What should a locksmith invoice include

The itemized format customers are told to expect

Customers who have read a locksmith scam warning arrive with a checklist. The Better Business Bureau's 2020 scam alert on locksmiths tells them to insist on an itemized invoice that includes parts, labor, mileage and service charges, and says the invoice should also include the business name and address. The same alert tells them to ask about the cost of a service call, mileage and parts before agreeing to the work, to get an estimate before any work begins, including emergency service, and to have the job done by someone else if the on-site estimate does not match the price quoted on the phone.

California's licensing bureau gives similar advice. The Bureau of Security and Investigative Services' consumer guide to locksmith companies tells customers to ask the dispatcher for an estimate of the charges when they call, to ask for a receipt that includes the name of the company and the company license number, and to check that the receipt shows the cost of all parts and services, including the full amount charged.

An invoice that follows the same structure answers those questions before they are asked. If the customer heard a service call fee on the phone, they should see a service call line on the invoice under the same name, with labor and parts on their own lines.

Your business details and license number

In California, Business and Professions Code section 6980.64 says every advertisement by a licensee shall contain the licensee's "business name, business address, or business telephone number, and license number" as they appear in the bureau's records. The section defines advertisement broadly, including business cards and stationery, and allows a fine of $500 for a first violation and $1,000 for each later one.

In Texas, the Department of Public Safety's rule on advertisements, 37 Texas Administrative Code section 35.9, requires a licensee's advertisements, including business cards, to carry the company name and address as they appear in the department's records, unless that address is the license holder's home, and the company's license number. A separate rule, section 35.8, requires a company license holder to tell every client, orally or in writing, its license number and the mailing address, telephone number and email address of the department's Regulatory Services Division for complaints. If that notice is in writing, it has to be in the same type size as the rest of the document and no smaller than 10 point.

Section 35.8 also says a license holder may not act in a way that causes reasonable confusion about the services provided or the charges for them. Whether a line on your invoice satisfies either state's rule is a question for the licensing agency, but printing the license number on every document that carries your business name keeps the question simple.

Job details that make the invoice useful later

Beyond the money, the invoice is your short record of what happened. Give it an invoice number and the date of service. Name the customer and give a phone number or email, the service address, or for a car a plain description such as color, body style and plate. Describe the work in words a customer will recognize months later: a residential lockout, two cylinders rekeyed, four keys cut.

Here is an illustration with made-up prices, not typical rates. An after-hours service call of $75, a residential lockout of $95, two rekeyed cylinders at $40 each for $80, and two keys cut at $4 each for $8 come to $258. Each line carries its own quantity and price, so the customer can check the arithmetic and you can see later exactly what was charged.

A customer signature on the job record shows that they accepted the work and the price. In Texas, a different signature is required when a customer seeks entry: Occupations Code section 1702.2865 calls for a signed authorization stating that the customer owns the property or is otherwise entitled to legal access to it, along with a government-issued ID.

Keep ID details off the customer's copy

California's locksmith work order is a different document from the invoice. For openings and key making, Penal Code sections 466.6 and 466.8 and Business and Professions Code section 6980.55 require the customer's date of birth and driver's license or ID number on the work order, which the locksmith keeps for two years for inspection by peace officers and the bureau.

The invoice goes home with the customer and may be forwarded to a landlord, a property manager or an insurer. None of the BBB or bureau guidance quoted here asks for a date of birth or ID number on the invoice. Keeping those details on the work order you hold, and the invoice limited to business and job details, keeps sensitive information in fewer places. If you use one paper form for both, check what lands on the customer's copy.

How long to keep invoices

Invoices are tax records as well as job records. The IRS says to keep records that support an item of income, deduction or credit on your return until the period of limitations for that return runs out. Its guidance gives three years as the general period, six years if you fail to report income that is more than 25 percent of the gross income shown on the return, seven years for a claim for a loss from worthless securities or a bad debt deduction, and at least four years for employment tax records.

State rules for locksmith records are shorter. California keeps work orders for two years under the statutes above, and Texas's business records rule, section 35.112, asks licensees to keep contracts and related documentation for two years from the later of the date the service was provided or the date the contract was completed. Because the general IRS period is longer, the tax clock usually decides when an invoice can be thrown away.

Common invoice mistakes

One lump sum. A single total with no breakdown is exactly what the BBB tells customers to refuse. Put the service call, labor, parts and any mileage on separate lines.

A total that does not match the quote. The BBB tells customers to walk away when the on-site estimate does not match the phone price. Agree the price on site before you start, write it on the job record, and explain any change on the invoice in plain words.

No license number. The bureau's consumer guide tells customers to look for the company license number on the receipt, and Texas requires licensees to give clients their license number. Leaving it off makes a legitimate business look like the ones the warnings describe.

Writing it up later. An invoice typed at home the next day misses the customer's signature and invites memory gaps. LockSlip builds the invoice from the same slip as the work order, with your business name, phone and license number from Settings, the service call, labor and parts on separate lines, the total and the customer's signature, while the ID photo and ID number stay in its ledger.

This guide summarizes consumer guidance and state rules as read in October 2026. It is not legal or tax advice. Licensing rules differ by state and change over time, so check with your state licensing agency or a tax professional about your own business.

Frequently asked questions