5.5 Inch X 8.5 Inch - 2 Invoices On One Template

Note: The sample at Two Receipts on One Sheet shows how to create the second copy by using linked image.

In this simple invoicing template sample for Microsoft Excel we demonstrates how to customize the previous sample c4066 so that it prints two 5.5 inch X 8.5 inch invoices on a single 8.5 inch X 11 inch paper.

If you have not moved your business to paperless electronic invoicing handling and management yet, chances are that you need two copies of each documents - send one to your customer, and keep another in your accounting department for bookkeeping purpose. For invoicing forms that print on a whole paper size - most invoicing templates here on InvoicingTemplate.com are designed that way - you only need to set the number of copies on Excel print dialog box. Or even better, if you have UIS (UIS) installed, you can set the default "Number of copies" on the Settings dialog box / Print ab. These printing options set in UIS affects only the invoicing templates controlled by UIS - i.e. it does not affect your other spreadsheets and workbook files for Microsoft Excel. In addition to the printing options provided by Microsoft Excel, UIS, which is our Windows desktop invoicing software program that runs offline without the requirement of an online Internet connection, provides other options to let your further control the printing process.

However, if you put only few items on each invoice, and want to print two copies of each invoice on a single page. How can you create such a template? Well, it sounds difficult but in fact easy to do. Remember we are using templates in Microsoft Excel format (most templates here on InvoicingTemplate.com are in Excel ".xlsx" format, some of earlier posts provides ".xls" formats too). Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, Mac OS X, and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. Since 2004, at that time UIS was named Excel Invoice Manager (released as 4 editions - Excel Invoice Manager Express, Excel Invoice Manager Platinum, Excel Invoice Manager Pro, Excel Invoice Manager Enterprise), our invoicing software app uses Excel as its front end and provides the flexibility of customizing invoicing forms that could be hardly found in other invoicing or billing programs.

Now let's how to make a duplicate copy of the form, which could be printed on the same paper when you click the "Print" command to print invoices. This sample template is based on the simple template created with c4066 1/2 Page Invoice Template, where the form occupies only a half of the paper size.

1. Backup the template. This gives you an easy way to return to a working state if anything goes wrong during the customization. To do this, simple copy the template (xlsx format) in Windows Explorer.
2. Open the template as usual.
3. Switch to design mode by clicking the "Design Mode" button on the "Invoice" ribbon. The "Invoice" ribbon tab was created by UIS. If you cannot find this ribbon tab in your Microsoft Excel, make sure you have UIS installed.
4. Drag your mouse on the row headings on all the rows that comprise the exiting invoicing form. In this case, we select row 2 to row 39. Note you need to select the row heading to select the entire rows, instead of highlighting any single cells.
5. Press CTRL + C keywords on your keyboard to copy the selected rows to clipboard.
6. Right-click to select the row heading of the first row where the duplicate copy will start. In this case, we choose the row 47. Choose "Paste" from the shortcut menu. This create a duplicate copy of the selected invoicing format on the location starting from row 47. The cells inside the duplicate copy have exactly the same format and value as what inside the original format. However the content of the cells in the duplication are all "Values", which means they will not change when the original invoicing form changes - for example, when you are creating a new invoice. We'll fix this by pasting links.
7. Drag your mouse to select the date and "invoice#" cells in the original invoicing form. Note you need to select the cells that will change its content when you are creating invoices. In this example, K4 (the Invoice# cell), K5 (the invocie date cell). It is not necessary to select those label cells that will not be changed, for example J4 (text "DATE:"), J5 (text "INVOICE#:").
8. Right-click one of the selected cell and choose "Copy".
9. Click to select the corresponding cells inside the duplicate area. In this case, we select K49 and K50.
10. Go to Excel "Home" ribbon tab. Pull down the "Paste" command group, and then choose "Paste Links" from the "Other Paste Options" group. This commands assigns formulas to the cells on the duplicate copy, so that they show the values from the corresponding cells inside the original copy. For example, Excel creates a formula for the K49 cell, as "=K4"; and for the K50 cell, the formula is "=K5".
11. Repeat the above steps on all the field cells that change their values when you creating an invoice. In this sample, you should execute the "Copy-Paste" process:
    • once for the cells inside the "Bill To" section (target address: F54:F58)
    • once for the cells inside the "Ship To" section (target address: J54:J58)
    • once for the cells under the label "P.O.#" , "Sales Rep. Name", "Ship Date", "Ship Method", "Terms" and "Due Date" (target address: D64:K64)
    • once for all the cells on the "InvBdy" ("Description" column, "Quantity" column, "Unit Price" column, "Line Total" column) (target address: D67:K70)
    • Once for the cells on the summary section, from "Discount (Amount)" to "Total" (target address: I80:K84).
    • Once for the "Notes" field (target address: K82).
12. Now drag your mouse to select all the cells inside the duplicate form. In this case, it is D47:K84.
13. Right-click one of the selected cell, choose "Format Cells" from the shortcut menu. On the "Protection" tab, make sure "Lock" is checked. Click OK. This makes the entire duplicate form not manually editable - they will be filled with Excel formulas.
14. Select both forms. In this case, the cells ranging from D2 to K84.
15. Go to Excel "Page Layout" ribbon tab, choose "Print Area" and then "Set Print Area" from the "Page Setup" group. This tell Excel what to print when you execute the Print command.
16. Go to Excel menu "File" and then choose "Print". Make sure the entire print area could be printed on a single page. If not, adjust the lines heights. In this sample, we already make sure the original format occupies only half of the paper size, so there will be no problem to print two duplicate invoices on a single page.
17. Optional - You can also add a cut-off rule between the two invoicing forms. To do this, go to Excel "Insert" ribbon tab, from the "Illustrations" group choose "Shapes" and then the first line shape on the "Lines" group.
18. Push down SHIFT key on keyboard and draw the line between the two invoicing forms - in this case, row 46. By pushing down the SHIFT key, you make sure the line will be exactly vertical or horizontal (not an oblique line).
19. Using the "Drawing Tools / Format" ribbon tab, set the style, color of the cut-off rule. In this sample, we set it to be a gray dash dot line (see screenshots).
20. In this sample, we also make sure the two copies of invoices will be printed on the center of the paper, by checking the "Center on page: Horizontally, Vertically" options on the "Margins" tab of the "Page Setup" dialog box.
21. To adjust the space between to duplicate invoices, adjust the height of the empty row (row 46) between to invoicing forms.
22. Once done, exit design mode by clicking the "Design Mode" button on the "Invoice" ribbon tab.
23. Save the template by clicking the "Save" command on Excel quick access toolbar.

As you can see, the second invoicing form in this sample is not manually fillable / editable during creation of invoices - it is for printing only and will be filled automatically with Excel formulas. With 11 inch X 8.5 inch paper size, each invoice on the form could be cut as a 5.5 inch X 8.5 inch invoice. UIS will work with dual invoicing form seamlessly. By using Microsoft Excel as the front-end, our desktop invoicing software solution is able to produce professional and beautiful documents that meet your business requirements and styles. There are more you can do with Uniform Invoicing Software. Download the free trial version to find out how it works for you, or visit the PDF invoicing template to find out how it looks like if printed.