Free invoice template
Web design invoice template: billed by milestone.
A web studio's milestone invoice: 40% on design approval, a separately approved change request, and the monthly hosting and care plan. Open it, make it yours, download the PDF.
- 25 to 50%
- deposit before work starts
- 3 milestones
- design, staging, launch
- Monthly
- hosting and care, billed on its own line
The lines on this invoice, and why
| Line | What it tells your client |
|---|---|
| Milestone 2: design approved | Name the milestone, its share of the project fee, and the date it was approved. The client pays for a step they signed off, not for time. |
| Change request: booking integration | Anything outside the agreed scope, on its own line, with when and how it was approved. Never folded into a milestone. |
| Hosting and care plan: October 2026 | Hosting passed through, updates and backups as a monthly retainer. Separate lines keep the project closed while the care plan runs on. |
A deposit, then milestones
A deposit of 25 to 50% before work starts, then payments at design approval, staging and launch, keeps you paid for the work already done. Put the project total and the percentage on each milestone line so the client can see where they are.
Hand over the site on final payment
Source files, admin access and domain transfers are your leverage: say on the invoice that they transfer when the final milestone is paid, and set the launch date after the payment, not before.
Scope changes are their own invoice line
"While you're at it" requests are where web projects lose money. Quote them, get a yes in writing, and bill them as a change request with that date.
Wording you can copy
Payment due within 15 days. Launch is scheduled once milestone 2 is paid. Source files and admin access transfer on final payment.
Invoices more than 15 days overdue incur a late fee of 1.5% of the balance per month.
Questions
How much deposit should a web designer take?
25 to 50% is common. The bigger the project, the more milestones; the deposit covers discovery and the first design round.
Should hosting be on the project invoice?
Bill it on its own line, monthly. It isn't part of the build, and it continues after the project is done.
When do I hand over the files?
When the final milestone is paid. Say so in the terms on every invoice, not just the contract.
Sources: WebSnp: milestone payments in web design · Noroff: contracts for web projects
Written by the BillGrid team. Checked .
