A design invoice has a job most invoices don't: it has to say not just what you made, but what the client is allowed to do with it. Get the billing structure, revision limits, and usage rights onto the invoice itself and you close the two disputes that plague designers — "can you make one more small change?" and "we used the logo on billboards, so what?"
Package or hourly — and how each looks as a line item
Most design work fits one of two structures, and your line items should make it obvious which one you're using.
Fixed-price packages work for anything with a definable end state: a logo, a brand kit, a set of social templates. The line item names the deliverable and its contents, not your time:
Logo design package — 3 initial concepts, 2 revision rounds, final files ... $1,200
Hourly works for open-ended production work: ongoing marketing collateral, retouching, deck cleanup. The line item shows hours × rate, and ideally what the hours went to:
Production design, Sept 1–15 (pitch deck revisions, 2 one-pagers) — 11 hrs @ $85 ... $935
Mixing them on one invoice is fine — a package line for the logo, an hourly line for the extra icons the client added mid-project. What kills you is ambiguity: a line that says "Design work ... $1,800" invites the client to keep requesting changes forever, because nothing on paper says the work had a boundary.
Put the revision limit on the invoice, not just the contract
Your proposal probably said "includes two rounds of revisions." Repeat it on the invoice. Two reasons:
- The invoice is the document the client actually rereads when they want more changes. The proposal is buried in an email from six weeks ago.
- When you bill for a third round, the earlier invoice line that said "includes 2 revision rounds" is your receipt that round three was extra.
Bill extra rounds as their own line: "Additional revision round (round 3, requested Sept 4) — $250." Never silently absorb it into the package price on the next invoice; that trains the client that revisions are free.
Usage and licensing as separate lines
Design fees and usage rights are two different products, and pricing them together undersells both. A logo used by a two-person Etsy shop and the same logo used in a national ad campaign are not worth the same amount — the design fee covers your labor, the license covers the value of the use.
On the invoice, that looks like:
| Line | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Illustration — hero artwork for homepage | The creative work itself |
| License: web use, worldwide, 2 years | Where, how long, and how broadly it may be used |
| License extension: print collateral | Added scope, priced separately |
Even when you grant broad rights (common for logos, where clients expect full ownership), say so on the invoice: "Includes full transfer of rights to final logo upon payment." That last clause — upon payment — matters. Tie the rights transfer to payment clearing and an unpaid invoice becomes something the client actually needs to resolve, not just an annoyance they can ignore while using your work.
File delivery terms: what they get, and when
Spell out in the notes or terms exactly which files ship and when. A workable default: final files (AI, EPS, SVG, PDF, PNG) delivered on receipt of final payment; working files (layered, editable source) not included unless purchased. Designers who hand over everything on approval, then invoice, have given away their only leverage. Deposit up front, watermarked or low-res proofs during revisions, finals on payment.
A worked example
Here's a brand-identity invoice showing all of it together — package line, a billed extra round, a separate license line, and delivery terms doing real work.
Example: brand identity invoice with licensing and an extra revision round
A fixed-price package, a separately billed third revision round, and a usage-rights line — with file delivery tied to payment in the terms.
Note the deposit reference: the earlier deposit invoice is named by number, so the client's bookkeeper can reconcile both documents without emailing you.
Send it in two minutes
Every structure above — packages, quantities, license lines, notes and terms — works in the free invoice generator for freelancers: no signup, no watermark, PDF built in your browser, with your logo on it (naturally). If you invoice the same clients monthly, autosave keeps your last invoice ready to duplicate and renumber.