Most small businesses don't need accounting software or a lawyer on day one. They need the right document at the right moment: a bill the customer can read, an agreement both sides understand, a letter HR can sign today, and a spreadsheet that adds up without mistakes.
Short answer: almost every business needs four kinds of paperwork. Money in (invoices, receipts, quotations), agreements (rent, services, NDAs, loans), people (offer, appointment, salary and exit letters), and records (cash, stock, sales, payroll and budgets). Which ones you need depends on what you sell. The FileConvy templates library has 63 free templates covering all four, in Word, Excel and PDF, which you can edit online or download with no signup and no watermark.
Which Templates Each Business Needs
| If you run a… | Start with these |
|---|---|
| Shop or retail store | Simple invoice, daily sales report, inventory sheet, cash book, price list |
| Restaurant, café or bakery | Restaurant bill, daily sales report, inventory sheet, salary sheet |
| School, academy or tutor | Fee receipt, teacher CV, appointment letter, attendance sheet |
| Freelancer or agency | Freelancer invoice, service agreement, business proposal, NDA |
| Contractor or repair service | Work estimate, quotation, payment receipt, expense report |
| Wholesaler, distributor or exporter | Proforma invoice, packing list, delivery challan, purchase order, credit note |
| Landlord or property manager | Rental agreement, rent receipt, authorization letter |
| Gym, club or studio | Membership form, payment receipt, price list |
| Startup looking for funding | Business plan, company profile, business budget, project plan |
| Any business with employees | Joining form, offer letter, salary slip, salary sheet, timesheet |
The rest of this guide explains what each group of documents is for, and the one mistake to avoid with each.
1. Getting Paid: Invoices, Bills and Receipts
The document you send depends on where you are in the sale:
- Before the sale: a quotation for a fixed price, a work estimate when materials and labour may change, or a proforma invoice when an overseas buyer needs one to arrange payment.
- At the sale: an invoice to ask for payment, or a restaurant bill at the table.
- After payment: a payment receipt, a rent receipt with landlord and tenant copies, or a fee receipt for schools and academies.
- When something goes wrong: a credit note for returns, damage or a price correction. Never edit an invoice you've already sent.
- When goods move: a delivery challan goes with the goods (no prices), and a packing list tells customs and the forwarder what is in each carton.
The mistake to avoid: reusing invoice numbers. Use one running series for invoices (INV-0001, INV-0002…) and separate series for receipts and credit notes. It's the first thing an accountant or tax officer checks. The Excel versions calculate every line, the subtotal and the tax for you, so you only type quantities and prices.
2. Agreements: Put It in Writing Before Money Changes Hands
Most business disputes start with something nobody wrote down. Five agreements cover the common cases:
- Rental agreement: rent, deposit, who pays which bill, repairs and notice period, with witness signatures.
- Service agreement: scope, fee, payment schedule, number of revisions and who owns the work. Essential for freelancers.
- Non-disclosure agreement (NDA): a mutual NDA to sign before you share a business plan, customer list or code.
- Loan agreement: amount, instalments, interest (or interest-free), late payment and witnesses, for loans between people or businesses.
- Authorization letter: lets someone collect documents or act for you at a bank or office.
The mistake to avoid: treating a template as legal advice. These agreements are clear, balanced starting points, but stamp duty, registration and witness rules differ by country. For large amounts or property, have the final version checked locally.
3. Winning Work: Plans, Proposals and Profiles
When you need a bank, investor or big client to say yes:
- Business plan: two pages, with market, competition, pricing, a three-year financial table and the funding you need.
- Business proposal: the client's needs, your solution, timeline, price and a signature block so they can accept on the spot.
- Company profile: one page for tenders and vendor registration, covering who you are, key numbers, services, clients and contact details.
- Meeting minutes: decisions and action items with owners and dates, so the meeting actually changes something.
The mistake to avoid: writing the summary first. Fill in the details (needs, numbers, prices), then write the summary in five lines at the end. If a client asks for slides, save the PDF and convert it with PDF to PowerPoint.
4. Running a Team: HR Letters and Forms
From the first day to the last, every stage of employment has a document:
- Hiring: offer letter, appointment letter, joining form.
- During employment: salary slip, salary certificate, salary increment letter, promotion letter, NOC letter, leave application.
- Problems: warning letter with an employee acknowledgement.
- Leaving: resignation letter, termination letter, relieving letter, experience letter.
- Interns and references: internship certificate, recommendation letter.
The mistake to avoid: skipping steps in a disciplinary process. A termination without earlier written warnings is much easier to challenge. Keep a signed copy of every letter in the employee's file.
5. Keeping Records: Excel Sheets That Do the Maths
Spreadsheets are where small businesses lose money quietly, through a formula typed wrong or a total that doesn't include the last row. These sheets already have the formulas built in:
- Cash book: every cash receipt and payment with a running balance.
- Daily sales report: sales by cash, card and online, plus a till check that shows if cash is over or short.
- Inventory sheet: closing stock and stock value, with items below their reorder level turning red.
- Salary sheet: payroll for all staff, with basic pay pro-rated by days worked, and gross, deductions and net pay.
- Business budget: budget against actual for income and expenses, with variance, net profit and margin.
- Expense report: employee claims with category totals and the amount due after any advance.
- Price list and project plan, the second with a Gantt chart that redraws when you change a date.
- Attendance sheet and timesheet for hours, leave and overtime.
The mistake to avoid: typing over the formula cells. Type only in the input columns and the yellow cells; totals update by themselves. When you need to send a sheet, save it as PDF or use Excel to PDF so the layout can't break on the other side. If a supplier sends you a PDF statement, PDF to Excel turns it back into rows you can work with.
How to Use Any Template in Three Steps
- Open it. Click Edit online on the template page to work in your browser, or download the Word or Excel file and open it in Microsoft Office, Google Docs/Sheets or LibreOffice.
- Replace everything in [brackets]. Sample text is always in square brackets, so nothing is left behind by accident. Add your logo with Insert > Pictures.
- Send it as a PDF. A PDF looks the same on every phone and computer and can't be changed by accident. Use Word to PDF or Excel to PDF if your software can't save one, and Compress PDF if the file is too big for email or WhatsApp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these business templates really free? Yes. All 63 templates can be downloaded in Word, Excel or PDF, or edited online, for free, with no signup and no watermark. You can use them for personal and commercial documents.
Can I use the templates without Microsoft Office? Yes. Click "Edit online" on any template page to open it in the browser editor, or open the downloaded file in Google Docs, Google Sheets or LibreOffice.
Do the Excel templates calculate totals automatically? Yes. Invoices, receipts, estimates, the cash book, sales report, inventory, salary sheet, budget, expense report, packing list and project plan all have formulas built in. Type in the input cells and the totals update.
Are the agreement templates legally binding? An agreement signed by both parties is generally binding, but requirements such as stamp paper, registration, notarisation and witnesses vary by country and state. Use the templates as a starting point and have important agreements checked by a local lawyer.
Can I add my logo and change the colours? Yes. In Word or Excel, use Insert > Pictures for your logo, and change the fill colour of the headings and table headers to your brand colour.
Which template should a new small business start with? An invoice and a receipt to get paid, a cash book to track money, and a rental or service agreement if you rent premises or work for clients. Add the HR letters when you hire your first employee.
Browse all 63 templates by category in the free templates library, or search for the document you need. If your business needs a template we don't have yet, tell us on the contact page and we'll consider it for the next batch.