Are you looking to offer discounts on your invoices but unsure how to do it effectively? You’ve come to the right place! Offering discounts is a proven way to build trust and keep customers coming back. By clearly showing discounts on invoices, you can improve transparency and show clients the value they’re getting through working with you. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of offering discounts, different types you can use, and how to easily apply discounts using free tools. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents:
What is a Discount on an Invoice?
A discount on an invoice is a price reduction you offer to your clients for various reasons. It can be to reward loyalty, encourage early payments, or incentivize booking larger projects. It’s a way to show appreciation to your clients and also drive more business or accelerate payments.
For example, if you charge $1,000 for a project, you might offer a 10% discount for clients who pay upfront, reducing the total to $900. Or, you could offer a 15% discount for clients who commit to multiple projects at once. These discounts should be clearly displayed on the invoice, so your client can easily see what they are saving.
Benefits of Offering Discounts
Here are the 3 main benefits for offering discounts.
- Strengthens Client Relationships: Offering discounts can help build stronger, long-term relationships with your clients. When you offer deals like a percentage off for repeat work or a discount on bundled services, clients feel valued and are more likely to come back for future projects.
- Encourages Faster Payments: Offering a discount can encourage clients to settle their invoices faster.
- Boosting Client Satisfaction: Offering discounts makes your clients feel like they are getting a good deal, and it also helps build a positive image of your business. When clients feel they’re saving money, their satisfaction increases, and they’re more likely to refer you to others.
Now that you know what a discount on an invoice is and the benefits of offering discounts, let’s look at how to properly display a discount on an invoice to ensure clarity and transparency for your clients.
How to Show Discounts on an Invoice?
When including a discount on an invoice, it’s important to focus on two things: making the discount clear and highlighting the savings. Here’s how you can do that:
Be Clear and Transparent:
Your client should immediately understand what the discount is, how it’s applied, and how much they’re saving. To ensure this, include the following on your invoice:
- Original Price: Show the full price of the service or product before applying the discount. This helps your client see the value they’re getting.
- Discount Percentage or Amount: Clearly state the discount, whether it’s a percentage (e.g., 10% off) or a fixed dollar amount (e.g., $50 off).
- Final Price After Discount: After applying the discount, list the total amount the client needs to pay. This makes it easy for them to follow and understand how the discount affects the final cost.
Pro Tip:
According to Jonah Berger, marketing professor and author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, the way you frame your discount is very important. Berger’s “Rule of 100” suggests using percentage discounts for items under $100 (e.g., 10% off sounds better than $5 off on a $50 service). For higher-priced services or projects over $100, a fixed dollar amount works better (e.g., $200 off is more attractive than 20% off a $1,000 project). Keep this in mind when applying your next discount—it could make a significant difference in how your clients perceive the deal! You can easily apply percentage discount or flat rate discount using free to get started tools like CheckYa
Highlight the Savings:
Clients appreciate knowing exactly how much they’re saving, so consider including a specific section or line on the invoice that highlights the total savings. For example, “You saved $100 with this discount!” makes your client feel valued.
Different Types of Discounts to Show on an Invoice:
Here are some common types of discounts you can offer and how to display them on an invoice:
- Percentage-Based Discount: This is one of the most common discounts, such as “10% off” the total project cost. For example, if the total cost is $1,000, a 10% discount would reduce the final price to $900. This type of discount is great for quick calculations and is easy to apply.
- Fixed Amount Discount: This discount subtracts a specific dollar amount from the total. For example, “$50 off” on a $1,000 project brings the total down to $950. This is useful for services with fixed pricing.
- Early Payment Discount: Offering a discount for early payments is a smart way to encourage clients to pay sooner. For instance, “5% off if paid within 7 days” on a $1,000 invoice brings the total to $950 if they pay quickly.
- Volume or Bulk Discounts: For clients who commit to multiple projects or larger orders, you can offer a discount for booking more services at once. For example, “15% off for booking three services together” helps incentivize larger engagements and shows you appreciate their business.
Example Invoice with A Discount:
Here’s an example of how you can display a discount on an invoice.
Note: This invoice is created for free using CheckYa. You can also create a similar invoice with discounts by signing up here.
Using CheckYa, you can add discount to each line item, as shown in the example below. 
In the following section, we’ll show you how to apply a discount to an invoice step by step using a free tool.
How to Add a Discount on an Invoice Using a Free Tool: A Step by Step Guide
Now that you understand the different types of discounts, let’s look at how you can apply them to an invoice using CheckYa, a free invoicing tool that makes adding a discount to your invoice easy. The best part about CheckYa is that it allows you to create professional invoices, apply discounts, and offer multiple payment options to your clients, without any upfront cost or needing to input your credit card information.
- To get started, visit www.checkya.com and sign up for a free account. It only takes a few minutes, and once you’re set up, you can jump straight into creating your first invoice.
2. Add your basic information such as your client’s details (like their name and email), you business information, invoice number etc., You’ll also have the option to choose the currency for the invoice. CheckYa supports over 135 currencies, so it’s perfect if you work with clients internationally.
3. Once you’ve got the basic information filled in, the next step is to set up your payment methods. With CheckYa, you can offer your clients a wide variety of payment options. By connecting Stripe or PayPal, you can give them the choice to pay through Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit or debit cards, ACH, and more. By offering more payment options you make it easier for your clients to pay you faster
4. Now comes the part where you add discounts. As you’re listing your services or products on the invoice, you’ll have the option to apply a discount. You can choose either a percentage-based discount, such as 10% off, or a flat-rate discount, like $50 off. This way, your clients can easily see the savings on their invoice, whether it applies to a specific item or the total amount.
Pro Tip:
For invoices under $100, use percentage-based discounts, and for invoices over $100, go with flat-rate discounts. This follows Jonah Berger’s Rule of 100, which maximizes the perceived value of the discount in your client’s eyes.
- Finally send the invoice. Once your invoice is ready, you can either export the invoice as a PDF or send it directly via email from within the platform.
Additional Benefits of Using CheckYa:
- Automated Payment Reminders: You can set up automatic reminders to notify your clients 2 days before their payment is due. This helps in reducing late payments and removes the need for manual follow-ups.
- Pass on Transaction Fees: You can choose to pass on 50-100% of transaction fees to your clients, helping you keep more of your earnings.
- Invoice Tracking: You can easily track all your invoices—whether they are paid, unpaid, or overdue through CheckYa’s comprehensive dashboard. This gives you a clear overview of your cash flow and keeps everything organized.
Conclusion:
Now that you’ve understood how to show discounts on your invoices, and have examples and a free tool like CheckYa to help you apply them, you’re all set to start offering more value to your clients. By using discounts effectively, you’ll make your invoices more transparent and also create stronger relationships and speed up payments. It’s easy to get started, so give it a try and see how adding discounts can benefit both your business and your clients.
