What must a South African invoice template include?

Business name and contact details, a sequential invoice number, date, customer name, line items with quantities and prices, the total, banking details and payment terms. VAT-registered businesses must also show their VAT number and the VAT amount, and use the words 'Tax Invoice'.

Should a non-VAT business show VAT on its invoice template?

No. If you are not VAT registered you may not charge VAT or label the document a 'tax invoice'. Remove the VAT line entirely and just show your prices and total.

Is Word or Excel better for invoices?

Excel calculates totals for you and Word looks cleaner, but both share the same weaknesses: manual invoice numbering, no customer history, and you doing the admin. They are fine below roughly ten invoices a month.

Home / Guides / Invoice template

Free invoice template for South Africa (VAT and non-VAT)

Updated 22 July 2026 · 5 min read

You don't need to buy a template. A South African invoice is a simple document with a fixed set of fields — copy the structure below into Word, Excel, or even a WhatsApp message, and you're compliant. This guide gives you both versions (VAT and non-VAT), because using the wrong one is the single most common invoicing mistake in SA.

The template — non-VAT version (most small businesses)

INVOICE [Your business name] Invoice #: INV-0001 [Phone · email] Date: 22 July 2026 Bill to: [Customer name] DESCRIPTION QTY PRICE AMOUNT [Item or service] 1 R500.00 R500.00 [Item or service] 2 R150.00 R300.00 ───────────────── TOTAL R800.00 Payment terms: Due within 7 days Bank: [Bank] · Acc: [number] · Branch: [code] Reference: INV-0001

Note what's not there: no VAT number, no VAT line, and it says "Invoice" — not "Tax Invoice". If you're not VAT registered, that's deliberate and required. (Full rules: SARS invoice requirements.)

The template — VAT version

Same document with four changes:

Heading becomes "TAX INVOICE"
Add your VAT registration number under your business name
Over R5,000 total: add the customer's address and VAT number too
Show Subtotal → VAT @ 15% → Total instead of a single total

Subtotal R800.00 VAT @ 15% R120.00 TOTAL R920.00

Field-by-field: why each one is there

Field	Purpose
Sequential invoice number	Required for tax invoices; your payment reference; keeps your books auditable
Date	Starts the payment-terms clock and fixes the tax period
Customer name	Required over R5,000 (with address + VAT no); always useful for chasing payment
Line items with qty & price	Clear breakdowns kill disputes before they start
Banking details + reference	Make paying you the easiest thing your customer does today
Payment terms	No stated terms = customer decides the terms

When the template stops being worth it

A Word or Excel template costs nothing and works — until it doesn't. The failure points are always the same: you forget what number you're on and issue two INV-0017s; you retype the same customer's details for the ninth time; you're on a job site and the laptop with the template is at home. Rule of thumb: under ~10 invoices a month, templates are fine. Above that, the admin starts costing you real hours.

The alternative doesn't have to be accounting software. WhatInvoice keeps the numbering, the customer list, and the layout — you just send a WhatsApp message with the line items and a branded PDF goes out. (Here's exactly how that works.)

Common questions

What must the template include?

Your details, sequential number, date, customer, line items, total, banking details, terms — plus VAT number and VAT amount if registered.

I'm not VAT registered — do I show VAT at 15%?

No. No VAT line, no "Tax Invoice" heading. Your price is just your price.

Word or Excel?

Excel adds up for you; Word looks cleaner. Both break down at volume — numbering and retyping are the real cost.

Skip the template entirely

Text your line items to WhatsApp and get a correctly formatted, sequentially numbered PDF invoice back — VAT or non-VAT, with your logo and banking details. Free to start.

Try WhatInvoice free