To get paid for freelance graphic design jobs, you will have to create and submit an invoice to your employer. Drafting an invoice for your work is quite simple, but there are several aspects that must be included to ensure you are paid as soon as possible. Below is a step by step guide to drafting an invoice for your work.

Top: Identify the Parties and Respective Positions

The name, address, telephone number and email address of yourself and the employer should appear at the top of the invoice. Title this section "Invoice," and make the date of the invoice clear. The invoice date can be either the date you submit the invoice or the range of time that you worked for the employer. Your information should be on the left if you place the information side by side, and on the top if vertically typed.

You may also want to number the invoice. This is particularly important if you will be submitting multiple invoices to the same employer. An invoice number will make it easier for you and the employer to reference the correct invoice should there be questions.

Middle: Work Description and Completion Dates

The middle of your invoice should contain a list of completed work and the date of completion, if your work was delivered at different times. If you are paid based on the amount of time you worked on a particular assignment, such as in hours, make sure to include this time as it is essential to your calculation of the total amount due. Creating columns for the job description, assignment date, completion date, pay rate and amount due is an easy way to make sure you include all necessary information. Creating and inserting a basic table in a word processing program will suffice.

This section also contains the calculation of amounts owed by the employer. Depending on how you are paid, you will need to calculate what you should be paid for each piece of work. For example, if you are paid hourly, you will need to calculate the number of hours worked by the agreed upon hourly rate.

Bottom: Total Due, Date Due and Your Signature

The bottom of the invoice should contain the total amount due to you and the date it is due for the entire invoice. Add up the total amount for each assignment and make that amount clearly visible and larger than the other information on the invoice. Including a date due for payment makes it more likely that you will be timely paid. If there has been no discussion of the due date for payment, a two week period is standard.

The signature line is essential because by affixing your signature to the invoice states that you have checked the invoice and are entitled to the amount due. You should also date the invoice. While this may seem redundant, dating the invoice in your own hand shows that you have reviewed the invoice and submitted it timely. Do not type your name or date onto the invoice, but do both by hand.