Getting paid starts before an invoice becomes overdue. Agree on who pays, record the work by horse, send the invoice promptly, and check the payment against the balance. This workflow works with a notebook, a spreadsheet, or a farrier app.
Before the visit: confirm the payer and the price
The person holding the horse may not be the owner or the person responsible for the bill. Ask who approves work, who receives the invoice, and whether several owners need separate invoices. Record the answer with the client's billing details.
Explain your service price and any travel or material charges before doing the work. Give the client the payment due date and the payment methods you accept. A clear agreement is easier to reference than a price introduced for the first time on an invoice.
At the stop: turn completed work into clear line items
- Check which horses were actually seen. Keep a canceled horse out of the completed-work total.
- Record each horse, service, quantity, and agreed charge. Identify additional materials separately when appropriate.
- Check the payer and delivery address. A shared barn address does not imply one shared bill.
- Give the invoice a unique number, issue date, due date, and payment instructions.
- Keep a copy of what you sent. Sending an invoice does not mean it has been paid.
The free farrier invoice template lets you prepare an itemized invoice and print or save it as a PDF from your browser. For your ongoing records, compare the farrier invoicing workflow.
A payment message you can adapt
Hi [name], attached is invoice [number] for [horse names] on [service date]. The total is [amount], due [date]. Please pay using [accepted method and instructions] and include [invoice number] as the reference. If any detail needs correcting, reply here. Thank you, [business name].
Use only the payment instructions for your own account. Avoid including a different owner's personal details when several owners use the same barn. Review the message before sending it yourself.
Worked example: a partial payment is not a paid invoice
Fictional example, in USD: invoice HF-104 totals $220. A $150 payment arrives with HF-104 as the reference. Record that receipt against HF-104, leaving $70 open. Do not replace the original invoice with a new $70 invoice, which could make the same work appear to have been billed twice.
If the deposit is $150 but has no reference, confirm the payer and invoice before allocating it. If a payment provider deducted a fee, keep the gross payment, fee, and net deposit distinguishable for your bookkeeper.
Give the routine a regular review point
At the end of the day, compare completed visits with issued invoices. At your regular bookkeeping review, compare receipts with open balances. That reveals missed billing, unapplied payments, and genuine overdue accounts as different problems requiring different actions.
For an invoice that has already passed its agreed due date, use the overdue invoice follow-up guide. For a repeatable closing routine, use the end-of-day checklist.