Skip to main content
document type

Agency Invoice Template

An agency invoice bills the work of a team, so the client needs to see whose time went into it and how it relates to the budget they approved. Project work is billed in one of two ways: a fixed fee per phase of the statement of work (discovery, design, build, launch), or time and materials, where hours are billed by role at a rate card or at one blended rate. This template supports both. It has fields for the statement of work and phase, the client's purchase order and approver, hours by role for the period, the rate basis, the phase budget and amount billed to date, and change requests with their number, approval date and approver, so out-of-scope work never sits inside the base fee. It is for project and team-hours billing; if you bill a monthly retainer with a media management fee and ad spend passed through at cost, use the marketing agency invoice template instead. The download is an editable HTML invoice with invoice number, dates, a line-item table and totals. Fill it in your browser and print it or save it as PDF, or type or say what you billed and InvoiceQuickly drafts an editable invoice for you to check before saving.

Draft this invoice
Preview this editable document

Download the HTML file to edit its fields, then print or save as PDF. Totals are entered manually.

What This Template Includes

  • Statement of work or contract reference, and the phase billed
  • Client purchase order number and approver
  • Work period covered
  • Billing basis: fixed phase fee, role-based rates or one blended rate
  • Hours by role for the period (for example strategist, designer, developer, project manager)
  • Phase budget, amount billed to date and amount remaining
  • Change requests: number, date approved, approver and estimate
  • Third-party costs at cost, with supplier invoice reference
  • Payment schedule from the statement of work

How to Create Your Agency Invoice

  1. 01

    Describe your work

    Type a plain English description of the services you provided, the client, and the amount.

  2. 02

    AI generates your invoice

    InvoiceQuickly's AI drafts the client, line items, dates, and totals for you to review before saving.

  3. 03

    Review, download, and send

    Check every detail, download the PDF, or use Pro to email the PDF directly to your client.

Recommended Payment Terms

Follow the payment schedule in the statement of work and print the actual due date on each invoice. A fixed-fee project can be billed as a payment on signing and then one payment per completed phase, so the client pays for work it can see; time-and-materials projects are typically billed monthly in arrears for the hours worked that month. Bill each approved change request when it is delivered, or with the next regular invoice, and quote its number. Before the first invoice, ask who approves invoices, whether a purchase order must appear and whether the client's accounts payable team needs a time report attached. If the agreement sets a late fee or a right to pause work for unpaid invoices, cite the clause rather than restating it.

Need help writing payment terms? Read our guide to invoice payment terms for best practices and templates.

Tax Information

United States: whether design, web or creative services are subject to sales tax depends on the state and on what is delivered; some states tax services broadly (New Mexico's gross receipts tax, for example, applies to services performed in the state), and some treat certain digital products differently from the services that make them. Check your state revenue department for each kind of deliverable. If your agency is a corporation, including an LLC taxed as a C or S corporation, the IRS instructions say payments to it are generally exempt from Form 1099-NEC reporting, with exceptions such as legal services, but clients still ask for Form W-9 to confirm your tax classification. United Kingdom: a VAT-registered agency's VAT invoice must show its VAT registration number, and registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in 12 months. InvoiceQuickly applies one tax percentage per invoice and copies saved tax IDs to new invoice PDFs; check the saved IDs and PDF before sending when it must appear. General information, not tax advice.

Industry context (2026)

We could not verify a dated, public survey of agency hourly or blended rates, so this page does not quote market rates. The rules that affect agency invoices are about tax and reporting. In the United States, the IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC say payments to a corporation, including an LLC treated as a C or S corporation, are generally exempt from reporting, but the exemption does not apply to payments for legal services or medical and health care services; payments to unincorporated contractors are reported on Form 1099-NEC once they reach $2,000 for payments made after 31 December 2025. In the United Kingdom, a VAT invoice must carry the supplier's VAT registration number, and VAT registration is compulsory once taxable turnover passes £90,000 in 12 months (GOV.UK). Sales tax on creative and web services depends on the state and on what is delivered. Checked on 27 and 28 October 2026; general information, not tax advice.

Worked example

Worked example (illustrative rates, not market data): a design and web agency is building a new website for a manufacturer under a statement of work with role-based rates (strategist $150, designer $120, developer $130, project manager $95 an hour) and a Phase 2 (design) estimate of $14,000. Invoice INV-0204, dated 3 November 2026, net 30, due 3 December, covers October. Line 1: strategist, Phase 2 design, October, 6 h × $150.00 = $900.00. Line 2: designer, 42 h × $120.00 = $5,040.00. Line 3: developer, prototype review, 8 h × $130.00 = $1,040.00. Line 4: project manager, 10 h × $95.00 = $950.00. Phase 2 time this month: 66 hours, $7,930.00. Line 5: change request CR-03, careers page template, approved 14 October by the client's marketing lead, estimated 12 hours, actual 11 designer hours × $120.00 = $1,320.00. Line 6: font licence in the client's name, at cost, supplier invoice F-2291, $180.00. Subtotal $9,430.00, tax 0%, total due $9,430.00. Notes: 'SOW 2026-07, PO 88140. Phase 2 budget $14,000; billed to date $11,780 ($3,850 in September + $7,930 this invoice); remaining $2,220. CR-03 is outside the phase budget.' What the numbers show: had the SOW used one blended rate of $125 an hour, the same 66 hours would bill 66 × $125 = $8,250.00, or $320.00 more, because most of October's hours were designer hours priced below the blend. Neither basis is wrong; the invoice just has to match the one the client signed.

Common mistakes to avoid

Change requests inside the phase fee

Adding approved extras to the phase line makes it look as if the agreed fee went up. Bill each change request on its own line with its number and approval.

Mixing rate bases

Billing some months at role rates and others at a blended rate makes the project impossible to reconcile against the SOW. Use the basis the client signed.

No budget-to-date figure

Without billed to date and remaining, the client only learns the phase is over budget when the last invoice arrives. Print the running total every time.

Retainer, media and project on one invoice

Combining a retainer, ad spend and project hours on one invoice makes each harder to approve. Send project work separately from retainer and media billing.

Names instead of roles, or no roles at all

'Team time: 66 hours' hides whose time was used. Bill by role so rates can be checked; add names only if the contract asks for them.

Invoicing Tips

  • 1Pick one rate basis per project and state it in the SOW. Role-based rates show the client exactly whose time they bought; a blended rate is simpler to read but its value depends on the mix of roles, so say how it was set.
  • 2Put one line per role with hours as the quantity ('Designer, 1 to 31 October: 42 h × $120'), rather than one line per person, unless the client's contract asks for names.
  • 3Print the phase budget, billed to date and remaining on every invoice. Clients approve a running total faster than a surprise at the end of the phase.
  • 4Give every change request a number and its own line, and bill it only after written approval. 'CR-03, careers page template, approved 14 October by the client's marketing lead'.
  • 5Keep the time report that backs each invoice, even if you do not attach it. If the client queries a role's hours, you can answer with dates and tasks.
  • 6If you also bill a retainer or media spend for the same client, send it on its own invoice so project budgets stay easy to reconcile.

Related Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

What should an agency invoice include?

Your agency's details, the client's details, an invoice number, invoice and due dates, the statement of work and phase, the PO number if the client uses one, each fee line with its basis (phase fee, or hours by role at a rate), approved change requests on their own lines, any third-party costs at cost, tax where it applies, the total and how to pay. Add budget billed to date for phased work.

What is the difference between a blended rate and role-based rates?

Role-based rates bill each role at its own rate, so a strategist's hour costs more than a project manager's. A blended rate bills every hour at one average rate. Blended is simpler, but if the actual mix of hours differs from the mix used to set the rate, the client pays more or less than under role-based billing.

How do agencies invoice change requests?

Each change request gets a number, a written approval and an estimate before work starts. Bill it on its own line, outside the phase budget, quoting the number, the approval date and the hours or fixed price, so the original scope and its budget stay unchanged.

Should an agency bill by phase or by hours?

By phase when the scope is defined and the client wants a fixed price; by hours when scope will change or the client wants to direct the team week by week. Many projects combine them: fixed phases for defined work and hourly change requests for additions.

Does a client need to send my agency a Form 1099-NEC?

If the agency is a corporation, payments to it are generally exempt from 1099-NEC reporting under the IRS instructions, with exceptions such as legal services. A sole proprietor or single-member LLC not taxed as a corporation is generally reported once payments reach $2,000 in 2026. Clients usually ask for Form W-9 either way.

Can I create an agency invoice in InvoiceQuickly?

Yes. Type or say what you billed and InvoiceQuickly drafts an editable invoice for you to check before saving; enter one line per role with hours as the quantity. On Pro you can send a change request as an estimate the client accepts in their portal, then convert it to an invoice. Pro is $9 a month and includes 5 team seats, projects and time tracking with a timer, so the team's hours can be selected into a draft invoice you review; there is no project budget feature. Business ($19 a month) has 10 seats.