Free Consulting Invoice Template for Google Sheets

The consulting invoice template is a free Google Sheet for independent advisors. It is built for the way consulting engagements are actually billed: a monthly retainer, a day or hourly rate, a project split into milestones, and client-approved costs passed through on their own lines. Duplicate it per invoice, export a PDF, and send it. When you want that invoice created in the product and the payment kept with your expenses, send it from Avery.

Who it's for

• Consultants and independent advisors billing projects, retainers, or hourly advisory work.
• Practices that need engagement language — retainer, milestone, day rate — on the face of the invoice.
• Independent contractors doing advisory work who want the same fields as a contractor invoice, with consulting examples already in place.

General freelance delivery (a design, a draft, a build) fits the freelance invoice template better. Link clients there when the work is not a consulting engagement.

What's inside

The sheet uses the same setup as the freelance invoice: header, line items, tax, balance due, payment instructions, and a tab you duplicate per bill. The examples are the consulting ones.

• Engagement header — practice details, client, invoice number, invoice date, due date, and a terms block.
• Retainer line — one period, one fee, labeled with the month or the scope.
• Milestone lines — discovery, delivery, and final presentation as separate amounts.
• Hourly or day-rate lines — quantity times rate, in USD.
• Pass-through line — travel, software, or a specialist billed through at the agreed amount.
• Tax and balance due — formulas under the lines, with payment instructions under that.

How consultants fill an invoice

A strategy retainer is a single line: the month, the advisory scope, and the flat fee. A fixed engagement is three lines with their own amounts — kickoff and discovery, the working delivery, and the final readout — so the client pays the milestone that was completed. Advisory time is a count of hours or days beside the rate in the statement of work.

Pass-through spend stays out of the fee. A client-approved flight, a dataset license, or a contractor you paid on their behalf gets its own line, described as a reimbursable expense, at the amount you are billing through. Your books can then show the original cost and the reimbursement as two clear entries.

Name the currency. This template expects USD; if the contract uses another currency, write that currency on the invoice and in the payment block so an international client is not guessing.

Sales tax or VAT, if the engagement requires it, is a calculated line under the fees and the pass-throughs. The cells store a rate you type. They do not determine whether consulting services are taxable where you or the client sit. This is general information, not tax or legal advice — confirm collection, exemptions, and late-payment terms with a qualified professional.

When to add Avery

The Google Sheet is the free invoice. Copy it, change the engagement language, and send a PDF with no account. It will not remind the client or drop the fee into a profit and loss statement on its own.

Avery Pro brings accounts, expenses, invoices and reports together in the mobile and web apps. Business adds recurring invoices, payment reminders and advanced bookkeeping tools. If you prefer a spreadsheet workflow, Avery for Google Sheets imports transactions from supported accounts, with categories and rules for you to review. Compare the plans. The free template also works with manual entry.

Keep going

Questions about freelance rates, late fees, and tax lines live on the freelance invoice questions page. Consultant-specific answers — retainers, milestones, day rates, and pass-throughs — are on the consulting invoice questions page.

• Freelance invoice template
• Self-employed profit and loss template and the profit and loss statement template
• Income and expense tracker
• Freelancer expense tracker, self-employed expense tracker, and Schedule C expenses
• 1099 write-offs and deductions
• How much to set aside for 1099 taxes and quarterly taxes for the self-employed
• Sinking funds tracker for the cash you hold back
• Mileage log for taxes

Build a regular review around your invoices with our freelance bookkeeping guide.