How to write a locksmith invoice

What goes on a locksmith invoice

Six things, in the order they belong on the page. The invoice generator opens a locksmith document with the lines already in place, so most of this is checking rather than typing.

1. Give the call-out its own line. It covers travel and attendance, and it is different money from the lock.
2. State the out-of-hours rate before you use it. A three in the morning price agreed at three in the morning is a bad conversation.
3. Separate entry from the hardware. Opening a door and supplying a new cylinder are two charges, and often the customer only needed one.
4. Name the lock standard you fitted. ANSI grade, insurance-rated or otherwise. Insurers and landlords need this on paper.
5. Record how many keys were handed over. Key counts become disputes on rental and commercial property.
6. Note whether entry was non-destructive. If you drilled, say why. If you did not, say so, because it is what the customer paid extra for.

The lines a locksmith invoice usually carries

The generator opens with these lines when you pick Locksmith. The figures are placeholders to type over, not a going rate.

Add, rename, reorder or delete any line, and set tax per line where it applies. Priced as they open, that comes to $355 before tax.

How to write a locksmith invoice, step by step

1. Record the time you arrived. Open the locksmith invoice and note the call-out time in the description. If it fell inside your out-of-hours window, the rate that applies is the one you published, not one you decide at the door.
2. Say how you got in. Non-destructive entry, or drilled with the reason. A customer who later wonders why the lock was destroyed can read the answer on the invoice.
3. Name the lock you fitted. Make, model and the standard it meets. Insurers ask for it, and it is how the next locksmith knows what is on the door.
4. Count the keys handed over. Three keys cut and tested, handed to the named person. On landlord work, that count matters when a tenant moves out.
5. Get it paid before you drive off. Emergency customers are rarely there next week. Set 7 days for accounts, but offer the payment link and QR code on the doorstep.

Locksmith invoice example, filled in

An evening lockout that ended with two locks replaced and three keys cut. The call time and arrival time are on the document, so the out-of-hours rate never has to be explained on the doorstep a second time.

Subtotal $355, tax $35.50, total $390.50. The entry and keys note does more work than any of the prices: it records that nothing was drilled, what standard is now on the door and how many keys exist. Two locks at $110 and three keys at $15 are each shown with their count.

Emergency pricing, and stating it before the emergency

The reputational risk in locksmithing sits almost entirely in emergency callouts, where the customer has no time to compare, no way to check and no ability to refuse.

The defense is a rate card that exists in advance. Publish the day rate, the evening rate and the night and weekend rate, quote from it on the phone, and then invoice the exact figures you quoted. The invoice matching the phone call is the whole of the trust in this trade.

Where the job turned out to be different from the description on the phone, say so on the invoice in a line of plain words. A customer who understands why the price moved does not leave a review about it.

Entry, hardware and the upgrade the customer did not ask for

A lockout and a lock replacement are separate jobs that frequently happen in the same visit, and the invoice should let a customer see they were charged for both rather than one inflated service.

Line one is attendance and entry, with a note on whether entry was non-destructive. Line two is the replacement cylinder or lock case with the product named and its standard stated. If you upgraded the hardware, the price difference belongs on its own line so it reads as a choice rather than a substitution.

This is also where you protect against a common complaint in the trade, which is a customer feeling that a lock was destroyed unnecessarily. If drilling was the only route, write the reason on the invoice at the time, not later from memory.

Landlords, agents and insurance-rated work

A large part of steady locksmith income is not emergencies at all: it is landlords changing locks between tenancies, agents securing empty property and insurers requiring specific hardware.

Those invoices need the property address as the reference, the number of keys supplied and to whom, the lock standard fitted, and a works order number where the agent gave one. Insurance-rated work in particular is worthless to the customer if the invoice does not name the standard, because the invoice is what they send to the insurer.

Terms should be in days rather than on completion, and the same descriptions should be reused between properties so an agent can process a batch without reading each one.

Hourly, fixed price or per unit: how locksmiths price the work

Locksmithing is priced on a rate card rather than on a quote, because the work is bought on the phone by somebody standing outside their own house. The card is your entire defense against the reputation problem this trade has, and it needs to exist before the call.

Quote from the card on the phone and invoice the exact figures you quoted. In a trade where the customer cannot compare, cannot check and cannot refuse, an invoice that matches the phone call is the whole of the trust.

Working out what to charge

Locksmith prices depend on your area, the hour and the hardware you carry, so a rate from a web page cannot be yours. The service price calculator sets a call-out price from your own travel and time, and the markup calculator sets the margin on locks you supply.

Getting paid once it is sent

Most locksmith work is paid on the doorstep, so the payment link and QR code are the terms; save the 7-day invoice for landlords and agents with an account. If the due date passes, the late fee calculator works out what your terms allow and the due date calculator sets the new date.

Five dates decide whether a locksmith gets paid on time, and four of them are set before the work starts.

Mistakes that cost locksmiths money

• One figure for the whole visit. The customer cannot tell the entry from the lock.
• Out-of-hours rate never published. It gets negotiated at the worst possible time.
• Lock standard unnamed. The customer cannot satisfy their insurer with your invoice.
• Key count not recorded. Every tenancy change becomes a dispute.
• Drilling not explained. It reads as damage rather than as the only option.

Locksmith invoice questions

Free locksmith invoice template

The free locksmith invoice template opens with the lines above already priced, in any of 3 designs made for the trade, and exports a print-ready PDF with nothing saved to a server. Opening a design needs a free account.

Invoicing guides for related trades

Everything on this site, set up for locksmiths

The whole toolkit, with the reason each one matters to locksmiths rather than in general. The four marked links open with locksmith already selected.