#4 Choosing How My Invoice Should Look

Day 4: Meera had the basics sorted. Her business name was there, the address looked right, and her logo finally appeared where it should.

But the invoice still did not quite look like hers.

Her old studio used invoices that were clean, tightly laid out, and always looked the same. So Meera spent an afternoon getting her Zoho Invoice template right.

She has barely touched it since.

The Usual Way To Do This

The most common template questions are covered in our Templates FAQ.

The short version: start with a template that is already close to what you want, then customize it instead of trying to build everything from scratch. You can change things such as fonts, colours, labels, columns, organization details, headers, and footers.

Start here: PDF Templates — Overview. If you want to create another version without disturbing your existing one, see Create Template.

For most businesses, that should be enough. But sometimes the requirement is a little more specific.

You May Be Facing One Of These:

I need my invoice to look like the one from my previous system
I want the same signature on every invoice
I have a fixed design that I need to follow
My invoice keeps running onto a second page
My language is not displaying correctly

I want to match the invoice from my previous system

You can customize quite a lot without starting over.

Open your template and use Edit Template to work through the fonts, colours, labels, columns, header, footer, and other available options.

Rather than trying to copy the old invoice pixel for pixel, focus first on the parts where your customers actually recognize your branding, the information shown, and the way the invoice is organised.

And before making major changes to the template you already use, it is a good idea to create another version. That gives you something to fall back on if the experiment does not quite work out.

I want my signature on every invoice

First decide what kind of signature you actually need.

The same signature on every invoice — if your requirement is simply to display an authorized signature consistently, set up the document so that the signature does not have to be added manually every time. You can do it by following the steps here.

A signature collected for each transaction — that is different. You may need the signature to be captured when the document is handled.

The important part is not to make your team repeat a manual step if the signature is meant to be the same every time.

No template looks exactly like what I need

Before deciding that none of the templates work, spend a little time with the customization options.

Sometimes what looks like a completely different design is really just:

A different column arrangement
Fewer fields
A smaller header
Different labels
Different fonts
A different footer

Start by looking into the Zoho Invoice template gallery, then try to edit an existing template and see how close you can get.

If your design requirement is fixed by a client, printer, or business process, that is when it is worth checking the other template options available to you.

My invoice runs onto a second page

Before shrinking everything, look at what is taking up the space.

Check for:

Columns you do not actually use
Long notes or terms and conditions
Large fonts or spacing
A large logo or organization header
Extra information that does not need to be printed

Removing one unnecessary column or shortening a large block of text can sometimes bring the invoice back to one page without making it difficult to read.

If your invoice content is running onto a second page, you can try using a different invoice template. Some templates have a more compact layout and may help fit the invoice details onto a single page.

Go to Settings > PDF Templates > Invoices > + New > Choose and preview a suitable template > Customize if required > Save and set it as default.

You can manage your templates from Templates under Settings.

My language appears as boxes or strange characters

If your text is correct but the PDF displays boxes or unsupported characters, check the font used by the template.

The font needs to support the language or script you are using.

Try another supported font and preview the invoice again before sending it.

Go to Settings > PDF Templates > Invoices > Edit the required template > Template Properties > Font > Select a font that supports your language > Save.

On your phone: The mobile app is great for creating and sending invoices while you are away from your desk. For detailed template customization, it is easier to do the setup from the web and then use that configured template when invoicing from your phone.

If It Still Is Not Right

Check which template you are editing. If you have multiple templates, make sure you are changing the one you actually use.
Preview after making changes. This is the easiest way to catch a layout problem before your customer does.
Check the logo and header separately. If everything else looks right, the issue may simply be with the image or organization details.

If it still does not look right, write to support@zohoinvoice.com with the template name, a copy of the PDF, and an example of what you are trying to achieve.

Over To You

Did you stick with one of the default templates, or did you make it completely your own?

And if you successfully recreated the look of an invoice from your previous system, share what you changed. One other user may find it useful.