What goes on a welding invoice
Welding jobs are small in material and large in skill, which customers find counter-intuitive. Separating stock from hours, and mobile work from shop work, is what makes the number make sense.
- Material by type and quantity — steel, aluminum or stainless, by length or weight
- Welding hours × rate, kept separate from the stock
- Fabrication or cutting time, where it differs from welding time
- A mobile or on-site fee, where you went to the job
- Consumables: gas, rod, wire, discs
- Finishing — grinding, priming, painting or galvanising
Sample line items and example prices
These are the sample lines and example prices this invoice opens with. They are starting points, not a survey of what anybody charges and not a recommendation — adjust every item to match your work, your rates and your customer before you create the PDF.
| Job | Usual quantity | Opens at |
|---|---|---|
| Steel stock | 1 | $260.00 |
| Welding labor (hours) | 4 | $85.00 |
| Mobile service fee | 1 | $75.00 |
| Paint & primer | 1 | $60.00 |
Add, delete or rename any line. The math, the tax and any discount are worked out as you type. Setting the terms? The invoice due date calculator turns Net 15, 30 or 60 into the exact date to put on the invoice.
One welding invoice template: free, editable, printable and yours
Free welding invoice template
Free means the whole thing: no sign-up to start, no watermark on the PDF, no limit on how many welding invoices you make, and no card asked for at any point. An account is optional, and only does one job — keeping your papers in step between a phone and a computer.
Editable welding invoice template
It opens with 4 jobs a welding business usually bills — steel stock, welding labor (hours), mobile service fee — already priced, so most of the typing is done. Every line can be renamed, repriced or deleted, new ones added, and the subtotal, tax and any discount recalculate as you type.
Printable welding invoice template
Print it straight from the browser and only the invoice prints — no menus, no buttons — on whatever paper your printer holds. Or save it as a PDF to email, text or keep, and the customer’s copy is the same sheet you saw on screen.
Custom welding invoice template
Your business name, phone and address go at the top, with your logo if you upload one or your initials if you do not. Six looks to choose from, 5 accent colors, and your own payment terms in the footer — a welding invoice that looks like it came from your business, not from a website.
Every welding paper, as it comes out
The same jobs and the same look carry across all six papers, so one welding job can move from estimate to invoice to receipt without retyping.
What you get
A PDF, and a link your customer can open in any browser. Word and Excel versions are not available yet — if a spreadsheet is what you need, this is not yet the tool for it, and saying so is cheaper for both of us than you finding out after typing everything in.
Pick how it looks
Six looks, from a plain classic sheet through a bold top band to a shop ticket, and your initials go on automatically until you upload a logo. See all six.
How to send it
Most customers want the paper on their phone, so the invoice goes out by WhatsApp, text or email, or as a link that needs no app and no account on their side. Or download the PDF to print it or keep it for your own records.
Questions
Should mobile work be charged differently from shop work?
Yes, and say so before you drive out. A mobile fee as its own line is easier to defend than a higher hourly rate the customer has to work out for themselves.
How do I price a repair I have not seen yet?
Give an hourly rate, a minimum, and a cap you will call before exceeding. Put all three on the estimate — it is the only honest way to quote a job you have not looked at.
How do I invoice a repair that took less time than the minimum?
At the minimum, and say so on the invoice as its own line. A minimum charge that appears for the first time on the bill reads as a markup; one the customer heard about on the phone reads as the cost of turning up.
How do I bill shielding gas, wire, rod and grinding discs on a welding invoice?
Either itemize them or use one "Consumables" or "Shop supplies" line, but say which on the estimate. Itemizing suits a big job that burns through a cylinder of argon mix or a spool of wire; a single flat line suits small repairs where counting rods is silly. What causes complaints is folding consumables into the hourly rate on one job and adding them on the next.
What do I put on the invoice when the customer brings their own steel?
Note it as customer-furnished material, with the sizes and quantity they supplied, and bill only labor, consumables and finishing. Add a line saying you are not responsible for the grade, condition or any shortage of supplied material, since you cannot vouch for steel you did not buy. If you had to cut away rust or replace a bad piece, that goes on as its own line.
Should my AWS certification or welder qualification go on the invoice for structural work?
For structural, pressure or code work it is common to list the certification, the process and the position you are qualified in, or to attach the welder qualification record. Whether it is required depends on the project spec, the engineer and the local building department, not the invoice itself. Ask them what paperwork they need before the job, so the inspector is not waiting on it at the end.
Should I charge for steel by weight or by the foot?
Suppliers often price by weight while customers think in feet, so show both where you can: "2 x 2 x 3/16 square tube, 40 ft". State whether you bill the full stick or only what was used. If the job needed a 24-foot length and the remaining drop is no use to anyone, billing the whole stick is common, and a line saying so prevents the question.
Do I bill aluminum and stainless at a different rate than mild steel?
Many welders do, or bill the same rate and more hours, because aluminum and stainless are usually TIG welded, run slower and need more cleanup. They also use different filler and often pure argon, and stainless may need back-purging. Name the metal and process on the labor line, such as "TIG weld, 304 stainless", so the higher figure has a reason printed beside it.
Do I charge sales tax on custom fabrication or only on the metal?
It varies by state. In many, building a new item, such as a gate, railing or trailer rack, is treated as selling a product, so the fabrication labor can be taxable along with the steel, while repair labor on an existing item is treated differently from state to state. Keep fabrication, repair labor and material on separate lines, and check with your state department of revenue.