For carpenters and joiners

Invoicing for carpenters and joiners

Fitted wardrobes, a bespoke staircase, a kitchen, internal doors, decking. The materials go on your card weeks before the job is signed off. Sendinvo puts a deposit up front, a priced quote in the client’s inbox, and the rest of the money on dates that chase themselves.

Your first 3 invoices are free to send, no card needed.

Bench to billing

Three things a bespoke job needs

“I’ve bought the oak before I’ve seen a penny.”

A deposit that covers the materials

Ask for a deposit as a percentage or a fixed amount with its own due date, so the timber and the ironmongery are funded before you cut anything. It’s chased ahead of the balance. If you’d rather spread the whole job, put it on a payment plan instead: an invoice carries a deposit or a plan, not both.

Deposits and payment plans

“Every job’s a one-off, so every price is too.”

A bespoke quote they accept online

Price the carcasses, the doors, the fitting, and the finish as separate lines, set a valid-until date, and send it. The client reads the spec and accepts in the browser, then one press opens a new invoice pre-filled from the quote for you to check and send.

How quotes work

“It’s fitted, it’s beautiful, and I’m still waiting.”

Signed off on the finished piece

Add up to 2 photos of the work to the invoice so a bespoke piece is billed against what you actually made. Then the reminders take over on their own dates, through to 30 days past due.

Photos on invoices

Around those three: reminders escalate without you writing another “just checking” email, statutory interest is worked out for you on an overdue sterling invoice and drafted as its own invoice to review, CIS deductions are handled when you’re second-fixing for a builder, on an invoice of their own, and connecting Stripe puts a pay-by-card link on every invoice for the client who wants it done today, with Stripe’s processing fees applying.

See it in action

A joinery business, seeded and running

The real app, filled with a joiner’s work: a staircase quote out with a homeowner, a kitchen on a staged plan, a materials deposit on a fitted wardrobe, and a monthly second-fix subcontract for a builder. Have a click around.

sendinvo.com/invoices

A live demo seeded with a joinery business. Nothing you do here is saved or sent.

A worked example

A fitted kitchen, paid in three stages

One invoice, three stages, each on the date it’s actually earned.

Payment plan for a fitted kitchen
Materials on order £4,000.00 Paid
Carcasses fitted £4,000.00
Worktops and completion £4,000.00
Total £12,000.00

The first stage covers the materials on order, and each later stage is chased on its own date.

Questions

Good to know

Can I ask for a deposit before I buy the timber?

Yes. Ask for a deposit as a percentage or a fixed amount, with its own due date, and it is chased before anything else. Once the deposit lands, chasing moves on to the balance.

Can a fitted job be billed in stages?

Yes. Split one invoice into a milestone payment plan, two or more stages each with its own amount and due date, adding up to the total. Payment plans are available on a paid plan.

How does a client accept a bespoke quote?

Every quote gets its own link. The client opens it, reads the spec line by line, and accepts or declines in the browser. You see the answer in the activity log, and “Convert to invoice” opens a new invoice pre-filled from the quote, ready for you to check and send.

Can I put photos of the finished piece on the invoice?

Yes. Add up to 2 photos to the invoice and they appear on the PDF and on the copy your client opens online, so a bespoke piece is signed off on what was actually made.

I do second-fix work for builders. Does CIS work?

Yes. Turn CIS on in your company settings, tick it on the invoice, then enter the labour element and the deduction comes off that, with the gross total and the net amount due both shown. If you’re VAT-registered, the domestic reverse charge is a separate tick alongside it.

Quote it, fit it, get paid for it.

Send your first 3 invoices free and let the chasing look after itself.