invoice

American  

[in-vois] / ˈɪn vɔɪs /

noun

• invoices
  plural

1. an itemized bill for goods sold or services provided, containing individual prices, the total charge, and the terms.

2. the merchandise or shipment itself.

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verb (used with object)

• invoices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• invoiced,
  past participle,  past
• invoicing
  present participle

1. to present an invoice to.

   The manufacturer invoiced us for six whiteboards.

2. to present an invoice for.

   five chairs invoiced and shipped last month.

verb (used without object)

• invoices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• invoiced,
  past participle,  past
• invoicing
  present participle

1. to prepare or submit an invoice.

2. to have a value if or when inventoried.

   The merchandise in stock invoiced far more than we expected.

invoice British  

/ ˈɪnvɔɪs /

noun

1. a document issued by a seller to a buyer listing the goods or services supplied and stating the sum of money due

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verb

1. (tr)

   1. to present (a customer) with an invoice

   2. to list (merchandise sold) on an invoice

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• uninvoiced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• invoices
  plural

Participles

• invoicing
  present
• invoiced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• invoice
  simple
• invoices
  simple
• have invoiced
  perfect
• has invoiced
  perfect
• am invoicing
  progressive
• are invoicing
  progressive
• is invoicing
  progressive
• have been invoicing
  perfect progressive
• has been invoicing
  perfect progressive

Past

• invoiced
  simple
• had invoiced
  perfect
• was invoicing
  progressive
• were invoicing
  progressive
• had been invoicing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will invoice
  simple
• will have invoiced
  perfect
• will be invoicing
  progressive
• will have been invoicing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of invoice

First recorded in 1550–60; variant of invoyes, plural of obsolete invoy, variant of envoy ¹

Explanation

An invoice is an itemized statement of the money that's owed for goods or services. If you buy books online, they will usually arrive with an invoice telling what books you bought and how much they cost. Invoice comes from the French verb envoyer, which means to send, and "send" is a verb often used with the noun invoice, like when the online bookstore sends you an invoice. The same sense occurs when you use invoice as a verb. If you tell someone to invoice you for work they've done, you're asking them to send you a bill.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

invoice invoices invoiced invoicing

Last year, Lee got an unexpected invoice from the Merced Irrigation-Urban Groundwater Sustainability Agency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

Employees who used to do invoice validation now spend time doing higher-level audits and reviewing the AI’s work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Because of that, they are “no longer interchangeable,” he said, which has led Nvidia and other hyperscalers to buy memory on longer-term contract basis instead of buying on invoice.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

Others are taking half the money upfront, then sending an invoice for the rest of the money before work is completed, or charging late payment fees.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

“And five bucks to get you home. Your total invoice is ten per week.”

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

“We’ve seen layoffs and furloughs, and we will see a lot more of that if these invoices aren’t paid.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

The grants run on an annual basis, and once a contract is in place, organizations can begin submitting invoices to be reimbursed for services such as rental assistance and emergency shelter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Once in, they can spot legitimate email threads about invoices and business matters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

Trading standards said Kismet Kebabs had sold so many kebabs over its years of offending that it took two officers 18 months to go through all their invoices and paperwork.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

I open the drawers beside the desk, but there’s nothing unusual, just the normal ledger keeping and invoices you’d expect for a tobacco farm.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

The responding NHS trusts invoiced a total of £223m for such treatments over the five-year period, but £112m was subsequently written off as bad debt.

From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2024

The city of Mesa unsuccessfully invoiced the campaign $64,477.56 for an October 2018 rally.

From Salon ● Nov. 4, 2024

An artist who offered me $14 an hour to be her assistant, then forgot to pay me when I invoiced.

From Slate ● May 18, 2024

Prosecutors allege that the firm invoiced UMP rather than the campaign.

From Reuters ● Nov. 24, 2023

In December 1511 she made an order for a set of stringed instruments for the Ferrara court which, Holman convincingly suggests, were ‘new design’ violins, invoiced to a maestro Sebastian of Verona.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Self-employed people might postpone year-end invoicing to the following year.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026

While official dollar reserve holdings remain relatively stable, trade invoicing is gradually shifting toward other currencies, signaling incremental diversification in global payments.

From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026

More businesses are signing onto Intuit’s QuickBooks platform in an effort to cut down on hours of administrative work by automating accounting, invoicing and payroll processes, CFO Sandeep Aujla said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025

The company said it was "working to clear a backlog of payments" to suppliers as it now had increased its processing capacity for invoicing.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025

We drove back to his home at Kirkersville, where, after invoicing and dividing profits, we dissolved partnership.

From Twenty Years of Hus'ling by Denslow, W. W. (William Wallace)