Triplicate Invoice Books

About triplicate invoice books

A triplicate invoice book is a 3 part carbonless (NCR) book: every invoice is a set of three sheets, the original for the customer and two copies for you. Ours hold 50 sets per book, 150 sheets in total, printed in black ink with your own logo, business details and invoice layout, and bound with a manilla cover, a cardboard back, a wrap-around writing shield and black spine tape. Every sheet is perforated so the original and the second copy can be torn out and the third left in the book, or all three kept until the job is closed. Choose from A6, DL, A5 and A4.

If one copy is enough, our duplicate invoice books hold 100 sets for the same price per book. The personalised invoice books page covers both formats.

NCR, explained

Three letters you will see on every carbonless book: NCR, No Carbon Required. Older duplicate books needed a sheet of carbon paper slipped between the pages. NCR paper builds the copying into the paper itself. Under the top sheet sits a layer of dye sealed in capsules too small to see; the sheet beneath is coated to react with that dye. Your pen provides the pressure, the capsules break where the nib travels and your writing appears on the copy in exactly the same place. Each invoice is a set, so the copy carries your printed layout as well as the handwriting, and the same sequential number when the book is numbered.

How the copies are made

Fold the wrap-around writing shield behind the set you are using so your pen pressure does not reach the sets below. Write the invoice on the top sheet in ballpoint, with firm, even pressure. The writing transfers through the set as you go, so when you tear the original off along the perforation the copy beneath already carries everything you wrote. In a duplicate book the copy stays bound as your record; in a triplicate book two copies stay, so one can be torn out for the office and one left in the book. Gel and felt tip pens transfer poorly; a ballpoint gives the cleanest copy.

Because every sheet is perforated, you can also lift a copy out later for your accountant or bookkeeper and leave the rest of the book intact, or keep the whole book as a bound record of the year and file it when it is full.

Duplicate and triplicate compared

This product is the triplicate book. If one copy is enough, the duplicate invoice books hold 100 two part sets for the same price per book.

Triplicate Invoice Books at a glance

Options

Each choice below is a control in the order panel. Only the size, the format and the quantity change the price.

• Size: A6 (105mm x 148mm), DL (99mm x 210mm), A5 (148mm x 210mm), A4 (210mm x 297mm); see the size guide below.
• Format: triplicate only on this product, 50 sets per book. Duplicate has its own page.
• How many: 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 or 100 books, with the price per book dropping at each step.
• Numbering: sequential from your start number, or none; included either way.
• Perforation and binding edge: top or left.
• Design route: free design from scratch, free copy of your existing invoice, or your own print ready file.

Printing is black ink. Our personalised receipt books are the full colour option.

Who uses triplicate invoice books

Triplicate is for businesses where two copies of every invoice must go to two different places. It removes the photocopying, and each copy is a pressure copy of the original rather than a retyped version.

• Building and trades firms with an office: the client takes the original, the second copy goes to the site file or the van, the third to the office for the accounts.
• Delivery and haulage: a copy for the customer, a copy signed as proof of delivery for the driver and a copy for the depot.
• Garages and workshops: the customer's invoice, a copy for the vehicle history file and a copy for the parts department or the warranty claim.
• Hire and rental: agreement and invoice on one form, with a copy for the customer, one for the hire desk and one for the yard.
• Any business that pays commission or subcontractors: a third copy that goes to the person who did the work as their record of the job.
• Clubs, charities and schools: a receipt for the payer, a copy for the treasurer and a copy kept with the event or the Gift Aid record.

What we print on your book

Your layout is printed on every sheet of every set. Most customers include:

• Logo and trading name
• Address, telephone, mobile, email and website
• Company registration number and VAT registration number where you have them
• The document title (Invoice, Quotation or whatever the book is for) and the sequential number
• Invoice fields: date, invoice number, customer name and address, job address, order or reference number; item lines with description, quantity, unit price and total; a totals block for subtotal, VAT and amount due
• Payment details: bank name, account name, sort code, account number and payment terms
• Terms and conditions, a guarantee statement or a thank you line at the foot

Tell us what to include and our designers lay it out for you at no charge, or upload your own artwork and we print it as supplied after a proof. Printing is black ink, so light tints and pale colours are checked at the proof stage.

Numbering

Every invoice can carry a unique sequential number, printed on the original and on each copy so they match. Give us the start number with your order, for example 5001, and the run continues 5002, 5003 and onwards through all the books in the order; on your next order tell us where to pick up. Numbering is included in the price and we place it wherever your layout wants it. Numbered invoices satisfy HMRC's requirement for a unique identifying number on a VAT invoice and make a missing invoice easy to spot. The unnumbered option is there if you do not need it.

Which size?

Triplicate books come in four sizes. The third sheet copies best with firm, even pen pressure, which is another reason to allow enough writing room.

A6, 105mm x 148mm

A6, 105mm x 148mm, is postcard sized and made for receipts rather than itemised invoices. After the 20mm binding margin about 85mm x 148mm (left bound) or 105mm x 128mm (top bound) remains: a logo and contact line, date and number, four to six short lines, a total and a signature. It is the book that fits a shirt pocket or sits beside a cash tin, and it is the wrong choice if you need a VAT breakdown or bank details on the sheet.

DL, 99mm x 210mm

DL, 99mm x 210mm, is one third of an A4 sheet and the size a DL envelope takes without folding. Allowing 20mm for the binding edge you have about 79mm x 210mm (left bound) or 99mm x 190mm (top bound): a header, a number and date, a single column of six to ten lines with a price column, a total and a signature. Top bound it works as a tall receipt pad; either way the slip posts flat with the goods or the card.

A5, 148mm x 210mm

A5, 148mm x 210mm, is A4 folded in half and the most common size for a handwritten invoice. With 20mm reserved at the binding edge you keep about 128mm x 210mm (left bound) or 148mm x 190mm (top bound): header, customer and date block, six to ten item lines, totals and payment details. The book goes in a jacket pocket or a tool bag, the original folds once into a DL envelope, and most jobs fit on one sheet, which is why it is the default for mobile trades.

A4, 210mm x 297mm

At 210mm x 297mm, A4 matches the paper in every office printer and filing cabinet, which is why it suits an invoice that will be filed rather than pocketed. Keep 20mm clear at the bound edge and the printable area is still about 190mm x 297mm top bound or 210mm x 277mm left bound, enough for fifteen to twenty item lines, a VAT and totals block, bank details and terms on one sheet. It is the size to choose when the invoice carries the detail of the job, and the size to avoid if the book has to travel in a pocket.

Whichever size you choose, keep 20mm clear along the binding edge for the glue and the tape, and keep the sheet portrait.

For triplicate sets in a tear off pad rather than a bound book, see NCR pads. For a full colour book, see personalised receipt books.

What is included

• The number of books you order, each with 50 triplicate sets
• Your design printed in black on every sheet of every set
• A manilla cover, a cardboard back, a wrap-around writing shield and black spine tape on every book
• Perforation on every sheet, top or left
• Sequential numbering from your start number, if chosen
• Design from scratch or copied from your existing invoice, a proof by email and changes until you are happy
• Delivery to any UK address

There are no paid extras on this product. Numbering, design, proofing and delivery are all in the price shown.

Getting the design right

Whether we design it or you do, nothing is printed until you have approved an emailed proof, and changes to that proof are free and unlimited.

• Design from scratch, free: give us your logo and details and we set the invoice layout for you.
• Copy an existing design, free: a photo, scan or PDF of your current book is enough for us to recreate it with any updates.
• Your own artwork: print ready PDF, 300dpi, 3mm bleed, at the finished book size, 20mm clear on the binding edge; AI, EPS, PSD, JPG, PNG and DOCX accepted; up to 50 MB on the page or by email to sales@personalisedinvoicebook.co.uk. Printing is black ink, so colour in the artwork becomes greyscale and pale tints can print faint; we flag this on the proof.
• Not print ready? We tell you what is wrong, correct it free where we can or ask for a new file, and proof it before printing.

How your order is produced

1. Order online. Choose your options and pay by card. An order confirmation arrives by email.
2. Send details or artwork. Upload a file at the order stage, or email your logo and text quoting the order number.
3. Artwork check and design. We check your file, or design the layout from scratch or from your existing design, and prepare a proof.
4. Proof. The proof is emailed to you. Check spelling, telephone numbers, bank details and the start number: what you approve is what we print.
5. Approval. Approve the proof, or ask for changes and receive a new one. Turnaround starts from approval.
6. Printing and finishing. The sets are printed in black on carbonless paper, numbered, collated, perforated and bound with a manilla cover, a cardboard back, a wrap-around writing shield and black spine tape.
7. Quality check and dispatch. Each order is checked against the approved proof before it leaves, within 3 to 4 working days of approval.
8. Delivery. Free to the address on the order. Progress is shown on the order tracking page with your order number and email.

When will it arrive?

Printing and dispatch take 3 to 4 working days from proof approval. Because turnaround starts when you approve, the fastest orders are the ones where the details or artwork are sent with the order and the proof is approved the same day. Delivery is free anywhere in the UK, Highlands, Northern Ireland and Jersey included, and the order tracking page shows each stage. For a fixed deadline, check with us by email before ordering.

Price

What you pay depends on quantity, size and format. Bigger sizes cost more. The price per book drops at each quantity break from 5 books to 100. Numbering, perforation, design, the proof and delivery are all included, and prices are shown before VAT. The order panel and the price table on this page carry the current price for every combination, so we do not repeat them here. For more than 100 books or anything outside the standard options, use the bespoke quotation form.

Triplicate Invoice Books in use

• A roofing contractor writes the stage invoice on an A4 triplicate sheet: the householder keeps the original, the foreman keeps a copy in the site folder and the third goes back to the office to be entered into the accounts.
• A parcel courier has the receiver sign a DL triplicate consignment note; the receiver keeps one, the driver keeps the signed proof and the depot files the third.
• A car body shop uses A5 triplicate books so the customer, the vehicle file and the insurer's claim each have the same numbered invoice.
• A catering hire company issues an A4 triplicate delivery and return note; the missing item count on return is written on all three at once.

Who we are

We are a UK printer of personalised NCR invoice books, receipt books and pads, and every order includes free design, a proof to approve and free UK delivery. We answer email within one working day at sales@personalisedinvoicebook.co.uk and take calls on 01933 81 21 51, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:30. Because the books are personalised they cannot be returned once printed; you can cancel free of charge at any point before you approve your proof, and if anything arrives faulty, damaged or short, or is not what you approved, tell us within 14 days of delivery and we reprint or refund. Reviews from customers who bought this product are in the Reviews tab.