How to Invoice as a Welder: Rates, Terms and Templates

Welding invoices cover shop fabrication, field repair, and coded structural work. Clients may not read a WPS, but they do read hours, consumables, and inspection—make those visible. When jobs require NDT or third-party inspection, either pass through with markup or quote inspection as its own line so nobody assumes it was free.

Travel with a rig, after-hours plant shutdowns, and hazard pay environments should be priced and labelled before the torch strikes. When you weld food-grade or pressure-boundary joints, the invoice should hint at procedure control without publishing proprietary WPS numbers unless the client requires them. Cut lists and remnants returned to the customer should be noted (“material supplied by client” vs “fab stock”) so weight-based billing never doubles up.

Typical rates

Shop work might bill hourly ($65–$120+ depending on certification and region) plus material at cost or quoted cut lists. Field mobilisation often adds a truck/minimum or portal-to-portal policy. Small repairs may be flat minimum plus time over threshold. For industry context on welding as a skilled trade, the American Welding Society publishes standards and education resources—useful when clients question why coded work costs more. Aluminium, stainless, and exotic alloys often carry different consumable and gas costs—itemise when the job mixes metals so procurement sees why the second day cost more than the first.

Payment terms

Retail and one-off repairs: due on pickup or COD. Industrial maintenance: Net 15–30 after PO match. Fabrication for contractors: deposit on steel order, progress at fit-up, final before release for galvanising or delivery. Rush and overtime: pre-approval in writing, repeated on the invoice. Align schedules with invoice payment terms. Hold harmless or hot-work permits sometimes carry fees—pass them through or absorb them deliberately, but do not surprise a plant manager.

What to include

Client, job or asset ID, invoice date/number, process and joint summary at client-appropriate detail, hours and rate, consumables (rod, wire, gas) if billed separately, material weights or part numbers, travel or rig fee, inspection charges, subtotal, tax, total, due date. Note WPS/PQR or inspector sign-off reference internally for audits. How to write an invoice covers standard headers. Blast-and-paint coordination should show whether you subbed finishing or only fabbed—mixed scopes confuse insurance adjusters after a failure. Rework due to customer-supplied material defects belongs on a change-order line, not buried in “shop time.”

Common mistakes

“Welding—4 hrs” with no part or location reference. Consumables eaten by margin because they were never line-itemed. Waiting to invoice until the whole multi-week fab is done—use progress billing. Certificates requested after the fact without a line for documentation time. Dimensional rework caused by customer-supplied prints—invoice fix time under a CO, not as warranty. Galvanising or coating steps forgotten until the truck is loaded. Travel time billed as shop hours—if you use portal-to-portal, say so on the estimate and invoice footer so customers do not think you padded labour on the bench.

Template link

The freelance invoice template works well for hourly fab, materials, and mobilisation fees on one page.

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