A free, editable invoice template built for freelance translators — with the line items and billing conventions your clients expect. Load the example, make it yours, download the PDF.
Translation invoices are arithmetic made visible: word counts, per-word rates, language pairs. That transparency is a strength — but only when the invoice also carries the lines that arithmetic hides: minimum fees, certification surcharges, and rush premiums.
The word count itself deserves precision. State whether it's source or target text — for language pairs that expand in translation, the difference is real money, and specifying it on the invoice ends the discussion before it starts.
New here? Start from realistic translator line items.
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Translators bill per source word for most work, with a stated minimum fee for small jobs, per-hour for editing and MTPE, and flat surcharges for certified or sworn translations. Specialised domains (legal, medical, patents) command visibly higher per-word rates — the invoice states the domain rate, not a generic one.
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Translation EN→DE — website copy, 8,400 source words @ €0.14 | 8400 | 0.14 | 1,176.00 |
| Certified translation surcharge — 2 official documents | 2 | 45.00 | 90.00 |
| MTPE — product descriptions, 5,000 words @ €0.09 | 5000 | 0.09 | 450.00 |
Example figures for illustration — replace with your own scope and rates.
No minimum fee. A 180-word certificate at standard per-word rates prices out to pocket change — while consuming the same admin, delivery, and certification overhead as a real job. Professionals put the minimum on the invoice (€40–60 is common) and small jobs stop being charity.
Not sure your underlying rate is right? Run the numbers in the freelance translator rate calculator — typical rates for translators run $30–$80/hour. And if an invoice goes quiet, use our late-payment email templates to chase it politely.