Pressure washing invoice template for driveways, patios and walls

Why exterior cleaning is billed per square metre

Area is the fairest unit for flat surfaces. A 30 square metre patio and a 90 square metre block paved drive use very different amounts of water, detergent and time, and a price per square metre grows with them. Write the area and the rate on each line, such as 65 square metres at £4.00, so the total can be checked with a tape measure.

Measure before quoting and carry the same figure onto the invoice. If the customer adds the side path on the day, give it a new line rather than nudging the rate.

Example lines for a pressure washing invoice template

Each line should name the surface, the method and the area. The prices below are examples in pounds before VAT, there to show the unit rather than a going rate. Region, surface condition, access and how far you travel all shift the real number.

Clean, re-sand and seal as separate stages

A full driveway restoration is often three jobs over two or more days: clean, re-sand once the surface is dry, then seal. Give each stage its own line with the area. If the customer drops the sealing, you remove one line instead of re-pricing everything, and the invoice still matches the work.

Sealing needs dry weather and can slip by a week, so bill it on its own date once it is done.

VAT rules for UK exterior cleaners

You must register for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or you expect it to pass £90,000 in the next 30 days. Once registered, you charge VAT at the standard rate of 20% on standard rated work and normally issue the VAT invoice within 30 days of the tax point.

HMRC’s VAT Notice 700 lists what a full VAT invoice needs, including:

• A unique sequential number, the tax point and the issue date if different.
• Your name, address and VAT registration number, and the customer’s name and address.
• For each line, the quantity or extent, the VAT rate and the amount before VAT. Square metres count as the extent.
• The total before VAT and the total VAT in sterling.

You only have to give a VAT invoice to VAT registered customers, and a simplified one is allowed at £250 or less including VAT if they agree. The UK invoice template shows the layout, and adding VAT to an invoice walks through the sums.

Water, access and waste: the lines people forget

Some costs depend on the site, not the area. If there was no outside tap and you brought water in a bowser, carried kit through the house to a back garden, or bagged and removed moss and silt, bill each as a named line. Customers accept extras they can see; they question a rate that has quietly gone up.

• Water supply, when the customer has no usable tap.
• Moss and slurry removal, per bag or per visit.

Mistakes that slow payment

Driveway invoices are usually queried for one of two reasons: the customer cannot see how you reached the total, or the drive looks different from what they expected after the first rain. A few habits stop both.

1. A total with no area. ‘Drive clean, £260’ tells them nothing; 65 square metres at £4.00 does.
2. Billing the seal before it is done. Wait until it is on the ground.
3. Not noting existing damage. Loose blocks, cracked slabs and sunken edges belong in the notes, ideally with before photos.
4. Minimum charge and area rate on the same small job. Use one or the other and say which.

Open a sample driveway job

Download the layout in Word, Excel or PDF, or open the pressure washing sample in the generator, which loads a 65 square metre block paved drive with re-sanding and sealing, a sandstone patio and waste removal, all with VAT at 20%. Change the areas, add your logo and download the PDF.

If you add glass and gutters to your rounds, see the window cleaner invoice priced per window, and indoor work fits the carpet and upholstery cleaning invoice. The full set is in our invoice templates section.