How to Invoice for a Local Delivery Order
A local delivery invoice reconciles three things a buyer remembers separately: the goods, the delivery itself, and what they have already paid. Put each on its own visible line — goods itemized, delivery as a separate charge, any discount as an open reduction, any payment already made as a credit — and the total is the only number left to agree on.
Build it in the buyer's order of thinking
- Goods first, itemized — the products with quantities and prices, described as the buyer ordered them.
- Delivery as its own line — the agreed fee for the run (“Local delivery — Saturday route, Nov 8”). Separate, because it was agreed separately and because buyers check it separately.
- Discount as an open line — a regular's 10% shows as a reduction after the goods, not as quietly lowered prices (the seller template shows the same discipline).
- Money already paid as a credit line — if they paid a deposit or paid for the goods upfront and only delivery is outstanding, a negative line referencing it keeps the total honest.
The already-paid trap, and the two clean ways out
Local delivery blurs payment timing — buyers pay at ordering, on the doorstep, on account. The trap is an invoice whose total says one thing while reality says another. Two clean patterns avoid it. Pattern A — document of record: the invoice shows the full order and its full total, and the notes state precisely what was paid, when, and what remains (“Paid £31.27 by card Nov 6; balance due £4.00 — delivery”). Pattern B — balance-only: the invoice lines show only the outstanding delivery charge, with a reference line “Goods (invoice/order of Nov 6) — paid in full, £0.00” so the document explains itself. Either is defensible; mixing them — full total, no paid note — is how a good customer gets asked for money they already handed over. The FAQ's answer on invoicing after an order is paid states the same rule from the buyer's side.
Whichever pattern your shop uses, use it every time — consistency is what makes your records readable in April. Open the maker, four movements on four lines, and the delivery run is documented before the van is unpacked.
Standing orders and weekly regulars
Local delivery breeds rhythm: the café that takes the same loaves every Friday, the household with a weekly box. Rhythm tempts sellers into a monthly summary on a scrap of paper — resist it past the smallest scale. Keep the per-delivery invoice habit (each run documented, each total small and checkable) and, if the customer prefers one payment, let them settle several numbered invoices in a single transfer that references the numbers. The documents stay granular — a query about one Friday touches one document — while the money stays convenient. The moment a summary replaces the documents, a missing delivery or a wrong price becomes an argument about a month, conducted from memory, and memory is the one system nobody should run a shop on.