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Document design

Document design and invoice templates

Your invoice template is the last thing a customer reads about a job — make it look like your business. Logo, colours, fonts, columns, field names and footers, set on your design and carried by every document built from it.

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The Invoice Office document template editor: the blocks panel on the left, a live invoice preview in the middle, and font and style controls on the right

What you can change

Every part of your invoice template is yours

One screen, two editors: the design holds what the document says, the template holds where everything sits. Blocks drag into place on the page, and each opens its own Content and Style tabs.

Designs are held
Per languageDesigns are held
Type
Per documentType
Override
Per customerOverride
Drag the blocks where you want them
The layout is a canvas. On the Document template screen, drag a block from the palette onto the page, nudge it into position, and drag a cell edge to change its width — Logo, Billing address, Post address, Document detail, Introduction text, Document table, Closing text, Document terms and conditions, Custom image and Custom text. A switch turns each one on or off.
Start from a design we ship, or your own
Invoice Office ships a set of system designs to work from. Open one, use Create duplicate to make it yours, or start a new design — and mark whichever you settle on as the default.
Your logo — or your name in type
Upload a logo image and set its size and alignment, or flip Show text and print styled Logo text instead. Add a background image, with its own transparency, so the page is yours end to end.
Decide exactly what appears
Open Display Columns on the product table to drag its columns into the order a customer expects, and rename or hide the ones you do not use. Nothing you never fill in has to stay on the page.
Style it down to the line
Select any block and its Style tab carries the font colour, size and family. On the product table it also carries Line height, so a cramped row is a one-field fix rather than a redesign.
Add your own text and images
Custom text and Custom image blocks put anything else you need on the page — a payment notice, a seasonal message, a certification badge — placed exactly where you want it rather than squeezed into a footer.
Labels in your own words
Field names and values renames the words printed on the document — Due date into Payable by, Customer Number into Account no. Switch Use default design off on that design first, then Modify Field names and values and type your wording beside the field.
A footer that maintains itself
Switch Company details on and the footer strip is filled from your company record, so it stays right when your address or bank account changes. Header and logo can repeat on every page, attachments can travel with every document built from the design, and a cover image can print in front of it.

How designs are organised

Five levels of document design — knowing them saves rework

Most confusion with document design comes from editing the wrong design and wondering why nothing changed on the invoice. Here is how the levels fit together.

Managing your templates

  • Held per language

    Designs are stored per language, so a French invoice can carry a different layout from your Dutch one. The flip side is worth knowing: change something in one language and the others are untouched, so make the change in each language you invoice in.

  • Held per document type

    Invoices, quotes, order confirmations, packing notes, credit notes, payment reminders and the purchase-side documents each get their own design. Recurring invoices and proforma invoices deliberately reuse the invoice design, so a change there covers all three.

  • One template, many designs

    A design holds the content — its name, fields, terms and labels. The template under it holds the layout and styling. One template can sit under many designs, so restyling there reaches every design built on it instead of being redone one document type at a time.

  • The Document type is the base

    The design whose type is Document is the fallback for every other design in that language — its layout, cover image, attachments, columns, information fields, texts, logo and background, and its field names and values. Set something once there rather than once per document type, and let any design take a part back by switching Use default design off for it.

  • And a customer can override it

    A customer who needs their own look — a different logo, a co-branded invoice — gets a design chosen on their record for invoices, quotes, order confirmations, packing notes, credit notes and payment reminders. Pick that customer on a document and their design is selected for you.

How it works

Three steps to your own invoice

  1. Step 1Open Document designs

    In Settings, open Document designs and pick the language you want to work in. The list shows every design you have, its document type, its layout and which one is the default.

  2. Step 2Open one, or duplicate it first

    Open a design to edit it, or use Create duplicate to copy one that ships with Invoice Office before you change anything — a system design is easier to copy than to fight.

  3. Step 3Arrange, style and save

    One screen holds both editors, switched with the Document design / Document template control in the toolbar. Set the content on one side and the layout on the other, drag the blocks where you want them, then Preview and Save.

Document design questions, answered

Where do I find the document design settings?
In Settings, open Document designs. That is the list of every design you have, per language and per document type. Document templates sits alongside it and holds the layouts a design can be built on.
Can I use my own logo on invoices?
Yes. Upload a logo image in the Logo panel and set its size and alignment, or switch Show text on to print styled Logo text instead. A background image, with its own transparency, is a separate block on the Document template screen.
Can invoices and quotes look different from each other?
Yes. Each document type has its own design, so the layout, blocks and styling of a quote can differ completely from an invoice. Recurring invoices and proforma invoices are the exception — they use the invoice design on purpose.
What is the Document design type for?
It is the base of the set — the one to change when something should apply everywhere. A design of any other type inherits its layout, cover image, attachments, columns, information fields, texts, logo and background, and its field names and values from the Document design for that language. Where one design needs something of its own, switch Use default design off for that part and it keeps it.
Can I move things around on the page?
Yes — on the Document template screen. Drag a block from the palette onto the page, nudge it with the arrow handles, or drag a cell edge to change its width. Selecting a block opens its Content and Style tabs; selecting a row opens Row Properties, where Column Layout splits that row so blocks can sit side by side.
Can a specific customer get their own invoice design?
Yes. Open the customer’s settings and use the Document designs section to pick a design for invoices, quotes, order confirmations, packing notes, credit notes and payment reminders. When you create one of those documents for that customer, their design is selected automatically.
Can I create my own invoice template?
Yes. Duplicate one of the system designs, switch to Document template, arrange the blocks the way you want them and save. Mark it as the default and every invoice from then on uses it — or attach it to a single customer and leave the rest alone.
Do I have to redo my design for every language?
Designs are held per language, so yes — a change in one language does not appear in the others. If you invoice in more than one language, make the same change in each language’s design.
Can I change the field names on my documents?
Yes. Switch Use default design off, open Field names and values on the design and click Modify Field names and values, then type your wording beside the field — Due date becomes Payable by, Customer Number becomes Account no. Leave one empty and it keeps the standard label.
Can I add a footer or a signature?
They are two different things. The footer — the strip of company details at the bottom — is switched on under PAGE on the document template and filled from Settings → Company information, so it stays right when your details change. A sign-off is a block: Closing text for “Kind regards”, Document terms and conditions for payment terms, or Custom image for a scanned signature.
Can I put a cover page in front of the document?
Yes — you upload a cover image, with its own transparency, and it prints in front of the document. It is available on the Professional plan. Attachments that travel with every document built from the design are set separately, as is whether the header and logo repeat on every page.

More answers in our FAQ and help center.

Related

Step-by-step for every part of the design

Send an invoice that looks like you

Set your design once and every document carries it. Free to start, and no credit card to try it.

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