Do you know it is easy to create your own online invoice generator in a free way? This tutorial shows you the detailed steps that you can easily follow.

Here on UniformSoftware.com, we offer 400+ free invoice templates in Excel format. In How do I use your invoice templates, we demonstrate how to use a template with the locally installed Excel (included in Microsoft 365). Microsoft 365 is a paid product. What if you don't have it? What if you want to do online invoicing?

In fact, it is easy to build your own online invoice generator. The basic idea is to upload your local invoice template to an online spreadsheet system, such as Microsoft for Web or Google Docs. Microsoft 365 for the Web is a free version of Microsoft 365 that you can access via a web browser. Simply sign up for a Microsoft account using a new or existing email address. On the web, you can use free versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other programs.

  1. Find and download the template as described in How do I use your invoice templates.
  2. Double-click the self-extracting zip file to extract the templates.
  3. (Optional): If you have locally installed Microsoft 365, you can open the lite version (the file with the word "lite" in its name) and customize it locally.
  4. Visit Microsoft 365 for the web.

    The home page of Microsoft 365 for the web

  5. Sign in with an account. If you don't have an account yet, create one for free.
  6. Click Upload in the Quick Access section.
  7. Browse to open the template you downloaded. Be sure to choose the "Lite" version, which does not contain the buttons that work with Invoice Manager.
  8. The lite version of the template links to our free Invoice Manager Lite app. The lite version of the app isn't as powerful as Invoice Manager but still does useful things like automatically generating sequence invoice numbers, one-click to clear the entire invoice form, filling in the invoice date, etc.

    Upload an invoice template

  9. Select the text box that says, "This template is the lite version of..." and hit the DEL key on your keyboard to delete it.
  10. Right-click and select the "UniformSoftware.com" logo image; hit the DEL key on your keyboard to delete it.
  11. Go to the Insert ribbon tab. Click Pictures and then This Device. Browse to and upload your logo image.
  12. Enter your business information, like company name, address, contact number and tax number.
  13. Now you can create your first online invoice. Click and activate the Commands tab of the Invoice Manager Lite pane (right side).
  14. Click Clear and New. This clears all the fillable fields; fill in the next invoice number you should use and the current date in the proper fields. As you can see, it is much easier to use Invoice Manager Lite. Without it, you would have to clear the fillable fields one by one.

    Start creating invoice

  15. If you fill in the quantity and unit price fields, the line total and total fields are automatically calculated. This means the Excel formulas work fine in the online invoice template.

Note that the web version of Microsoft 365 does not support VBA macros. You can open an Excel file containing macros, but the macros won't run. This means that if you download any template here that contains a macro and then upload it online, the form layout will work fine, but the macros won't.

Besides the 400+ templates available here, you can also find many invoice templates available online, such as Microsoft Create. In fact, you can turn any local Excel invoice template into an online version. On the other hand, Invoice Manager Lite works only with the templates published here.

One drawback of this invoice generator is that it does not save data to a database file. This makes it hard to offer advanced features such as picking existing customers and products, recalling previous invoices, reporting, etc. So, it is suitable for businesses that invoice clients only a few times each month. If you invoice a lot, consider Invoice Manager, which works with the locally installed Excel (Microsoft 365).

In conclusion, by using the free resources available, it is easy to create your very own online invoice generator. Excel offers many tools for you to customize the form layout, which makes the online invoice generator able to produce beautiful and professional invoices.