🚀 From Google Docs to 30+ Templates: Why I Open-Sourced My Invoice PDF Generator

Hi everyone!

I’m a co-founder of a small software development company. Like many small teams and freelancers, we have a steady but manageable invoicing load—about 5–10 invoices per month.

Initially, we handled this the “classic” way: Google Docs.

• Create an invoice manually

• Add client details, services, amounts

• Export to PDF

• Email it

It worked, but it wasn’t consistent or professional enough—especially when it came to branding. We wanted our logo, our colors, and a clean look every time.

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🛠️ Building Our Own Solution

To solve this, I developed our own cloud-based invoicing and accounting application: Daybook.

One of its most valuable features?
✅ Exporting invoices as PDF
✅ Selecting from customizable templates
✅ Branded with our logo and colors

It saved us so much time and kept our client-facing documents consistent.

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🌐 Making It Open Source

Realizing how much this helped us, I decided to share the PDF generation feature as its own free, open-source project.

I wanted anyone—freelancers, small businesses, solo devs—to have access to a simple, privacy-friendly tool without needing to sign up or pay.

👉 Try the app: https://free-invoice-generator.app
👉 Check the code: https://github.com/tociva/free-invoice-generator

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📋 Current Features

• Currency selection

• Date format selection

• Amount in words (Lakh or Million)

• 30+ ready-made templates

• Brand customization (your logo, colors)

• PDF export

All free. No signup. Fully open source.

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🎯 The Goal: 1,000+ Templates

Right now, there are about 30 templates available. My vision is to grow this library to over 1,000 templates, so anyone can find something that truly fits their style and branding.

But to make that happen, I’m hoping to get help from the community.

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🤝 Call for Contributors

If you’re:

• A designer with an eye for layout

• A developer interested in open source

• Someone who just wants to help freelancers and small businesses

✨ I’d love your help creating new templates!
✨ Pull requests are very welcome.
✨ Ideas and feedback also mean a lot.

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💬 Let’s Make Invoicing Better

I believe invoicing shouldn’t be a chore, shouldn’t compromise your branding, and shouldn’t cost you a fortune in subscriptions.

If this sounds interesting to you, please check out the app or the repo. And if you’re up for it—let’s collaborate!

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Links:

• 🌐 Live app: https://free-invoice-generator.app

• 💻 GitHub repo: https://github.com/tociva/free-invoice-generator

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If you have any questions, ideas, or just want to chat about the project—drop a comment! I’d love to connect.

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