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.

---

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

---

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

With one client, for example, the pod started with a use case around automating invoice processing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

The invoice from the supplier contained the details of its Chinese bank account, and noted that the $650,000 payment should be routed via a U.S.-based clearing partner in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

The ban is only one month as Kyrgios has provided an invoice which shows he has paid for a treatment programme, which began on 28 August.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Lee learned the agency hadn’t yet started charging penalty fees, so the invoice was more of a warning than an actual bill.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

“If you would give me an invoice, I will take the matter up with Lord Fredrick as soon—well, as soon as he is done changing diapers.”

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

It is unclear whether the payment reflected in the invoices viewed by the Journal was ultimately made.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

In a settlement agreement reached last year, Conservice agreed to provide any California tenant disputing their bill with copies of invoices and formulas used to determine their specific charges.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

There were reports of vendors suing LIV over unpaid invoices, and of prize money being paid more slowly than normal - although BBC Sport understands that latter issue has been resolved.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

The simple fact is that U.S. tariff invoices issued by the Treasury Department are sent to the U.S. businesses that import the foreign products.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

She said she was just typing up invoices to send out for her business, the kind of mindless work she could do while keeping one eye on animated Legos.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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

The school invoiced the nonprofit for the last installment of these funds in December.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024

In response, the BBC provided "the fees incurred on legal advice and counsel fees which have been invoiced to and paid by the BBC to date" for both Ms Traynor's and Ms Ferguson's cases.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 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

However, in today’s business environment of electronic bank transfers and internet invoicing, this shouldn’t be a problem for most companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 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

But we won’t be trusted to take that on unless we can handle our procurement and our contracting and our invoicing.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023

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

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