Can you invoice someone without a company?

You are already a business: a sole proprietorship

The SBA puts it plainly: if you do business without registering any other structure, you are considered a sole proprietorship. There is no separate entity, which also means there is no separate liability — the debts of the business are yours. An LLC changes that, and it is worth looking at once the work grows, but it is not a condition of sending an invoice.

What goes on the invoice instead of a company name

• Your full legal name where a company name would go — that is the name your client's accounts payable will match against your tax form
• Your address and an email the client can reply to
• If you trade under a different name, that name as well — but only once it is registered as a DBA
• An invoice number, the date, what you did and what is owed, as on any other invoice

Working under your own legal name needs no registration at all. Working under a brand name does: most states require you to register it as a DBA, with the state, the county or the city depending on where you are.

What the client will ask you for

A US business paying an individual collects a Form W-9, which carries your name and taxpayer identification number. That is the form your SSN goes on, not the invoice — the reasons are in our guide on whether an invoice needs a tax ID. Whether the client then files a 1099-NEC for what it paid you is the subject of 1099-NEC vs W-9.

An EIN is optional, and still worth having

A sole proprietor with no employees does not need an Employer Identification Number, and the W-9 accepts your SSN. But it also accepts an EIN, which the IRS issues free, and using one keeps your Social Security number off the paperwork that circulates through other people's offices.

Licenses and taxes

Whether you need a license depends on what you do and where you do it, whatever your structure — check your state, county and city. Your invoices' income goes on Schedule C of your own return, with self-employment tax on top and usually quarterly estimated payments; the IRS keeps all three on one page.

Getting paid by card without a company

Stripe accepts individuals: you sign up as a sole proprietorship, with your SSN if you have no EIN. In BillingHub, put your own name in the business name field, connect that Stripe account, and every invoice you send carries a Pay button your client can use without an account of their own.

Make an invoice in your own name