P.S. I appreciate the other users’ suggestions as well.
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Reader-san: I like to put my business name and logo at the top left. Sometimes I use a photo, too. I think it helps build identity with the client. The name in big letters makes it easier for them to file, too, but see below regarding larger clients, who usually file by PO Number.

Anne’s invoice is very simple and would work for most writers. However, many businesses are not expecting something that plain. For that reason, I use a downloaded msword-based sample invoice. In msword, select the Office Button (top left gizmo), then Word Options (bottom right), Resources (left, at bottom), then “Go to Microsoft Office Online.” Or use this link:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx

There, select the Templates tab (top bar), then “All template categories” (left, near top), and scroll down to Invoices (or anything else you want). There are 130 sample invoices. Go nuts, guys & gals. Download the one(s) you like.

Any unnecessary fields or information can be deleted, but be cautious. Some fields you should retain are PO Number and Invoice Number. A big company won’t pay until they can associate the invoice with an outgoing Purchase Order Number AND a Project Number, where applicable.

When in doubt, just leave unused fields blank. Some forms will do the math for you. I typically don’t take advantage of that feature, unless it’s an Excel form. I do make my invoice number tie into the date, e.g., INV09-02-29A.

‘Nuddah ting, very ‘portant: Nevah, nevah start filling out an invoice before you save the blank (or template) file with Save As, using your invoice number for the file name. Open the sucker and immediately Save As, exactly as Anne said above. If you’re worried that you might overwrite a previous invoice, give every client his own directory folder, and copy your template into each folder when you start the job. Open, insert the client data, then close. Setting the template files to Read Only is another option, though I’ve not done that, yet. That can be the subject of another post.
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