How to Invoice With a Company Abroad: US and UK Guide

What should an invoice show?

A proper invoice shows: a unique invoice number, your company name, address and contact details, the customer’s name and address, a clear description of what you’re charging for, the date of supply, the invoice date, the amounts and the total due. That’s GOV.UK’s list for the UK, and a good starting point for US customers too.

Invoice numbers must be unique and run in sequence. Our free Invoice generator numbers invoices in order and builds the PDF in your browser; your details aren’t sent to our servers.

Invoicing from a UK LTD

A UK limited company’s invoice must show the company’s full name as it appears on its certificate of incorporation. If you decide to put directors’ names on your invoices, you must include all of them.

If you and your customer are both VAT registered, you issue a VAT invoice: your VAT number, each line’s VAT rate and amount, the total excluding VAT and the total VAT. If the invoice isn’t in pounds sterling, the VAT total must also be shown in sterling.

Invoicing from a US company

There’s no mandatory federal invoice format in the US, but the IRS expects orderly records that clearly show your income and expenses, with supporting documents such as invoices.

Sales tax is set by the states; whether it applies and at what rate depends on the state and on what you sell. Marketplaces like Amazon collect it themselves in many states; if you sell on your own website, review your position with your accountant.

Invoicing customers in other countries

You can invoice customers in Turkey or any other country from your company abroad; such an invoice isn’t part of Turkey’s e-invoice system. Buying services from abroad may create tax obligations for your customer in their own country (in Turkey, for example, reverse-charge VAT); your customer’s adviser handles that.

Keep your records in order

Keeping the invoices you issue and receive in order is the basis of your yearly filings. In the UK, company records are generally kept for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to; in the US, records are generally kept for 3 years, longer in some cases. Monthly bookkeeping keeps them in order every month.