WooCommerce Invoice PDF Templates: Which Plugin Actually Works

Which WooCommerce Invoice Plugin to Use

WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips (by Ewout Fernhout) is the most widely installed option with over 400,000 active installs. The free version covers most small stores. Custom fields and template editing require the Professional extension at around £69/year. The template system uses PHP overrides, which gives full control but means updates can break your layout if you are not careful.

Flexible PDF Invoices for WooCommerce is a strong alternative if you need tighter CSS control or want to use action hooks rather than template file overrides. It handles edge cases like delivery notes and custom meta fields more gracefully. The free tier is generous.

Sliced Invoices suits stores that want a UI-based approach to custom fields rather than code. It has a built-in client portal and basic CSV export. Not ideal for high-volume stores but fine for service businesses running WooCommerce.

Getting Data Back Out of WooCommerce Invoice PDFs

All three plugins generate the invoice PDF and email it — but none of them help you get the data back into a spreadsheet or accounting system without the WooCommerce order still being accessible in the database. If you are processing invoices from suppliers, reconciling orders across multiple stores, or working with PDFs that have already left WooCommerce, you need an extraction step.

Useful Patch parses any invoice PDF — WooCommerce-generated or otherwise — and returns structured data: invoice number, date, line items, quantities, unit prices, totals, tax, and supplier details. No manual re-entry. The free browser demo handles one-off files; the Developer Plan at £29/month gives you API access for batch processing.

The Invoice Number Sync Problem

WooCommerce order IDs and accounting invoice numbers need to stay in sequence. The most common failure is reinstalling the PDF plugin or migrating to a new server — the plugin resets its counter to 1 while WooCommerce continues from wherever it was. All three plugins above let you set a starting number and custom prefix. Set it once, right after installation, and do not touch it. For a deeper dive — including EU compliance requirements by country and step-by-step fix instructions — see our WooCommerce invoice numbering guide.

If you have already lost sync and have gaps, the cleanest fix is to match on order date and amount rather than number. Useful Patch's API returns all fields needed for that kind of reconciliation match.

Custom Fields on WooCommerce Invoice PDFs

The most common request in WooCommerce invoice plugin support forums is adding the product SKU to the PDF line item. In WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips, this requires either the Professional extension or a snippet in your child theme's functions.php. In Flexible PDF Invoices, the wpo_wcpdf_after_item_name action hook handles it in a few lines. In Sliced Invoices, you can add it through the custom fields UI without touching code.

Once the PDF is generated with custom fields, extraction tools like Useful Patch can target those fields by label — so your accounting export will include the SKU column automatically once you configure the field mapping.