The short version
Real estate invoices are usually settled out of a transaction rather than paid from a bank account, which means the invoice has to be precise about the property, the completion and exactly what the fee was earned on.
What goes on a real estate professional invoice
Six things, in the order they belong on the page. The invoice generator opens a real estate services document with the lines already in place, so most of this is checking rather than typing.
- Identify the property as the primary reference. Address first. It is how every party to the transaction files the document.
- State the fee basis. A percentage of the sale price, a flat fee, or a monthly management percentage.
- Show the calculation, not just the result. Sale price, percentage, fee. A single figure invites a recalculation by someone else.
- Separate marketing and disbursements from commission. Photography, listings, floorplans and certificates are costs, not commission.
- Reference the completion or tenancy date. It is what makes the fee due and what the payer will look for.
- On management work, itemize the month. Rent collected, commission, repairs paid, net remitted.
The lines a real estate professional invoice usually carries
These are the lines the generator opens with when you pick Real estate services. The figures are a starting point to type over rather than a going rate: this site runs no pricing survey, and the number on your invoice should be the one you charge.
| Line | What it covers | Qty | Opens at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property marketing package | Listing written and published to the portals, with floorplan and description. | 1 | $600 |
| Professional photography | Photographs of the property shot and edited for the listing, including the exterior. | 1 | $350 |
| Viewings and coordination | Arranging and hosting viewings, and passing feedback back to you after each one. | 1 | $450 |
| Contract and paperwork handling | Preparing and chasing the paperwork through to exchange, and keeping both sides informed. | 1 | $300 |
Add, rename, reorder or delete any line, and set tax per line where it applies. Priced as they open, that comes to $1,700 before tax.
A worked real estate professional invoice, filled in
This is the same job as the table above, written out the way it would leave your phone. Every figure on it is a starting point rather than a going rate, and the tax line is shown at ten per cent purely so the arithmetic is visible: set your own rate, or none, per line.
INVOICE
Bill to
Your client name
Client address
Work carried out at
Job address
Job or order reference
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property marketing package | 1 | $600 | $600 |
| Professional photography | 1 | $350 | $350 |
| Viewings and coordination | 1 | $450 | $450 |
| Contract and paperwork handling | 1 | $300 | $300 |
| Subtotal | $1,700 |
| Tax at 10% | $170 |
| Total due | $1,870 |
Late payment. State your own rate and when it starts, so it is agreed before the due date rather than argued after it.
Subtotal $1,700, tax $170, total $1,870. The parts worth copying are the structure rather than the numbers: the job reference next to the client, every line separately priced with its count showing, the tax on its own line, and terms that name a number of days instead of saying on receipt.
Commission, flat fees and showing the arithmetic
A commission invoice is one of the few documents where the payer can and will recalculate the figure themselves, usually in the middle of a stressful transaction.
Show the working: the agreed price, the percentage, the resulting fee, any tax, and the total. It takes one extra line and it turns a number that has to be trusted into one that can be checked in five seconds.
Where the fee is flat, or tiered, or has a minimum, state that structure on the invoice rather than only in the agency agreement. Nobody in a completion week is going back to a document they signed four months ago.
Marketing costs, and the fee that was not the commission
Photography, floorplans, energy certificates, portal listings, boards and premium placement are real costs and they are frequently the part of a property invoice that gets challenged.
Itemize them at cost with the item named, and state whether they are payable regardless of a sale. That is the crucial clause, because a withdrawn instruction is exactly when these charges get disputed, and it is exactly when the wording written in advance decides the outcome.
Keep them off the commission line entirely. Combining them makes an entirely reasonable marketing spend look like an inflated percentage.
Property management, and the monthly statement that doubles as an invoice
Management income works differently from transaction income: it is small, monthly and paid by netting off rather than by a transfer, which makes it the most misread invoice in the sector.
The document a landlord wants is a statement: rent due, rent received, management commission at the stated percentage, repairs and contractor invoices paid on their behalf itemized, any float held, and the net amount remitted with the date.
Every one of those lines should be there even when it is zero. A landlord reading a statement with no repairs line assumes something is missing, where a landlord reading repairs, none this period is satisfied and does not call you.
Hourly, fixed price or per unit: how real estate professionals price the work
Property work is paid out of a transaction rather than from a bank account, which makes when the fee becomes due as important as what it is. Commission, flat fee or management percentage, the invoice has to show the arithmetic because the payer will redo it.
| Model | Where it wins | What it quietly costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on completion | Sales, where the fee tracks the value achieved | Nothing is earned until it completes, so a fall-through costs you the whole file |
| Flat fee | Lettings, listings, fixed-service models | It is the same fee on a difficult property as an easy one |
| Monthly management percentage | Portfolio and single-property management | It is small and recurring, so the statement has to be readable or it gets queried |
On management work the document a landlord actually wants is a statement rather than an invoice: rent due, rent received, your commission, repairs paid on their behalf, and the net remitted. Include every line even when it is zero, because a missing line reads as missing information.
Working out what to charge
This guide is about what goes on the document, not what the number should be, and nobody should hand you a rate for your own market. What the site can do is the arithmetic: the freelance rate calculator works back from what you need to earn, the service price calculator prices a service against your costs, and the profit margin calculator checks what is left once the job is done.
Writing it on your phone, in five steps
Most real estate professionals write the invoice standing next to the work rather than at a desk a week later, and the week later version is the one that gets details wrong. The generator is built for the first case.
- Open it with your trade already chosen. The real estate services invoice loads with property marketing package and the rest of the lines already on the page.
- Put the client and the job reference in first. It is the part you will not remember accurately in three days, and on agent, landlord or contractor work it is the reason the invoice gets paid at all.
- Edit the lines rather than starting from empty. Change the quantities and the rates, delete what you did not do, add what you did. Keeping the descriptions means the wording stays consistent from one job to the next.
- Set the terms to 7 days and add a payment link. A due date that is an actual date gets chased. A link and a QR code means it can be settled before you have packed up.
- Send it before you leave. The clock on your terms starts when the invoice arrives, not when the work finished, so every day it sits unsent is a day added to getting paid.
Getting paid once it is sent
Put a due date and your terms on the document, because an invoice without them is hard to chase. Add a payment link and a QR so settling up is a tap rather than a transfer somebody has to set up. When part of it lands, the receipt maker records it as a part payment and prints the balance still due. If the due date passes, the late fee calculator works out what your own terms allow and writes the chasing letter to go with it.
Five dates decide whether a real estate professional gets paid on time, and four of them are set before the work starts.
Mistakes that cost real estate professionals money
- Commission without the calculation. The payer recalculates it themselves and finds a different number.
- Marketing folded into commission. A reasonable cost that makes your percentage look inflated.
- No position on costs if the sale falls through. The exact moment those charges get disputed.
- Management statements without a repairs line. A landlord assumes information is missing and calls.
- No completion or tenancy date. Nothing on the invoice says why the fee is due now.
Real estate services invoice questions
How do I write a real estate invoice?
Put the property address first, state the fee basis, show the calculation rather than just the result, separate marketing and disbursements from commission and reference the completion or tenancy date. The generator opens a property services invoice with commission, marketing and disbursements already listed.
Should I show how the commission was calculated?
Yes. The payer will recalculate it anyway, usually during a stressful week. Showing the price, the percentage and the resulting fee turns a figure that must be trusted into one that can be checked.
How do I charge for marketing costs?
At cost as itemized lines, kept off the commission line, with a stated position on whether they remain payable if the instruction is withdrawn or the sale falls through.
What should a property management statement include?
Rent due and received, management commission at the stated percentage, repairs and contractor costs paid on the landlord behalf, any float held, and the net amount remitted with its date. Include every line even when it is zero.
When is a commission invoice due?
Whatever the agency agreement says, usually on completion or on exchange, and the invoice should reference that date explicitly so it is clear why the fee is payable now.
How do I invoice a referral fee?
As its own document referencing the property, the introduced party and the agreement the fee arises under, with the calculation shown. Referral fees are the most commonly disputed line in the sector because the basis is rarely restated.
What should a real estate invoice include?
Your business and the client, the property address, the fee basis with the calculation shown, marketing and disbursements itemized at cost, the completion or tenancy date, the total and your payment terms.
Free real estate professional invoice template
The free real estate professional invoice template opens with the lines above already priced, in any of 200 designs, and exports a print-ready PDF with no signup and nothing saved to a server. If you would rather edit a file offline, there are 72 Word templates, 72 Excel templates with the totals already calculating, and 72 fillable PDFs.
Invoicing guides for related trades
The same billing questions come up next door. These four guides cover the trades closest to real estate professionals, and each one sits alongside its own free template.
Every trade has one: see all 46 invoicing guides, or go straight to the 46 free invoice templates they describe.
Everything on this site, set up for real estate professionals
The whole toolkit, with the reason each one matters to real estate professionals rather than in general. The five marked links open with real estate services already selected.
Make the document
Five of these open with real estate services already selected, so the first line is property marketing package rather than an empty row.
- Invoice Generatoropens set to this trade. The real estate professional invoice this guide describes, priced and ready to edit.
- Quote Generatoropens set to this trade. Quote first: an agency agreement stating the fee and when it is earned. Converts to the invoice without retyping.
- Receipt MakerRecords money on account or a stage payment against the matter.
- Recurring InvoicesFor real estate professionals billing the same client on the same day every month.
- Purchase OrderBill against a client order number, which is what gets it through their finance team.
- Work OrderInstruct a subcontractor or associate with the scope agreed in writing.
- Cost Estimatoropens set to this trade. Build the job up from materials, labor and margin before you quote it.
Templates and files a finance team will accept
The same real estate professional lines, in whatever file the client system needs.
- Real estate services invoice templateThe template this guide is written about, with the real estate professional lines already on it.
- 200 invoice designsopens set to this trade. Put those lines in any of 200 designs and keep the one you like.
- 72 Word templatesEdit offline, or send a file a client can fill in themselves.
- 72 Excel templatesThe totals calculate themselves, which matters on a long line list.
- 72 fillable PDFsType into the fields and print, with nothing to install.
- Google Docs templatesCopy to your own Drive and edit from a phone.
- Google Sheets templatesSame totals, shared with whoever does your books.
- Blank invoice templatesA plain document for the engagement that does not fit a standard scope.
- Quote templatesA priced quote on paper, for a client who wants the figure before the work.
- Estimate templatesAn indicative figure that is explicitly not a fixed fee.
- Receipt templatesProof of payment for a client who needs it for their own records.
- Work order templatesThe scope, the site and the authorisation, before anybody drives out.
Work out the number first
This guide is about the document. These are for deciding what goes on it.
- Freelance Rate CalculatorWork back from what you need to earn a year to the rate a real estate professional has to charge.
- Service Price CalculatorPrice a service against your own costs rather than against what somebody else charges.
- Profit Margin CalculatorCheck what is actually left on a real estate professional job once materials and time are paid for.
- Break-Even CalculatorWork out how many projects a month cover your costs before anything is profit.
- Salary CalculatorCompare what the work pays against an employed equivalent.
- Sales Tax CalculatorAdd or strip tax on a figure before it goes on the invoice.
Get it paid inside its terms
Terms of 7 days is the shape this guide assumes. Deposit: marketing costs payable up front on some models.
- Payment links and QR codesA link and a scannable code on the invoice, so paying is a tap.
- Late fee calculatoropens set to this trade. Works out what your own terms allow and writes the chasing letter.
- Payment terms guideWhich terms actually get invoices paid, and the exact wording to use.
- Deposit invoicesWhen to ask, how much, and how the final invoice shows the balance.
- Chasing an unpaid invoiceThe reminder, the call, the overdue notice, then what comes after.
- Progress billingBilling a long job in stages so you are not funding it yourself.
- Invoice numberingA numbering system that never repeats and never skips.
- Change ordersPricing extra work in a way the customer has already agreed to.
Read next
- All 46 invoicing guidesThe same guide, written for every other trade on the site.
- 46 trade invoice templatesEvery trade, each opening with its own lines already priced.
- Invoicing glossaryPlain definitions of the words on an invoice, a quote and a job.
- The blogLonger pieces on quoting, billing, tax and getting paid.
- All 24 toolsEverything on the site in one list, including the ones not named here.