How To Write a Cake Invoice

From multi-tiered showstoppers to delicate fairy cakes, you work hard to craft tasty works of art. What happens after you’ve delivered the cakes to your clients? To get paid for your skill and hard work, you’ll need to issue an invoice. Here’s a breakdown of how to write a cake invoice, including a template and sample to follow.

Why should you create a cake invoice?

Some bakers choose to take payment at the time of product delivery, issuing a sales receipt. However, there are benefits to using a standard cake invoice format as well. As your business scales up, you’ll need to track your outstanding orders, delivered products, and payments as they come through. You’ll be able to track and facilitate payments more easily while organising your finances for easier tax returns.

An additional benefit of using a cake invoice template is that it gives your business a more professional client-facing image. You can put your bakery’s name and logo at the top, with contact information making it easy for clients to place repeat orders.

How to write a cake invoice

There are many types of businesses that bake and decorate cakes, from home-based operations to small bakeries and full-scale catering companies. However, the basic cake invoice format remains the same for all these types of companies. Your goal should be to clearly show which services your client has received, along with their costs.

In terms of format, here’s what a cake invoice might look like:

• The top of the page shows your business’s branding, contact details, and the client’s contact details. You should also show the invoice date, unique invoice number, and payment due date.

• The body of the invoice outlines services provided along with a description and price. This might be per-cake or per-hour.

• At the bottom of the invoice, add up the total value of services provided along with applicable tax and fees. Show these under ‘invoice total’. You should also clearly list the payment methods, terms, and conditions.

• If needed, place additional information in the bottom ‘notes’ area of the invoice, such as refund policies.

Cake invoice example and template

There’s no need for a cake invoice to be overly complicated; most small businesses simply charge a flat rate for the cakes provided. However, you could also opt to charge by the hour or issue recurring invoices for clients like cafes and bakeries. We have a basic cake invoice template available;download here and fill in the blanks to customise it.

Here’s an additional cake invoice example to show what this might look like in practice:

Bakery Name

Bakery mailing address

Email address and website

Phone number

BILLED TO

Customer name

Customer address

INVOICE NUMBER: 00001

DATE OF ISSUE: DD/MM/YYYY

NOTES

E.g. Net 30 payment terms, follow link for payment

Cake invoice apps

There are also cake invoice apps that can make short work of bookkeeping, providing ready-made templates along with smooth, automated accounting systems. The apps and software below allow you to send automated payment reminders, track bakery expenses, and reconcile your accounts.

• Xero

• Invoiced

• QuickBooks

• Sage50

All the invoice and accounting apps mentioned integrate easily with GoCardless for a fully visible invoicing and payments process. With GoCardless, freelance cake designers and full-service bakeries alike can take control over payment collection using direct debit. This reduces late payments – in fact, according to an IDC study, GoCardless customers were paid 47% faster than through other methods. UK businesses can also use Instant Bank Pay to collect one-off payments for individual cake orders, enabling greater control thanks to the power of open banking.  

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.