For the trades
Invoicing for electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians
Service work lives or dies on the same day. If the invoice does not leave with you, it competes with everything else in your evening — and gets paid a week later than it should.
What usually goes wrong
Invoices written up at the end of the week
Parts get forgotten and hours get rounded down. Build the invoice on site from saved line items and issue it before the next call.
Payment instructions the customer cannot follow
Save your Interac e-Transfer email and account name once and every invoice carries the same clear instructions, with the invoice number as the memo so deposits reconcile themselves.
Chasing small balances by hand
Invoices roll to overdue automatically on their due date in your own timezone, and reminders go out on a schedule you set.
The tax reality for service trades
Service calls, labour and parts are generally taxable supplies. The rate follows the place of supply — the customer's location for most residential and commercial service work — not where your shop is registered.
Because parts and labour can occasionally have different treatment, CollabNorth sets the tax profile per line rather than assuming one rate for the whole invoice.
If you work across a provincial border, keep the registrations you actually hold — GST/HST, QST, PST or RST — stored separately, and the right numbers appear on the invoices they belong on.
What you get
- GST, HST, QST, PST and RST handled per province
- Interac e-Transfer instructions on every invoice
- Registration numbers and CRA-required fields built in
- Automatic overdue rollover and reminders
Common questions
- Can I invoice from my phone at the customer's house?
- Yes. The builder works as a four-step flow on mobile — header, items, tax and notes, review — and you can issue and email the invoice before you leave the driveway.
- Can I save my usual service call and parts prices?
- Yes. Save them once in your product library and pull them onto any invoice, with the tax profile already set.
- Do I charge tax on labour as well as parts?
- Generally yes — labour on a taxable supply is taxable. The rate follows the place of supply, and CollabNorth applies it per line so parts and labour can be treated differently where they need to be.
Send your first invoice in two minutes
The Starter plan is free while CollabNorth is in Early Access. No card required.
General information only — not accounting, legal or tax advice. Confirm details with the Canada Revenue Agency or your accountant.