headerTotalPrice]] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | [[data.currency.symbol]] [[data.currency.symbol]] | % | [[data.currency.symbol]] [[data.currency.symbol]] [[toCurrency( getLinePriceHT(index), true )]] |
| [[config.taxes[0].titleTotal]] | [[toCurrency(totalHT, true)]] |
| [[config.taxes[index + 1].titleTotal]] ([[data.taxes[index].rate]]%) | [[toCurrency( getTotalForTax(index), true ) ]] |
| [[config.total]] | [[toCurrency( finalTotal, true )]] |
While creating an invoice is routine for established businesses, it can be a confusing responsibility for new businesses and freelancers.
Not sure how to get started writing an invoice? You are in the right place!
HelloSafe’s free invoice template tool will help you quickly generate error-free, CRA-compliant invoices. Once finished, you can download your invoices as a PDF. Continue below to learn about the legal requirements for invoices in Canada, how they work, what you need to include and how to apply taxes.
An invoice is simply a paper or electronic record of a commercial transaction between a buyer and seller. It describes the product or services sold, the quantity and their price.
Invoices are essential documents for businesses that allow them, as sellers, to request payment and define the payment terms. They are a legal requirement for accounting and tax purposes.
The Canadian government requires businesses to create invoices for all commercial transactions. This is true regardless of the sales amount. Invoices serve as a legal record of a transaction.
Fortunately, invoicing a client is not difficult. Below we explain what needs to appear on an invoice.
A Canada Revenue Agency-compliant invoice is required to include the following information:
*Payment terms describes when payment is due and how. Commonly companies include 30 days upon receipt of the invoice or payable upon receipt. Other companies will write 1% net 30 to indicate a 1% discount if it is paid within 30 days. This serves as an incentive for the buyer to pay more quickly and can be advantageous for the seller’s cash flow.
A completed invoice could look like this:
Do you need to write an invoice, but are not sure where to start? Creating a professional invoice has never been easier. There are many specialized paid tools and services for making invoices. Free templates for software like Microsoft Word and Excel or Google Docs and Sheets can do the job too.
To create your first invoice:
Beyond that, you can customize your invoice to give it a look that matches your company.
Need to add a section or delete one? It is easy. Just use the and icons to remove or add a section and customize your invoice.
All done? Do not forget to download it as a PDF for your records. For your privacy, HelloSafe does not save your invoices to its server, so be sure to keep a copy. If you think you could need to make changes to your invoice later on you can save it to your computer as a .safeinvoice file. Just upload back to this page to keep working on it.
Sellers usually are required to include the GST on their invoices. GST stands for goods and services tax. This is Canada’s federal version of a VAT. This value-added tax is set at 5%.
Additionally, most provinces add a provincial sales tax on top of the GST. This is referred to as HST, or harmonized sales tax, when it is combined with the GST. British Columbia and Saskatchewan separately apply a PST or provincial sale tax. In Manitoba and Quebec, it exists too but is referred to as RST, retail sales tax, and QST, Quebec Sales Tax, respectively.
The chart below gives the name of the sales tax and their rates for each province and territory: