Carpenter invoice template UK (2026): kitchens, joinery, CIS and VAT

The short answer

A UK carpenter invoice changes with who you bill. A private householder gets a normal invoice, VAT only if you are registered. A contractor pays under CIS, 20% off labour if you are verified, 30% if not, and materials come out of the net. Split labour and materials, name the room and the stage, and invoice the kitchen deposit the day you take it. The VAT registration threshold is £90,000, not the old £85,000.

What are the three main carpenter invoices in the UK?

A Saturday door hang for a homeowner, a fitted kitchen that takes three weeks, and a week of second-fix on a contractor's plots all use the same trade, and three different bills. Get the customer type wrong and the rest follows. CIS does not sit on a private householder. Reverse charge does not sit on a customer who is not VAT-registered. Timber, ironmongery and labour in one line is how a contractor deducts 20% of the lot.

	Homeowner kitchen / joinery	Main contractor, first-fix or second-fix	Workshop joinery then site fit
Typical job	Fitted kitchen, stairs, doors, wardrobes, decking	Carcassing, door hanging, skirting, plots	Bespoke stairs or windows made off-site, then installed
CIS on this invoice	No. An ordinary householder is not a CIS contractor.	Yes, if the work is construction and they pay you as a subcontractor. Installing woodwork, kitchens and windows as part of a building is in.	Usually yes on the site-fit invoice if a contractor pays you. Supply-only of goods with no install is a different bill.
VAT if you are registered	Charge the right rate. They cannot reclaim it. Most work to an existing dwelling is standard-rated.	Often domestic reverse charge: they account for VAT, you do not collect it.	Same tests as the person you actually bill. New qualifying dwellings can be zero-rated under VAT Notice 708.
How they want the bill	WhatsApp, same thread as the quote and extra-unit photos	Email to accounts, purchase order, site and plot ref	Workshop deposit by card or transfer; site invoice to whoever hired the fit
How they pay	Card, Apple Pay, or a same-day transfer	BACS on their payment run, often 14-30 days, sometimes with retention	Deposit first; balance on delivery or after fit
What bounces it	"Carpentry as discussed", no room, no stage, extras buried in the lump	Missing UTR, labour mixed with timber, no PO, VAT when reverse charge applies	One lump that mixes workshop manufacture, delivery and site labour

A contractor working for a homeowner is still a contractor. No reverse charge on a private customer, and that does not make the contractor an end user for the joiner who bills them. Homeowners only: skip CIS and reverse charge, still read the stages and the tax point.

What must be on a UK carpenter invoice?

GOV.UK is narrower than most blogs say. You must give an invoice by law when both you and the customer are VAT-registered. If you are not, keep numbered records of what you charged, because that is also how you get paid.

• a unique identification number
• your name (or company name), address and contact information
• the customer's name and address
• a clear description of what you are charging for
• the date the goods or service were provided (supply date)
• the date of the invoice
• the amount being charged
• VAT amount if applicable
• the total amount owed

Sole trader with a trading name: show your own name and a serviceable address. Limited company: registered name, company number, registered office. Do not mix them mid-job. If the quote was in the company name, the invoices are in the company name. VAT-registered: add your VAT number, rate, net and VAT in sterling. The threshold is £90,000, register for VAT if you have gone over or expect to. The old £85,000 figure is stale.

Weak	Usable
Carpentry works	Supply and fit kitchen, 14 Oak Lane, stage 2 carcass install and worktop template, 26-28 August 2026
Materials	Materials this stage: carcasses, end panels, plinths, 3 m worktop (merchant ticket on file) £2,140
Extras	Variation V02, extra 600 mm drawer pack as WhatsApp 12 Aug 2026, labour £180, unit £95
Site week	Second-fix, plots 8-11, week ending 28 August 2026: hang 16 internal doors, fit skirting

A FENSA, CERTASS or fire-door number can sit in the header if you have one. InvoiceAdept does not issue those certificates. Do not print a scheme you are not on. For a carpenter, "clear description" is what gets you paid, and it is the difference between a bill that is settled and one that is queried. Learn how it works in the invoicing feature set.

Checklist you can tick in the van or the workshop

Field	Homeowner, not VAT-registered	Homeowner, VAT-registered	Contractor, CIS + maybe reverse charge
Your legal name and address	Yes	Yes	Yes
Their name and address	Yes	Yes	Yes, plus site / plot / PO
Unique invoice number and date	Yes	Yes	Yes
Due date and payment terms	Yes. 7 days is common on domestic.	Yes	Yes. 7, 14 or contract terms.
Description, qty, rate, line totals	Yes. Name the room and the stage.	Yes	Yes. Dates on site help.
Labour and materials split	Useful	Useful	Required for CIS.
VAT number, rate, VAT amount	No	Yes	Yes, even when reverse charge applies
Reverse charge wording	No	No	When it applies.
UTR and CIS 0 / 20 / 30 lines	No	No	Yes.
FENSA / fire-door / guarantee refs	Description only if relevant	Same	If the contractor asked
How to pay	Sort code or card link	Same	Sort code. Card is rare on contractor jobs.

How do I split labour and materials for CIS?

On a homeowner invoice the split is courtesy. On a contractor invoice it is the CIS calculation. HMRC's contractor rules say to start with the gross, take off VAT, consumable stores, fuel (not travelling), plant hired for that job, manufacturing or prefabricating materials, and materials you paid for directly. No receipts? They estimate. What is left is the CIS base at 20%, 30% or 0%.

Materials are what you paid for this job: carcasses, doors, worktops, timber, sheet, ironmongery. Mark-up stays in the labour base. Free-issue from the main contractor is not yours, and neither are appliances the customer bought. Workshop manufacture is still labour plus materials. Timber you bought for a staircase can sit in materials, the hours in the shop are labour. Do not relabel workshop time as "prefabricated materials" to shrink CIS.

Line type	What belongs there	What does not
Labour	Site measure, carcass install, scribing, worktop fit, door hang, workshop hours, second-fix	A mark-up you wish was timber
Materials	What you paid this job: timber, sheet, units, worktop, ironmongery	Free-issue doors; a customer's own appliances
Hire	Third-party scaffold or hoist, ticket for this address	A notional hire on a van and saws you own
Variation	Agreed extra units, change of worktop, extra door	A silent bump inside "additional joinery"

Two habits cost money: one lump "fitted kitchen £8,000" so 20% comes off the whole lot, and stuffing mark-up into materials so the CIS base looks smaller.

How do I invoice a fitted kitchen or stairs in stages?

Kitchens and stairs are not a Saturday invoice. Name the stage on every bill. Illustrative labels only, match your quote.

1. Deposit, before you order carcasses, a worktop or hardwood. Invoice when you take it. State the percentage.
2. Delivery / first fix, carcasses on site, or workshop manufacture complete.
3. Install / worktop, units set, worktop templated or fitted, doors hung.
4. Practical completion, balance less any agreed retention, plus variations they approved in writing.

Retention is not a deposit. Deposit is money you take before or during. Retention is money held after completion against snagging. Show full value, retention withheld and release date, then invoice retention when it is due. Stage percentages go in the quote, not a voice note. If you are VAT-registered, a deposit you actually receive is a VAT tax point for that amount on the day it lands, even if the kitchen is still on a lorry.

Stage	How it looks
Deposit	INV-0141, deposit 40% of agreed £8,000 supply-and-fit kitchen, 14 Oak Lane, payable before carcass order, £3,200
Stage	Stage 2, carcass install and worktop template, 26-28 Aug 2026. Labour this stage £X. Materials this stage £Y.
Final	Practical completion. Agreed £8,000 plus V01 extra drawer pack £275, less paid stages £Z, less retention 5% held to [date] = due now

Stairs and fitted wardrobes follow the same idea. The free plan (five invoices a month) burns on deposit, stage and final from one kitchen; Pro removes that cap.

When does a carpenter need a CIS invoice?

CIS covers most construction work, including installing fittings that become part of the building. Fitted kitchens, stairs, doors, windows, carcassing and second-fix are usually in. You invoice the contractor the gross. They withhold from labour as an advance on your tax and National Insurance.

Subcontractor rates: 20% if you are verified, 30% if you are unverified or registered under the wrong name, 0% if HMRC has granted gross payment status. Use the legal name and UTR you registered with. CIS applies because a contractor pays you for construction operations, not because you are a carpenter, so no CIS line on the homeowner jobs you sold yourself.

Supply-only is the other trap. If you only deliver a staircase or a pack of doors and someone else fits them, that invoice may be goods, not a construction operation. Do not print CIS on a supply-only delivery. If the same PDF mixes goods and site labour, split the lines, and see how the CIS invoice is built.

Line	Amount
Labour, kitchen supply and fit, week ending 28 Aug 2026	£3,200.00
Materials (this job only)	£4,800.00
Subtotal (VAT-exclusive)	£8,000.00
VAT at 20%, reverse charge, customer accounts	£1,600.00 (not charged)
CIS deduction (20% on labour)	-£640.00
Amount the contractor pays you	£7,360.00

That printout is not a CIS300. The contractor files it, and InvoiceAdept does not. If you are not registered, the same £3,200 labour is deducted at 30%, or -£960, leaving £7,040. That extra £320 stays out of your account until Self Assessment, and CIS registration itself is free.

Should a carpenter charge VAT, and when does reverse charge apply?

If you are not VAT-registered, do not charge VAT. The threshold is £90,000, not £85,000. When you are registered, VAT Notice 708 decides the rate for building and construction work, and it is rarely one blanket figure.

Work	VAT rate
New qualifying dwellings, conditions met	Zero-rated
Most work to an existing dwelling (fitted kitchens, stairs, doors, wardrobes, decking)	Standard-rated 20%
Some conversions and empty-home renovations, Notice conditions met	Reduced-rated 5%
Listed-building approved alterations	Standard-rated (zero-rating withdrawn October 2012)

Domestic reverse charge applies when both you and the customer are VAT-registered, the work is reported within CIS, the supply is standard- or reduced-rated, you are not an employment business supplying staff, and there is no written end-user notice. Raise the invoice to show the VAT, do not add it to what they pay. Use the words reverse charge, for example "Reverse charge: VAT Act 1994 Section 55A applies". Reverse charge usually sits on the full net supply-and-fit value while CIS ignores materials, so keep the lines split. Never reverse charge a private householder.

The VAT tax point is not always the day you finish the last scribe. A deposit you receive is usually a tax point for that amount on the day it lands, an invoice you issue can create a tax point for the amount invoiced, and the basic tax point for services is often when the work is complete. If you take a 40% kitchen deposit in August and finish in September, August's VAT period needs that deposit. InvoiceAdept dates the invoice you raise, it does not decide the tax point and it does not put the figure on your VAT return.

When does Making Tax Digital apply to a carpenter?

If your qualifying income for 2024-25 is over £50,000, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies from 6 April 2026. The line drops to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Qualifying income is turnover before expenses, so use HMRC's checker rather than a guess. The HMRC software finder is the list that matters for the quarterly updates and the return (gov.uk MTD guidance).

InvoiceAdept keeps digital invoice records you can export for an accountant or HMRC-recognised filing software. It does not submit quarterly Income Tax updates, the Self Assessment return, or your VAT return. Records are not filing. That distinction matters more every year, and the honest version of it is in which plan fits the work you actually do.

How much van mileage can I claim as a carpenter?

For 2025-26 you can claim the approved rate for the business miles you actually travel: 45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p a mile above that, using the same rate for a car or a van. This is for your own vehicle on your own jobs, not a substitute for a cost you pass through on the invoice. Keep a mileage log of date, destination and job, because that is what survives an enquiry.

Mileage and CIS are separate. Under CIS, fuel is an excluded cost that comes off the gross before the deduction, but only the petrol or diesel you paid for on that job, not a buy-mileage rate you invented. Do not fold a mileage allowance into the materials line, because that pushes the mark-up away from labour and toward CIS. Your mileage claim is on your own Self Assessment, the invoice materials line is a different thing.

Can I add interest to a late carpenter invoice?

Put a due date on every invoice. "Payment due on receipt" is vague, "Due 4 September 2026" is a date. Domestic homeowners are consumers, and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts regime is a business-to-business one. Do not print "statutory interest at 8% over base plus compensation" on a private kitchen invoice as if it automatically applies to a householder.

Contractor invoices are different. If both sides are acting in the course of a business, statutory interest can apply when a qualifying debt is late, unless the contract has a different substantial remedy. Fourteen or thirty days is common on accounts. A reminder is not a new invoice, so do not raise a second live number for the same kitchen because they have not paid. That chase is not a filing to HMRC.

What does the invoice not cover?

The invoice is the bill, the certificate is a separate PDF. A FENSA or CERTASS membership number goes on as a description if you have one, and InvoiceAdept does not notify Building Control. Fire-door records, doorset reference, closer and strips, go on as a line and an attachment if asked. A workmanship guarantee lists the period and what is covered, and you attach it. The invoice footer is not the guarantee. Building Control references sit on the invoice when the work is notifiable, but England, Wales and Scotland do not use the same forms.

InvoiceAdept does not issue FENSA, CERTASS, fire-door or Building Control certificates, does not file a CIS300, and does not submit a VAT return or MTD updates. Free is five invoices a month, not unlimited. CIS is on Pro+ only. That is the honest scope, and it is set out on the pricing page.

FAQs

What should a UK carpenter invoice include?

Legal names and addresses, a unique number, dates, a description that names the address, room and stage, quantities and rates, a due date and a way to pay. Split labour and materials. VAT only if registered and reverse charge does not apply. UTR and CIS only when a contractor pays you.

Do carpenters and joiners need a CIS invoice?

Only when a contractor is paying you for construction operations. Fitted kitchens, stairs, doors, windows and site joinery are usually in. A homeowner kitchen you sold yourself has no CIS line. Skip registration and they deduct 30% instead of 20%.

How do CIS deductions work on timber, kitchens and workshop labour?

CIS is on labour only, including workshop hours. Carcasses, timber, worktops and ironmongery you paid for come off the gross if the contractor is satisfied you paid for them. A mark-up is not a material. Free-issue is not your material.

How should I invoice a fitted kitchen in stages?

Invoice the deposit when you take it, before you order. Invoice each later stage when it is due, and name it. Show labour and materials for that stage. Retention, if agreed, is invoiced on the release date, and retention is not a deposit.

Do I charge VAT on a domestic carpenter invoice?

If you are VAT-registered and the customer is a private householder, yes, at the rate VAT Notice 708 sets. Most work to an existing dwelling is standard-rated. Not registered? Do not charge VAT, and the threshold is £90,000.

When is the VAT tax point on a kitchen deposit?

If you are VAT-registered and you receive a deposit, that payment is usually a tax point for that amount on the day it lands. Raise a numbered deposit invoice. Do not wait for practical completion if you already took the money.

When does domestic reverse charge apply to a carpenter?

Both VAT-registered, the work reported under CIS, standard- or reduced-rated, and no written end-user notice. Show the VAT and do not add it to what they pay. Never on a private householder.

Can I charge statutory late-payment interest on a homeowner kitchen?

No. The statutory regime is for commercial business-to-business debts. Put a clear due date and chase. Contractor invoices can qualify for statutory interest if the debt is late.

How do I get found and send the invoice?

Domestic jobs are sold in WhatsApp, so put the invoice in that thread. Contractors email accounts with the purchase order. Your free carpenter trade directory listing brings callers without a monthly fee, and invoicing keeps records you can chase and export. Start with the free plan.

The bottom line

One carpenter, three bills. A homeowner gets a clean invoice with VAT only if you are registered. A contractor gets labour and materials split so CIS takes 20% or 30% off labour, never the carcasses. Name the room and the stage, invoice the deposit the day you take it, and keep the VAT tax point straight. The VAT threshold is £90,000, CIS is 20% or 30%, and MTD starts at £50,000 from 6 April 2026. Start free in 30 seconds →