An order form template is a list of blanks the counter fills in with a customer standing there, and every blank except the name and the date is arithmetic: quantity times price on each line, the subtotal of the lines, sales tax at the rate the business enters, shipping or delivery, and a total that has to agree with all of it. A free order form template that adds nothing up leaves that arithmetic to whoever is writing, and the total is where a written order goes wrong. This page walks what a custom order form records, works an example through it, and points at the free order form on this site that does the arithmetic on the page from the counter's own lines and rate. It publishes no tax rate: the rate is yours.
The lines: quantity, unit price, and the line total worked for you
An order is lines, and each line is a quantity at a unit price. On the worked example, two units at $45, one at $120 and three at $15 are line totals of $90, $120 and $45, and the goods subtotal is $255 across six units. The form works each line and the subtotal from the quantities and prices the counter types, so the subtotal the customer sees is the sum of the lines above it rather than a figure somebody added in their head.
Sales tax on the goods, at the rate you enter
Sales tax is worked on the goods subtotal at the rate the business enters for its own state and locality; the form publishes no rate and decides nothing about what is taxable. At 8% on $255 the tax line is $20.40. Whether shipping is taxed where you trade, and what the rate is, are your accountant's and your state's answers; the form applies the percentage you give it to the goods and shows the figure as its own line.
Shipping and the total the customer signs
Shipping or delivery is its own line, entered as a figure, because it does not scale with the goods the way tax does. The example's $12 brings the total to $287.40, which the form shows with the six units beside it so a customer who drops a line sees exactly what it saves. An order form online free of arithmetic is a piece of paper; this one works the total from the lines so the order and the total agree before anyone pays.
Keeping the order against the customer
The free order form on this site works the lines, the tax, the shipping and the total on the page with no account and prints as the customer's copy. OrderPadLedger Pro saves every order against the customer, brands the form with your name and exports the history when the accountant asks. The form is not a payment gateway and takes no card; it totals the order the counter writes up.
Questions people ask about order form template
What should an order form template include?
The customer and the date, each line as a quantity and a unit price with its total, the goods subtotal, sales tax at your rate, shipping or delivery, and the order total, with the units counted. The free form on this site works every one of those from what the counter types.
Is there a free order form template on this site?
Yes, with no account: enter up to three lines, your tax rate and the shipping, and it works the subtotal, the tax, the total and the unit count on the page and prints. OrderPadLedger Pro saves each order against the customer.
Does the order form set the sales tax rate?
No. The rate is the business's own, entered on the form; the site publishes no rate and gives no advice on what is taxable. Ask your accountant or your state for the rate and the rule.