Electrician invoice template UK (2026): CIS, VAT, and a worked example

The short answer

An electrician invoice splits labour and materials, and the tax depends on who you bill. Charge a homeowner the right VAT rate. Bill a contractor for construction work and you add your UTR, split labour from materials, and take a CIS deduction of 20% or 30% on the labour alone. Split the lines, show the reverse-charge wording, and invoice on the day.

Who are you billing: homeowner or contractor?

Most "electrician invoice template UK" pages treat every customer as a name, an address and a total. On the van they are not. Get the customer type wrong and the rest follows: CIS does not sit on a private householder, domestic reverse charge does not sit on a customer who is not VAT-registered, and a day-rate site invoice that lumps the board, the cable and the labour into one line is how a contractor deducts 20% of the lot.

	Homeowner, landlord or private customer	Main contractor or agency
Typical job	Consumer unit, rewire, extra sockets, EICR, fault-find	First-fix / second-fix, measured plots, weekly application
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. Electrical installation is in.
VAT if you are registered	Charge the right rate. They cannot reclaim it.	Often domestic reverse charge: they account for VAT, you do not collect it.
How they want the bill	WhatsApp, same thread as the quote	Email to accounts, purchase order, site and plot ref
How they pay	Card, Apple Pay, or a same-day transfer	BACS on their payment run, often 14-30 days
What bounces it	"Electrical works as discussed", no due date, no way to pay, no certificate number on an EICR	Missing UTR, labour mixed with the board and cable, no PO, VAT charged when reverse charge applies

A contractor working for a homeowner is still a contractor. HMRC is explicit: there is no reverse charge on the supply to a private customer, because that customer is not VAT-registered. The old shortcut "it's a house, so they're an end user" is wrong. See HMRC's reverse charge supplier guidance.

For the full general walkthrough on who to bill and how to chase payment, read how to invoice a UK client as a tradesperson. This page is the electrician document. If you are looking for work, a free listing on our electricians trade directory gets you in front of local customers.

What must be on a UK electrician invoice?

You must give a VAT invoice by law when both you and the customer are VAT-registered, and it must say how much they pay and when. If you are not VAT-registered, HMRC still expects you to keep records of what you charged. A numbered invoice is how you do that, and it is how you get paid. HMRC's list of what the invoice must include is the baseline.

Invoice field	What it means on an electrician's bill
Unique identification number	Your invoice sequence. Number them, no gaps.
Your legal name and address	Your own name plus the trading address. For a limited company, the registered name and company number.
Customer's name and address	Plus site and plot reference on contractor jobs.
Clear description	Address, what changed, which circuits, certificate number if you issued one.
Supply date and invoice date	The date the work was done, and the date you raised the bill.
Labour and materials split	Required for CIS; useful for everyone else.
VAT rate, VAT amount, total	Only if you are VAT-registered and reverse charge does not apply.
Reverse-charge wording	When it applies. A reference to VAT Act 1994 Section 55A works.
UTR and CIS 0 / 20 / 30 lines	Only when a contractor pays you under the scheme.
Due date and how to pay	Sort code, or a card link. 7 or 14 days is common on labour.

For an electrician, "clear description" is the line that actually gets you paid.

Weak	Usable
Electrical works	Replace 18-way dual-RCD consumer unit and add 4 double sockets on a new ring, 14 Oak Lane, 28 August 2026
Testing	EICR, 3-bed house, 12 circuits, certificate EICR-2026-0142, issued 28 August 2026
First fix	First-fix wiring, plots 8-11, week ending 28 August 2026, 4 days

If you are VAT-registered, you need the VAT fields a full VAT invoice carries: your VAT number, the rate, the net, and the VAT in sterling. Do not invent a "VAT: N/A" line on a non-VAT invoice. The registration threshold is still £90,000 of taxable turnover in a rolling 12 months. See register for VAT if you have gone over it, or will.

Should labour and materials be on separate lines?

On a homeowner invoice the split is courtesy: they can see what the board cost. On a contractor invoice the split is the CIS calculation. HMRC's contractor rules start with the gross invoice, then take off VAT, consumable stores, fuel used for the job (not travelling), plant hired for that job, manufacturing or prefabricating materials, and materials you paid for directly. What is left is the CIS base. A mark-up on that board is not a material for CIS, and cable the main contractor issued from their own stores is not yours either.

Two habits that cost money:

1. One line, "consumer unit replacement £700". A cautious contractor deducts 20% of £700, and you are light on the board until Self Assessment.
2. Stuffing the mark-up into "materials" so CIS looks smaller. If they ask for receipts and the ticket is £180 against a £350 materials line, they will estimate, and that estimate is rarely in your favour.

Call-out, day rate or measured: which one was the job?

Electricians price three ways, and the invoice should show which one applied. Mixing them in one lump is how disputes start. Call-out is a first-visit fee, often including a set amount of time on site, then extra labour at an hourly rate. Day rate is common on contractor sites and on longer domestic days. Measured or per-plot is first-fix per plot, second-fix per plot, and testing per dwelling, so accounts can match it to a valuation. Call-out does not belong on a CIS day-rate invoice as a decoration.

Pricing	How it looks on the invoice
Call-out + extras	Call-out (includes first 45 min) £85. Additional labour 1.5 hrs @ £55. Materials: 32A RCBO and faceplate £38.
Day rate	Labour, 1 day, CU replacement and 4 sockets, 14 Oak Lane, 28 Aug 2026 £480. Materials (board, sockets, T&E) £220.
Measured	First-fix wiring, plots 8-11, week ending 28 Aug 2026, 4 @ £400. Materials you bought for those plots listed underneath.

When does CIS apply to an electrician?

CIS covers most construction work to a building, including installing systems for heating, lighting, power, water and ventilation. First-fix, second-fix, consumer units on a site, rewires for a contractor, containment and the testing that is part of that installation are construction. You invoice the contractor the gross, and they withhold tax from the labour. The rates on HMRC's subcontractor page are 20% if you are registered and they can verify you, 30% if you are not registered or they cannot verify you, and 0% if HMRC has granted gross payment status.

CIS does not apply because you are an electrician. It applies because a contractor is paying you for construction operations. A landlord EICR, a homeowner consumer unit, a private rewire you sold yourself: no CIS. Do not put a 20% line on those invoices to look professional.

CIS is on InvoiceAdept Pro+ at £12.99 a month, not on Free or Pro. The feature walkthrough is CIS invoices, and the longer template and software grid is best CIS invoice software UK 2026.

When does domestic reverse charge apply?

Domestic reverse charge applies when you supply specified building and construction services, both you and the customer are VAT-registered, the work is reported within CIS, the supply is standard- or reduced-rated, and the customer has not given a written end-user notice. Then you do not charge VAT: they account for it. Installing lighting and power supply systems in a building is on HMRC's list, and VAT Notice 708 is where you confirm the rate, not a guess on the van.

On the invoice you still show everything a VAT invoice needs, and you also use the words reverse charge, state the VAT they must account for (or at least the rate) without adding it to the amount they pay, and use wording HMRC accepts, for example "Reverse charge: VAT Act 1994 Section 55A applies". On a supply-and-fix, HMRC treats the goods supplied with the construction service as one supply, so reverse charge usually sits on the full net value. CIS is the opposite: it ignores materials. Keep the lines split so both calculations stay visible. The invoice-level walkthrough, including the end-user notice, is domestic reverse charge invoice UK.

Worked example: the same consumer unit, three invoices

A sole-trader electrician replaces an 18-way dual-RCD consumer unit and adds four double sockets on a new ring at 14 Oak Lane. Labour is a day rate of £480, and materials the electrician bought for this job (board, RCBOs, 2.5 mm T&E, sockets, back boxes) came to £220. Receipts exist. These numbers are a worked example, not a quote.

Line	Homeowner, not VAT-registered	Homeowner, VAT-registered	Contractor, CIS 20% + reverse charge
Labour	£480.00	£480.00	£480.00
Materials	£220.00	£220.00	£220.00
Subtotal	£700.00	£700.00	£700.00
VAT	No VAT line	£140.00 (20%)	£140.00, reverse charge, not charged
CIS deduction	No	No	£96.00 (20% on labour)
Customer pays you	£700.00	£840.00	£604.00

In the contractor case the wording on the invoice is Reverse charge: VAT Act 1994 Section 55A applies. Customer to pay the VAT to HMRC. The contractor pays you £604, remits £96 CIS to HMRC against your UTR, and accounts for £140 reverse-charge VAT on their own return. You never receive, and do not pay over, that £140.

If you had dumped £700 in one line, a cautious contractor deducts 20% of the lot and you are £44 light on the materials until Self Assessment. Registering for CIS is free; doing the job unverified is how you lend HMRC 10% of your labour for a year.

How do deposits, retention and record-keeping work?

A consumer unit, a reel of SWA, or an EV charger you are expected to buy before Tuesday is not a vibe. If you take money before the work, that payment is a tax point for VAT when you receive it. Invoice it, number it, and call it a deposit invoice for the named job, saying what it is 40% of. The typical pattern on a domestic rewire is a deposit invoice for 30-50%, a stage invoice when first-fix is signed off if the job runs more than a fortnight, then a final invoice for the balance less the deposit plus any extras approved in the chat.

Retention is not a deposit. Retention is money they hold after completion against snagging, so the final invoice still shows the full value, the retention withheld, and the date it becomes due. A security deposit on hired testers that you will refund is not consideration for a supply.

If you claim vehicle costs on your Self Assessment, the flat rate for 2026/27 is 45p a mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p a mile above that. That is a record you keep, not a line you bill, but it sits alongside the invoice as part of your job record. See Making Tax Digital for Income Tax for what HMRC now expects you to keep.

Is the invoice the same as the certificate?

No. The invoice is the bill and the certificate is the safety document. They are not the same PDF. Typical documents an electrician issues are an Electrical Installation Certificate for a new installation or significant alteration, a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate for a small addition or alteration, and an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) for a periodic inspection of an existing installation against BS 7671. On the invoice, one line names the document, the address and the certificate number, and you attach the certificate as a separate PDF. The longer testing guide is electrical testing and certification UK.

Part P is the electrical-safety requirement in the Building Regulations for dwellings in England. A new or replacement consumer unit, a new circuit, or work around a bath or shower is the sort of work notified to Building Control unless a registered competent person self-certifies it. A competent-person scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT is how many electricians self-certify. InvoiceAdept is not a scheme, does not register you, does not notify Building Control, and does not generate an EIC. If you are on a scheme, your membership number can sit on the invoice as a description; if you are not, do not print one. Approved Document P is statutory guidance for England: do not stamp "Part P" on a Scottish invoice as decoration.

How do you send an electrician invoice?

If the job was sold in WhatsApp, email is where invoices go to die. Put the invoice in that thread with the number, the due date and a pay link; that is still a real invoice. Native WhatsApp send is InvoiceAdept Pro, and free users download the PDF and attach it themselves. The longer version is WhatsApp invoicing UK. A main contractor is the opposite: email the PDF to accounts and put the PO in the reference. Bank details on every invoice, plus a Stripe link if the customer is a person with a phone. InvoiceAdept does not add a platform fee on top of Stripe, and bank transfer is free.

	InvoiceAdept Free	InvoiceAdept Pro	InvoiceAdept Pro+
Price	£0	£7.99 / month	£12.99 / month
Invoices	5 per month	Unlimited	Unlimited
CIS lines	No	No	Yes
WhatsApp send from the app	No (share a PDF yourself)	Yes	Yes
Card	Not on Free	Stripe, no extra platform fee	Same
Files CIS300 or MTD to HMRC	No	No	No

InvoiceAdept raises the invoice, stores the record and prints CIS on Pro+, but it does not file your CIS300, your VAT return or your Making Tax Digital updates. Use HMRC's software finder if you need a filing product. Full prices are on pricing.

What are the MTD and VAT thresholds for 2026 and beyond?

Two dates matter for a UK electrician. First, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts 6 April 2026 for self-employed sole traders earning over £50,000, then extends to those over £30,000 from 2027 and £20,000 from 2028. If you are inside those bands, HMRC expects digital records and quarterly updates rather than a year-end summary. Second, you must register for VAT once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months. Start from HMRC's Making Tax Digital for Income Tax guidance for the exact rules.

FAQs

What should a UK electrician invoice include?

Your legal name and address, the customer's name and address, a unique invoice number, the invoice date, the supply date if different, a description that identifies the work, quantities and rates, a due date and a way to pay. Split labour and materials, add VAT only if you are registered and reverse charge does not apply, and add your UTR and CIS lines only when invoicing a contractor under the scheme. GOV.UK's invoice list is the baseline.

Do electricians need a CIS invoice?

Only when a contractor is paying you for construction operations. CIS covers installing lighting and power systems. A homeowner consumer unit, a landlord EICR or a private rewire you sold yourself is a standard invoice with no CIS. If you skip CIS registration and still work under a contractor, they deduct 30% instead of 20%.

How do CIS deductions work on labour and materials?

CIS is on labour only. The board, cable and sockets you paid for come off the gross before the rate is applied, if the contractor is satisfied you paid for them and receipts help. A mark-up is not a material, and cable the contractor issued from their own stores is not your material.

Do I charge VAT on a domestic electrician invoice?

If you are VAT-registered and the customer is a private householder, yes, at the rate VAT Notice 708 gives for the work. Most work to an existing dwelling is standard-rated, new-build qualifying dwellings can be zero-rated, and some energy-saving installations carry a different rate under Notice 708/6. If you are not registered, do not charge VAT.

When does domestic reverse charge apply to an electrician?

When you and the customer are both VAT-registered, the work is reported under CIS, the supply is standard- or reduced-rated, and they have not given a written end-user notice. Then you show the VAT and do not add it to the total. It never applies to a private householder.

Should I put my NICEIC or NAPIT number on the invoice?

If you are on a scheme, yes, because landlords and agents look for it. It is a description, not a legal invoice field, and InvoiceAdept does not issue scheme membership or generate certificates. Do not print a scheme you are not on.

Does InvoiceAdept file CIS or Making Tax Digital to HMRC?

No. It raises the invoice, stores the record and on Pro+ prints CIS. It does not file CIS300 and it does not submit MTD quarterly updates. Use HMRC's software finder if you need a filing product.

The bottom line

Decide who you are billing before you type a line, keep labour and materials separate, and get the reverse-charge and CIS wording right when a contractor is paying you. InvoiceAdept is built for UK trades: free to start, with CIS on Pro+ and no extra Stripe platform fee. Start free in 30 seconds, compare plans on pricing, or review the invoicing features on invoicing.