Invoice statistics: 12 finished invoices, line by line

A small business invoice in this set is one page with four lines, a tax line, a total, a due date 14 days out in Australia or 30 days out in the UK, US and Canada, and bank details with the invoice number as the payment reference. Those are the statistics of 12 finished invoices counted on this site, and they describe the parts any invoice needs.

What was counted

The 12 invoices are every payable invoice example on this site on 21 October 2026: the 11 written in the proposals module (seven Australian, one each for the UK, the US, Canada and New Zealand) and the tax invoice in the document library. The proforma invoice was left out because it says on its face that no amount is payable on it. A script read the lines, totals and tax from each invoice’s data and the heading, dates, bank details and notes from its text.

These are examples written for fictional businesses, so the statistics describe how a complete invoice is put together, not how fast real invoices get paid. For published figures on payment times, the late payment questions page and the guide to chasing an unpaid invoice cite the official sources.

Lines: four is the middle

The median invoice has four lines. The shortest is a deposit invoice with a single line, 40% of an accepted joinery quote. The longest is a produce supplier’s delivery to a cafe with eight lines, because each product is a line and the fruit, vegetables and eggs are GST free while the packaging and cleaning products are taxed. The builder’s progress claim has two: the frame stage and a signed variation.

When an invoice follows a quote, its lines are the quote’s lines, which is why the final invoice for an event repeats the accepted proposal’s five lines and then subtracts the deposit already paid.

Headings and tax lines differ by country

• Australia. Seven of the eight Australian invoices say Tax invoice and show GST. The eighth, the freelance invoice, is from an illustrator who is not registered for GST, so it says Invoice, charges no GST and quotes the ABN so that nothing is withheld.
• United Kingdom. The UK invoice is headed as a VAT invoice with the VAT registration number and a tax point date, and charges VAT at 20%.
• United States. The Oregon studio charges no sales tax because the state has no general sales tax, and attaches a W-9 form.
• Canada. The Ontario research firm charges HST at 13%.
• New Zealand. The tree care company charges GST at 15% on every line.

Each country’s rules decide the heading, so a template copied from another country is the most common way an invoice ends up wrong.

Due dates and references

Six invoices are due in 14 days, four in 30 or more, one in 7 days and one on issue. The standard payment terms post sets those periods against each country’s rules. All 12 print bank details in the local form (BSB, sort code, routing number, institution and transit numbers, or a New Zealand account number) and all 12 ask the customer to quote the invoice number when paying. That one line is what makes reconciliation possible.

Late payment wording is rare

Only 3 of the 12 invoices mention what happens if payment is late. The overdue plumbing invoice charges 10% a year under a clause in the accepted quote and bills the interest separately. The UK invoice reminds the customer that statutory interest can be claimed. The document library invoice says interest may be charged at 2.5% a month. The other nine stay silent, which is the right choice when no interest was agreed, because an invoice cannot add terms the customer never saw.

A checklist from the twelve

1. A heading that matches your tax status: tax invoice, VAT invoice or invoice.
2. Your business name, tax number and contact details.
3. The customer’s name and, for larger sales, their tax number.
4. An invoice number you never reuse; the invoice number page covers formats.
5. Lines that match the quote, with tax per line and in the summary.
6. Issue date, due date and the amount due.
7. Bank details, a reference to quote and any other way to pay.
8. Late payment terms only if they were agreed.

In the product

The proposals module numbers invoices in the INV-0001 style and tracks each one as draft, issued, sent, viewed, overdue, paid or void, with mark paid by hand available. An invoice can carry a pay link to a public pay page with the amount due, the items, the PDF and the bank details, and Pay now opens Stripe Checkout through the owner’s connected Stripe account on paid plans. The AI invoice generator page shows the editor, and the guide to sending a proposal and getting paid follows an invoice from acceptance to payment.