A Christmas light invoice with footage by run, deposit received, balance due, tax line and pay link, worked to $1,977.05 with $1,383.93 owing at install.
A Christmas light installation invoice needs 9 things a generic trade invoice does not have: footage by run at the per-foot rate, the jumps and peaks counted, the premiums, the add-ons, the deposit received, any partial payments, the balance due, the tax line and registration number, and a pay link. The template below has all of them, laid out the way GlowBid prints its own. The worked example runs to $1,977.05 with $1,383.93 owing on install day.
It is not legal or tax advice. What an invoice must show depends on where you are and how much the sale is; the CRA's fields for Canada are in the table further down, and an accountant should look at your tax line before your first season.
Jobber's free invoice generator, read on September 7, 2026, is a good generic trade invoice: unique number, issue and due dates, contact details, line items, subtotal, tax, discount, total, payment terms and a thank-you. It needs an email address, the free tier is five invoices a month, and there is no lighting field on it, so footage by run, deposit received and the lease season are yours to type in. Etsy lists invoice templates for lighting installers in Word and Canva bundles; the page refused our request today, so we cannot say what fields they hold. DocHub and pdfFiller return contract forms for this search, not invoices.
None of them print the deposit as a minus against the total, and none know what a jump is.
Job
Agreement: [Permanent install / Seasonal install / Seasonal service on customer-owned lights / Seasonal lease, season [1] of [3]]
Installed: [date] | Takedown scheduled: [January 2 to January 31, weather permitting]
Lighting, as measured on site
Line
Footage or count
Rate
Amount
Roofline
[112.0] ft
$[8.00] per ft
$[896.00]
Ridge line
[ ] ft
$[ ] per ft
$[ ]
Peaks (incl. peak pitch premium)
[36.0] ft
$[9.00] per ft
$[372.60]
Jumps (unlit cord between runs)
[14.0] ft
$[4.00] per ft
$[56.00]
Ground and walkway
[40.0] ft
$[5.00] per ft
$[200.00]
Trees
[30.0] ft
$[6.00] per ft
$[180.00]
Jumps x [ ] (flat)
[ ]
$[ ] each
$[ ]
Peaks x [ ] (flat)
[ ]
$[ ] each
$[ ]
Add-ons and adjustments
Line
Qty
Each
Amount
Timer
[1]
$[45.00]
$[45.00]
Wi-Fi controller
[ ]
$[ ]
$[ ]
Wreath [size] / garland [length]
[ ]
$[ ]
$[ ]
Rush scheduling
$[ ]
Discount ([reason])
-$[ ]
Minimum job $[1,500.00]
$[ ]
Totals
Subtotal
$[1,749.60]
[HST 13 percent]
$[227.45]
Total
$[1,977.05]
Deposit received [date]
-$[593.12]
Payment received [date] ([method])
-$[ ]
Balance due
$[1,383.93]
How to pay
[E-transfer to billing@yourcompany.example / cheque to Company name / card at the link below]
Pay online: [payment link]
Footage was confirmed on site on the install date. The season's service on the lights we installed is included; see your agreement for the takedown window and storage terms.
Thank you for your business. Please contact us with any questions about this invoice.
That is the whole document. It fits on one Letter page.
Footage by run, at the rate. A homeowner who sees "Christmas lights, $1,977.05" compares it to the neighbour's number. One who sees 112 ft of roofline at $8, 36 ft of peaks at $9 plus the pitch premium and 14 ft of jumps at $4 compares it to their own house. The footage line is also next year's estimate: the re-install pricing guide starts from the footage on last year's invoice.
Jumps and peaks as counts. If your rate card charges a flat amount per jump or per peak on top of the footage, the invoice shows the count, so three jumps is three jumps and not a mystery number.
Deposit received as a minus. The total the customer agreed to and the amount they still owe are different numbers, and both belong on the page. The deposit line is also the receipt for the deposit; the deposit and payment schedule guide covers 50/50, 40/40/20 and lease instalments, and the invoice has to be able to show any of them.
Partial payments. Some homeowners pay half on install day and half on payday. A ledger with a date and a method per payment ends the "I already paid that" call.
The tax line with the registration number. In Canada the number belongs on any sale of $100 or more including tax. Label the tax by name and rate ("HST 13 percent" in Ontario) rather than "Tax", and the GST and HST guide for lighting quotes covers whether to quote tax-in or plus tax.
Agreement and season. A lease customer in year two needs to know this is season two of three and that the price matches the schedule they signed. A seasonal-service customer needs to see that the lights are theirs and the line is labour.
The pay link. The invoice that gets paid in the driveway is the one with a card link on it. Deposits collected through GlowBid go through Stripe Connect, with Stripe processing plus a platform margin under 1 percent shown before you connect.
Takedown scheduled. One line that stops the January phone calls. GlowBid prints the takedown window on the agreement rather than the invoice; on a paper invoice, put it here.
The two-storey from our estimate template, with a walkway and a tree wrap added, invoiced on install day. Every rate is a GlowBid default on the C9 seasonal line; the only settings of our own are the HST label and rate, which the default card leaves at zero for you to set.
The deposit was 30 percent of the total, GlowBid's default, collected by card when the agreement was signed in October. The install crew confirmed the footage with a tape on the day, and it matched the photo estimate, so the lines are the same as the estimate. If the tape had found 118 ft of roofline instead of 112, the roofline line would read 118 ft at $8 and the agreement's measurement clause would explain the $48. You can draw the same roofline in the free tool and see the footage come out by run.
The CRA's guide for GST/HST registrants lists what an invoice must show so the buyer can claim input tax credits, by the total of the sale including tax. The bands, from the guide's table on September 7, 2026:
Total sale
What the invoice must show
Under $100
Your business or trading name, the invoice date, the total paid or payable
$100 to $499.99
All of the above, plus the GST/HST amount or a note that it is included, the status of each supply if some are exempt, and your registration number
$500 or more
All of the above, plus the buyer's name or trading name, a brief description of the property or services, and the terms of payment
Every lighting invoice is in the last band, so print all of it every time. The provincial rates are on the CRA rates page; Ontario is HST at 13 percent. US installers replace the tax line with their state and local sales tax where lighting services are taxable, which is a state-by-state answer for your accountant.
Invoicing the full total with no deposit line. The homeowner pays it, you refund, or they call. Total, deposit received, balance due, every time.
No due date. "Due on completion of install" is a date. A blank is a suggestion.
"Tax" with no name, rate or number. In Canada that invoice cannot be used for an input tax credit, and a commercial customer will send it back.
Sending it before the lights are on. A balance invoice a week before install reads as a demand for money you have not earned.
No pay link. An e-transfer address alone means the payment happens tonight, or Sunday, or never.
A lease invoice with no season on it. In year two the homeowner cannot match the bill to the schedule they signed.
Footage copied from the estimate, not the tape. The invoice is the record; if the site number moved, the invoice shows the site number.
The takedown window nowhere on paper. January's phone calls all start with "when are you coming?"
How GlowBid prints this from the signed agreement#
In GlowBid the invoice is not a form you fill. The runs you drew on the customer's photo carry the footage, your rate card carries the per-foot prices, premiums, add-ons, minimum job, deposit percent and tax label, and the signed agreement carries the type and the season. The invoice prints every line in the table at the top of this page from those three things, with the balance due in gold and your pay link under it. Core prints "Made with GlowBid" in the footer; Pro and Ultimate do not.
The same numbers are on the quote the homeowner signed, so the invoice cannot disagree with it. Founding pricing starts at $299 a year for Core on the pricing page, with a 7-day trial and no card required.
FAQ
Questions installers ask
Is this invoice template legal or tax advice?
No. It is the invoice we send, laid out so the lighting-specific lines are there. What your invoice must show for tax depends on where you are and how much the sale is; in Canada the CRA's registrant guide lists the fields by sale size, and US sales tax rules are state by state. Have your accountant look at the tax line and the registration number before your first season.
What has to be on a Christmas light invoice in Canada?
For a sale of $500 or more including tax, the CRA's guide for GST/HST registrants lists your business name, the invoice date, the total, the tax amount or a note that it is included, your registration number, the buyer's name, a description of the service and the payment terms. Every lighting invoice is over $500, so print all of it every time.
Should the invoice show the deposit or just the balance?
Both, on separate lines. Print the full total, then the deposit received as a minus, then the balance due. A homeowner who paid $593.12 in October and sees an invoice for $1,383.93 in December with no deposit line will call you, and the one who sees only the balance has no record that the total was ever agreed. GlowBid prints total, deposit received, any partial payments, then balance due.
When do you send the invoice, at install or before?
The deposit is collected when the agreement is signed, and the balance invoice goes out the day the lights are on, due on completion. Sending it before install invites a payment for work not yet done, and sending it a week after invites a slow payer. Put the pay link on it so the homeowner can pay from the driveway while the crew packs up.
How do I invoice a multi-year lease?
One invoice per season, and it says which season. GlowBid prints a line such as 'Seasonal lease: season 2 of 3' above the total so the homeowner can match it to the schedule they signed. The per-season price comes from the agreement, flat, declining or with an escalator, and the takedown and storage that season are included rather than billed as lines.
Do I put the footage on the invoice or only on the estimate?
On both, by run. The footage on the invoice is the footage confirmed on site, so if the estimate said 112 ft of roofline and the tape said 118, the invoice shows 118 at the per-foot rate and the agreement's measurement clause explains the difference. Footage by run type is also the record you need to price the re-install next year without measuring again.
