Writing an invoice with the Invoice Generator

The Invoice Generator at invoice.fooh.com is a free tool for writing a correct invoice in a couple of minutes. You don't need a FOOH account, and nothing you type is sent to FOOH: your invoice is built and saved as a PDF in your own browser.

Billing FOOH

If FOOH commissioned you, for example to film one of the screens in our screens directory, Bill to is already filled in with FOOH FlexCo's details (address, VAT id and email), so you can't get them wrong. Billing someone else? Press Bill someone else and type in their details; Bill FOOH switches back.

Got a link from FOOH? When FOOH commissions you, we send you a link that opens the Invoice Generator already filled in for the job: Bill to FOOH, the work line (for example "Video of Prater Screen, Vienna"), the amount and currency we agreed, and a reference for the screen. Add your own details and bank info, and you're done. Everything it fills in stays editable, so you can add a line, for example for travel costs.

Won a FOOH challenge? You don't need to write an invoice. FOOH sends you a payout confirmation instead, see Winners and getting paid.

Filling it in

The form is on the left and the invoice updates live on the right.

• You: your name or studio and your address. A VAT id is optional unless you use reverse charge.
• Invoice details: the invoice number, the currency and the dates. The number is suggested from the last one you downloaded in this browser (INV-001, INV-002, …), and you can type any number to continue a series you started elsewhere. The due date is 30 days after the invoice date unless you change it; once you set it by hand, changing the invoice date leaves it where you put it.
• Work: one line per deliverable, with quantity, rate and (when you charge VAT) the VAT rate. "1,5" and "1.5" both work. Line amounts, the subtotal, VAT per rate and the total add up as you type.
• Get paid: your bank details, or leave the IBAN empty and put your PayPal or Wise details in the notes.

Invoices can be written in EUR, USD or GBP. Amounts are formatted the way each currency is usually written.

Language

The Invoice Generator opens in your browser's language when it speaks it, otherwise in English. The Language switcher at the top of the form changes it at any time, and your browser remembers your choice next time. A link FOOH sends you opens it in the language of the screen's country.

It speaks 22 languages: English, German, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Hebrew, Swedish, Italian, Turkish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Polish, Danish, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian (Bokmål), Indonesian, Malay and Uzbek. In Arabic and Hebrew the form reads right to left. If you invoice from India or Pakistan, English is the language to use.

When you pick a language other than English, your PDF has two pages:

• Page 1 is the English original. It's the version that counts, for FOOH's bookkeeping and anyone else.
• Page 2 is a copy in your language, marked "Translation — the English original governs" in that language. In Arabic and Hebrew page 2 reads right to left; page 1 never does.

Names, addresses, descriptions and notes are printed exactly as you typed them on both pages; nothing you type is translated. The VAT line for your option is a fixed sentence in each language.

Which VAT option?

• Charge VAT: each line carries its own VAT rate, and VAT is shown per rate.
• Small business: you're exempt from VAT under your country's small business scheme. No VAT is charged and the invoice says why. If you're in Austria, it prints the German exemption line the law asks for.
• Reverse charge: you're billing a business in another EU country, which pays the VAT itself. Both VAT ids (yours and your client's) are required.
• Outside the EU: you're based outside the EU and charge no VAT. The invoice carries a short neutral line saying so.

If you're unsure, ask your accountant; the Invoice Generator prints the right line for the option you pick, but it can't choose the option for you.

Downloading the PDF

Download PDF stays off until nothing is missing; the line under the button tells you exactly what's still needed. When it's ready, press it and choose Save as PDF in your browser's print dialog. You get a clean A4 page with no browser header or footer (two pages when the language isn't English, the copy starting on its own page), named after the invoice, for example "Invoice INV-007 – Your Studio".

Fill sample shows a finished example, and Clear starts over.

Sending it to FOOH

After the download, use Email it to hello@fooh.com: it opens an email with your invoice number (and, from a FOOH link, the reference) in the subject. Attach the PDF you just saved and send it.

What your browser remembers

Your own details, your payment details, your last invoice number and your language are kept in your browser's local storage, so they're filled in next time. Who you billed and what you billed for are not kept. Nothing you type is stored on FOOH's servers. The only thing FOOH learns is that a download happened: each download adds one to an anonymous count, with the day, the Invoice Generator's language and whether you opened it from a link FOOH sent you — no name, amount or invoice number, and nothing that identifies you. If your browser blocks storage (a private window, for example), the Invoice Generator still works; you just type your details again next time. Clearing your browser's site data removes what it remembered.

Keeping your invoices

With a free FOOH account, Account → Invoices saves every invoice you write, fills in your details and suggests your next number. See Keeping your invoices in your account.