SimpleInvoice
Generate

Every SimpleInvoice feature, explained

Block-based templates, a full currency and date formatting engine, PDF export from the print dialog, share links and local-only storage — all explained.

The Generate workspace

Five panes around one invoice. Open Layers, Design, Format or Labels when you need them; Export when you are done.

Workspace

Layers

Every block on the invoice, in order. Drag to rearrange, hide without deleting, or add another text, divider or page-break block.

Workspace

Export

Save as PDF from the print dialog, export JSON for a portable copy, or copy a share link that carries the invoice in the URL.

Workspace

Design

Pick a preset, then set colours, paper, margins and corners. Header style and the items table live on the selected block.

Workspace

Format

Currency, separators, decimals, date pattern and locale — so amounts and dates read the way your client expects.

Workspace

Labels

Document language and every printed word: Invoice, Bill To, Qty, Balance due. Override a label when a client wants different wording.

What Generate can do

Each panel is one capability — blocks, design, formatting, labels and export — not a screenshot of the editor.

Blocks

Templates built from blocks

An invoice is a stack of blocks: header, details, parties, items, totals, shipping, payment details, payment link, notes, terms, free text, signature, divider, page break and footer. Toggle, reorder and configure each one in Generate.

  • The Layers pane in Generate lists every block — drag to reorder, hide without deleting, or add another.
  • Ten built-in presets to start from, each a different combination of blocks and styling.
  • Add as many free-text and divider blocks as the document calls for.
  • Switch presets in the Design pane — see the template gallery.

Templates using this: Freelance invoice, Contractor invoice, Simple invoice

Formatting

Currency formatting that matches your client

The Format pane in Generate sets the currency code and locale, symbol or code display, where the symbol sits, and the thousands and decimal separators.

  • More than sixty ISO currency codes with sensible default decimals per currency.
  • Override separators when a client expects 1.234,56 instead of 1,234.56.
  • Symbol before or after the amount, with or without a space — € 1.200,00 or 1,200.00 EUR.
  • Quantities use the same separators, with their own decimal precision.

Templates using this: Consulting invoice, Hourly invoice

Formatting

Date formatting in your client's convention

Issue and due dates follow a date-fns pattern in any of the bundled locales, so the same invoice reads naturally in Berlin, London or Tokyo.

  • Presets such as d MMMM yyyy, MM/dd/yyyy or dd.MM.yyyy — or type your own pattern.
  • Live preview of today's date as you type; invalid patterns are flagged before they reach the document.
  • Month and weekday names in 25 locales, from English and German to Ukrainian and Japanese.
  • A proposed due date you can change, formatted the same way as every other date.

Templates using this: Consulting invoice, Hourly invoice

Design

Colours, paper and spacing

The Design pane in Generate: accent and text colours, A4 or Letter paper, three margin sizes, three type scales and corner styles, with the whole document set in Inter. Header band/bar and table styles live on the selected block in the inspector.

  • Accent swatches plus a hex input for exact brand colours.
  • Lined, striped, grid or plain items tables with filled, underlined or plain headers.
  • Upload a logo on the header of the invoice and choose small, medium or large.
  • Scale between compact and relaxed layouts without touching the content.

Templates using this: Design invoice, Photography invoice

Labels

Invoice language and printed labels

The Labels pane sets the document language and every printed word — Invoice, Bill To, Qty, Balance due — so the same layout reads correctly for a client in another language.

  • Switch the document language and the default labels follow it.
  • Override any label per invoice when a client wants different wording.
  • Reset a single label or all of them back to the language defaults.
  • Dates and amounts in the Format pane keep the same locale as the labels.

Templates using this: Freelance invoice, Consulting invoice

On your device

Built for every day

Open Generate, fill in the invoice and export a PDF. The current document stays in this browser until you export a PDF, JSON file or share link.

  • Built for the invoices you send this week — and the ones you will send next month.
  • One-click JSON export of the current invoice from the Export menu.
  • A self-contained share link moves the document without uploading it.
  • The FAQ covers backups, other devices and what local storage means in practice.

Templates using this: Simple invoice

Export

PDF export through the print dialog

The same layout that you see on the canvas is what prints. Pages are paginated explicitly, long item tables continue with a repeated header, and the footer appears on every page with page numbers if you want them.

  • Vector text and embedded fonts, so PDFs stay small and searchable.
  • A4 and US Letter with the correct page size set automatically.
  • Filename defaults to the invoice number, e.g. Invoice INV-0042.pdf.
  • A dedicated print view for browsers that need the fallback route.

Templates using this: Hourly invoice, Pro forma invoice

Export

Share a link without a server

A share link carries the whole invoice inside the URL fragment, compressed. Nothing is stored anywhere; the recipient opens it in their browser and sees the shared document.

  • The fragment after # is never sent to a server by browsers.
  • Recipients need no account either — the link opens the read-only view directly.
  • Export JSON for a single invoice when a file is more convenient than a link.
  • Keep the PDF or JSON file before replacing the editor's current document.

Templates using this: Contractor invoice

Every block, explained

An invoice is a stack of blocks. Each one can be hidden, reordered and configured on its own — this is the full list.

Header

Logo, document title and optionally the invoice number at the top of page one. Choose left, centred or split alignment and one of three logo sizes.

  • Show logo
  • Logo size
  • Title text
  • Show number
  • Alignment

Details

The key/value list with invoice number, issue date, due date, place of issue, reference and PO number. Show only the fields you use and lay them out as rows, a grid or one inline row.

  • Visible fields and their order
  • Rows, grid or inline layout

From / Bill to

Your business details next to the client's, side by side or stacked. Toggle email, phone, website, tax id and any extra fields you added to a party.

  • Side-by-side or stacked
  • Email
  • Phone
  • Website
  • Tax id
  • Extra fields

Items

The line-item table. Show or hide the number, unit, quantity, rate, tax and discount columns, add a secondary details line per item and pick a table style.

  • Column visibility
  • Lined, striped, grid or plain
  • Filled, underlined or plain header
  • Details line

Totals

Subtotal, discount, a per-tax breakdown, amount paid and balance due. Emphasise the total and align the box to the right or stretch it across the page.

  • Subtotal
  • Discount
  • Tax breakdown
  • Amount paid
  • Balance due
  • Emphasis
  • Alignment

Shipping

Shipping method, amount and delivery address — useful on ecommerce invoices. Edit the label, method, amount and address in the document.

  • Shipping method
  • Shipping amount
  • Shipping address
  • Label
  • Font size
  • Text color
  • Alignment

Payment details

Bank account, IBAN, BIC, PayPal address or any other key/value pairs the client needs to pay you. Rows, grid or two-column layout.

  • Rows, grid or two columns

Payment link

A call-to-action button that opens your payment URL — for example “Pay invoice →”.

  • URL
  • Button text
  • Button style
  • Background
  • Text color
  • Border
  • Border radius
  • Padding
  • Font size
  • Alignment

Notes

A short message to the client — a thank-you, a project reference or delivery details.

  • Content comes from the invoice's notes field

Terms

Payment terms and conditions, such as the due period, late-payment policy and accepted methods.

  • Content comes from the invoice's terms field

Text

A free-form paragraph with an optional heading. Add as many as you need — a project summary, a scope statement, a warranty note.

  • Heading
  • Body
  • Repeatable

Signature

Two signature lines facing each other — useful for contractor and pro-forma documents. Type a name or upload an image in each slot.

  • Two slots
  • Label
  • Name
  • Image

Divider

A thin rule or a blank gap between blocks, in three sizes. Repeatable.

  • Line or space
  • Small, medium or large

Page break

A layout block that forces a page break. In the editor it shows as a labelled rule; it does not print.

  • Break before / after
  • Keep with next
  • Page number behavior

Footer

Text at the bottom of every page — company registration, a website, a thank-you — with optional page numbers.

  • Text
  • Page numbers

The formatting engine

Money and dates are the part every generic template gets wrong. These are the knobs you get.

Currency code and display
Any ISO 4217 code from the list. Show the symbol, narrow symbol, code or the spelled-out name — $1,200.00, USD 1,200.00 or 1,200.00 US dollars.
Locale-driven grouping
The locale decides digit grouping and default separators: 1,234.56 for en-US, 1.234,56 for de, 1 234,56 for fr. Digits are always Latin so the PDF reads the same everywhere.
Separator overrides
Force a comma, period, space, thin space or apostrophe as the thousands separator and a period or comma as the decimal separator when a client's convention differs from the locale default.
Decimals per currency
Automatic by default — two for most currencies, none for yen-style currencies, three where the convention calls for it — or fixed between zero and four.
Symbol position and spacing
Place the symbol before or after the amount, with or without a space, independently of what the locale would do on its own.
Date patterns and locales
A date-fns pattern such as MMMM d, yyyy or dd.MM.yyyy, rendered in one of twenty-five bundled locales, validated live so a broken pattern never reaches the PDF.
Quantity precision
Quantities use the same locale and separators as money with their own precision: automatic (up to four decimals, trailing zeros trimmed) or fixed.
Editable labels
Every printed label — Invoice, Issue date, Bill To, Description, Subtotal, Balance due and the rest — follows the document language you pick and can be renamed on the invoice, which is how you produce an invoice in another language.
See the templates

Try it on your next invoice

Open Generate and make the next one in a few minutes.

Generate InvoiceRead the FAQ