Invoicing for tilers, with preparation priced where it belongs.
A flat, dry, primed substrate is half the job and none of the glory. Bill it separately from the tiling and the price stops looking like adhesive plus a day.
Free forever No card No account needed to start
The customer buys tiles and thinks that is the project
A homeowner picks tiles, sees a price per square metre in the shop, and builds an expectation from it. What they have priced is the covering. What you are quoting is levelling a floor that falls twelve millimetres across the room, priming a wall that was never sealed, tanking a wet area, cutting around a waste, and then tiling.
The gap between those two numbers is where tiling quotes get questioned. It closes the moment the invoice lists preparation, waterproofing, tiling and grouting as separate lines, because each one is obviously a different piece of work.
Wastage is real, so put a number on it
Nobody tiles a room with exactly the square metres measured. Cuts, breakages, pattern matching and diagonal layouts all consume tiles, and a customer who supplied their own material and runs short blames the tiler. Stating a wastage allowance on the quote, typically expressed as a percentage over the measured area, converts a future argument into an agreed number.
The same discipline applies to what is under the tile. Adhesive type, levelling compound and tanking are not optional extras invented at invoice time, they are what makes the work last. Named on their own lines, they read as competence. Hidden in a lump sum, they read as padding.
What a tiling business gets
Invoice Local is built for a phone on a dusty windowsill, not a laptop you will open at the weekend.
Tiling work that gets billed
Domestic bathrooms, commercial floors and contract work all use the same builder, because the invoice is written line by line.
On every tiling invoice
These invoices go to builders and homeowners alike, and both need to see how the total was reached.
- Business name, your logo on Pro, and any trade registration
- A sequential number, or a builder specific series where required
- Issue date, due date and the terms behind them
- Every line with quantity, rate and total, including measured areas
- A tax line only when you charge tax
- The property address where it differs from the billing address
- Deposit and stage payments with the balance calculated
- A print ready PDF that opens correctly for a site office
What tilers search for, and what the invoice has to show
On the left, the searches that lead here. On the right, the detail that keeps a tiling invoice from being renegotiated.
How tilers find this app
- tiler invoice app
- tiling invoice template per square metre
- how to charge for floor levelling before tiling
- invoice app for a bathroom job with a deposit
- offline invoice app for a tiling contractor
- free invoicing app for a self employed tiler
Lines that justify the price
- Measured area with the rate per square metre
- Substrate preparation and levelling, named
- Tanking or waterproofing priced separately
- Wastage allowance as an agreed percentage
- Adhesive and grout type where it affected cost
- Supply only or supply and fit, stated plainly
From last grout joint to invoice sent
Four taps while the buckets are still on site.
- Open the accepted quoteArea, preparation and deposit already on it.
- Confirm the measuresActual square metres tiled, which may differ from the estimate.
- Add extras agreed on siteAdditional levelling or a change of tile, with the date it was agreed.
- Send itEmail for builders, WhatsApp for homeowners, message already written.
A bathroom, priced the way it was worked
An illustrative invoice where preparation and tanking are visible, which is what makes the tiling rate look reasonable.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Substrate preparation, level and prime floor, 6.2 sqm | $310.00 |
| Tanking to shower area and wet wall, 4.8 sqm | $265.00 |
| Wall tiling, 18.4 sqm at $42 | $772.80 |
| Floor tiling, 6.2 sqm at $48 | $297.60 |
| Adhesive, grout and silicone | $186.00 |
| Deposit received on acceptance | −$500.00 |
| Balance due, net 7 | $1,331.40 |
Example only. Areas and figures are illustrative and are not a guide to tiling prices in your area.
A tiling invoice template you can print or fill in
Two pages. The first is the worked example above as a finished document, so you can see what a clear one looks like. The second is the same sheet blank as an invoice, with the line descriptions this trade actually uses, and the amounts left empty because what you charge is yours.
Questions tilers ask
What does it cost?
Unlimited invoices and quotes are free forever, including saved customers, saved line items and sending by WhatsApp or email. Pro is $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year and adds five more designs and removes the small watermark.
How do I handle a customer who supplies their own tiles?
State supply only on the invoice, and agree a wastage allowance in writing before you start. Customer supplied material is where tilers absorb the most unbilled time, because running short mid job becomes your delay even though it was their order.
Should preparation be a separate line?
Yes, always. Levelling, priming and making good is often more hours than the tiling itself and it is invisible once the tile is down. A customer who sees it as a line understands the price. One who does not see it assumes you charged a lot per square metre.
Can I take a deposit for materials?
Yes. Record it against the accepted quote and the balance invoice deducts it automatically. On a job where you supply the tiles, that deposit is the difference between funding the customer bathroom yourself and not.
Can I invoice a builder plot by plot?
Yes. Save the builder as the customer, use their reference, and issue one invoice per plot with the areas measured. Contractors pay faster when an invoice can be matched to a plot without an email exchange.
Does it need a signal on site?
No. Invoices are created and stored on the phone, so a stripped bathroom with no wifi changes nothing. Anything created offline syncs later if you have signed in.
Which devices does it run on?
Android phones and tablets through Google Play, and any modern browser at app.invoicelocal.com. There is no iPhone app yet, so on an iPhone you use the browser version, which builds and sends the same PDF from the same account.
Other trades working inside the same building
If you still build invoices by hand, the free invoice template is a plain starting point. The invoicing guides cover the paperwork questions that come up most, and the comparison pages are there if you are weighing Invoice Local against another app.
Show the preparation, keep the price
Free forever for unlimited invoices and quotes. Pro is $4.99 a month for the extra designs and no watermark.