The business
MakeUp Eraser sells a reusable cloth that takes off makeup with water, and its store at makeuperaser.com ships to customers across the United States.
What a US direct-to-consumer invoice has to show
A shopper who buys a cloth or two wants a short document. What was bought. What it cost. What tax applied and where the order is going.
The tax row is where US stores differ from the rest of the world. There is no federal VAT. Each state sets a sales tax and many cities and counties add theirs, so the percentage depends on where the parcel lands. Some states tax shipping and some leave it out, which is why a clean line-by-line split of goods, tax and freight saves a support email.
A brand like this also gets requests that fall outside the cart, such as a retail partner asking for a written quote on a bulk order. Shopify draft orders cover that case, and the document for it is a quote.
How MakeUp Eraser uses PDF Invoice
MakeUp Eraser has used the app since 2021. The account has a Quote template for draft orders, a Blue Order template for order documents, and templates for refunds and packing slips. The customer-facing invoice uses the Blue Invoice template, and quote documents for draft orders are switched on. Documents follow the shop's primary language, English.
Blue Invoice keeps the page plain. The seller block and the invoice number, date and amount sit at the top, and the billing address and payment method come next, followed by the item table and the totals. A thank-you line closes it.
The sample on this page is a quote, the account's default document. The Quote template heads the page with the word QUOTE, then the draft order name, date and amount, the supplier, billing and shipping blocks, and an item table of quantity, item, price and subtotal. Price and Subtotal both show the line total. A buyer who approves a quote sees the numbers that will land on the invoice. The quote and the invoice both come in the Blue family with the order document, so the pages look related.
The sample is invented. A buyer in San Diego, California asks for a price on two pink cleansing cloths, a seven-day set and a travel pouch, and the lines add up to $92.00. The quote shows a $92.00 subtotal and a California sales tax row at 8.75% for $8.05. No shipping row appears. The grand total is $100.05, and the footer says the quote is valid for 14 days.
Results
More than 250,000 documents sent between 2021 and 2024. At that volume the template has to do the same thing on every document. Quotes ride on the same account for the occasional bulk request.
The merchant supplied no figures on time saved or revenue, and none appear here.
Start with the Blue Invoice template
If you ship thousands of orders, start with one invoice template and keep the fields few. Subtotal, tax, shipping, total. Add the quote template when a partner asks for one, and leave it off until then.