Letterhead Template: What to Include on Business Letterhead

Quick answer: A letterhead template is a reusable page design that puts your business identity at the top of every letter. Include the business name, logo, address, phone, email and website. UK limited companies must also show their registered number, place of registration and registered office address.

Letterhead is the first thing a reader sees on a business letter, a reference, a quote cover letter or a formal notice. Done well, it tells them who you are and how to reach you before they read a word of the content. Done badly, it crowds the page, misses details a client or regulator expects, or looks different every time you send something. This guide covers what to include on business letterhead, which details are legally required in the UK, what is customary in the US, how to set up the layout, and how to keep your letters and invoices visually consistent.

What is a letterhead template?

A letterhead is the printed or digital heading at the top of business stationery, usually with a matching footer. A letterhead template is the master file you reuse for every letter so the logo, contact details and legal disclosures stay identical. It might be a Word template, a Google Doc you copy, a design file in a layout tool, or pre-printed paper stock.

A letterhead is not a document type in itself. It is a frame. The content inside it changes: a client letter, a reference, a price increase notice, a cover letter for a proposal. That is why the frame should be quiet. It identifies the sender and then gets out of the way.

What to include on business letterhead

Most business letterheads include the same core details. The table below lists them, with an example and a note on why each matters.

Element	Example	Required or optional
Business or legal name	Harbor Lane Studio Ltd	Essential; companies should use the exact registered name
Logo	Wordmark or symbol, top left or centered	Optional but expected for most brands
Postal address	14 Quay Street, Bristol BS1 4DB	Essential; where replies and legal notices go
Phone number	+44 117 000 0000	Customary
Email address	hello@harborlane.example	Customary; use a role address, not a personal one
Website	harborlane.example	Customary
Company registration details	Registered in England and Wales, No. 01234567	Required for UK companies on business letters
Registered office	Registered office: 14 Quay Street, Bristol BS1 4DB	Required for UK companies, even if it matches the trading address
Tax or VAT number	VAT No. GB 123 4567 89	Optional on letters; required on tax invoices
Professional license or regulator number	License or registration ID	Required by some regulators for some professions
Tagline or social handles	"Brand and packaging design"	Optional; keep short

Two practical rules help. First, put identity in the header (name, logo, maybe a tagline) and put the dense information in the footer (registered details, tax numbers, regulator IDs). Second, only include what you will keep up to date. An old phone number on 500 printed sheets is a cost, and a wrong registered office on a letter can be a compliance problem.

UK rules: what limited companies must show

In the UK, the content of business letters is regulated even though the design is not. The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 require a company to show the following on its business letters, order forms and websites (see regulation 25 on legislation.gov.uk):

• The part of the United Kingdom in which the company is registered, for example England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
• The company's registered number.
• The address of its registered office.
• If the company is exempt from using "limited" in its name, the fact that it is a limited company.
• If it mentions share capital at all, the paid-up share capital, not the authorized or nominal amount.

The company's registered name must also appear on its business letters and other documents, and it must match the name at Companies House exactly, including "Limited" or "Ltd". Directors' names are optional, but there is a catch: under regulation 26, if a business letter names any director (other than in the body of the letter or as the person signing it), it must name all of them. That is why many UK companies leave directors off their letterhead.

Sole traders and partnerships that trade under a name other than their own also have disclosure duties. Under the business names rules in the Companies Act 2006, they generally need to show the owner's or each partner's name and a UK address where documents can be served on business letters, orders, invoices, receipts and written demands for payment. Check the current GOV.UK guidance if this applies to you. If you are deciding between structures, our comparison of sole trader vs limited company explains how the paperwork differs.

VAT numbers are a common question. A UK VAT registration number must appear on a VAT invoice, but it is not required on general letters. Many businesses add it to the letterhead footer anyway because the same design is reused for quotes and statements. For invoice-specific requirements, see our guide to showing a tax ID on an invoice.

US norms for business letterhead

The US has no general federal rule on what a business letter must display. Most companies include the business name, logo, address, phone, email and website, and that is the market expectation. A few points are worth checking:

• Legal entity name. If you operate under a trade name (a DBA or fictitious business name), it is good practice to show the legal entity name as well, for example "Harbor Lane Studio, a brand of HL Design LLC". Some states have their own rules on using assumed names, so check with your state.
• Licensed professions. Lawyers, accountants, contractors, real estate brokers and others may face state board or bar rules about how they describe themselves, list licenses or name partners. If you are licensed, check your regulator's advertising and communications rules before printing.
• Tax IDs. Do not print an EIN or Social Security number on letterhead. Share an EIN on a W-9 or an invoice when a client needs it, and never put an SSN on general stationery.

Layout and sizing: how to set up the design

A clean letterhead layout follows a few conventions. Use the right paper size for your market, keep the header compact and leave generous margins.

Paper sizes

• US Letter: 8.5 x 11 inches, standard in the US and Canada.
• A4: 210 x 297 mm, standard in the UK, Europe, Pakistan, India, the UAE and most other countries.

If you send letters to both markets, design for the paper size your recipients print on, or test that your PDF prints acceptably on both.

Worked example: how much space is left for the letter?

Here is an illustrative US Letter layout. The page is 11 inches tall. Suppose you use a 1.25-inch header, a 0.75-inch footer and 0.5-inch print-safe margins at the top and bottom.

• Header plus footer: 1.25 + 0.75 = 2.0 inches.
• Top and bottom margins: 0.5 + 0.5 = 1.0 inch.
• Space left for the letter: 11 - 2.0 - 1.0 = 8.0 inches, which is about 73% of the page height (8.0 / 11 = 0.727).

On A4 with a 32 mm header, a 20 mm footer and 12 mm margins top and bottom, the body area is 297 - 32 - 20 - 24 = 221 mm, about 74% of the page (221 / 297 = 0.744). If your header grows past about a fifth of the page, the design is probably doing too much.

Typography and color

Use one or two typefaces and a restrained palette, usually your brand color plus black or dark gray. A body size of 10 to 12 points reads well in print and on screen. The same principles apply to invoices; our guide to choosing fonts for business documents covers readable choices and sizes, and our professional invoice design tips explain how to keep a branded layout readable.

Sample letterhead: a filled example

Below is a filled example for a fictional UK limited company. Use it as a pattern and replace every detail with your own.

Header (top of page)

• Logo, top left: Harbor Lane Studio wordmark
• Right-aligned: Harbor Lane Studio Ltd, 14 Quay Street, Bristol BS1 4DB
• Right-aligned: +44 117 000 0000, hello@harborlane.example, harborlane.example

Footer (bottom of page, small type)

• Harbor Lane Studio Ltd. Registered in England and Wales, company number 01234567.
• Registered office: 14 Quay Street, Bristol BS1 4DB. VAT No. GB 123 4567 89.

For a US LLC, the footer would usually be shorter: the legal name ("HL Design LLC"), and a license number only if your profession requires one.

Letterhead vs invoice: keep them separate

It is tempting to type an invoice onto blank letterhead. It works for one-off bills, but it tends to fail in three ways. Invoice numbers are not tracked, so duplicates and gaps appear. Line items, tax and totals are calculated by hand, so errors creep in. And required invoice fields, such as the invoice date, supply date, tax number and payment terms, get left out because the letter format does not prompt for them.

A better approach is to match your branding across two separate documents. Keep a letterhead template for letters, and use the free online invoice generator for bills. It lets you add your logo and a signature image, choose typography and currencies, and pick a template close to your letterhead's look, then download the invoice as a PDF. A conservative layout such as the corporate invoice template pairs well with a formal letterhead. Note that the generator makes invoices only: the document heading is always "Invoice", so it is not a substitute for a letterhead, a letter or a receipt.

If you sign letters and invoices, use the same signature image on both. Our guide to adding a signature to an invoice explains when a signature helps and how to add one cleanly.

Letterhead checklist

• Exact business or registered company name, spelled as registered.
• High-resolution logo (SVG or a PNG of at least 300 dpi at print size).
• Postal address, phone, role-based email and website.
• UK companies: part of the UK where registered, registered number and registered office address.
• UK sole traders or partnerships using a business name: owner or partner names and an address for service.
• Directors' names either all listed or none.
• Tax, VAT or license numbers only if accurate and needed.
• Correct paper size (US Letter or A4) and print-safe margins.
• Header no taller than about a fifth of the page.
• Master file saved as a template, letters sent as PDF.
• Matching invoice template using the same logo, colors and fonts.

Common mistakes

• Using a trading name only. A UK company that shows "Harbor Lane" but not "Harbor Lane Studio Ltd", its number and its registered office is missing required disclosures.
• Listing some directors. Naming the managing director in the letterhead without naming the rest breaches the UK rule that requires all or none.
• Out-of-date details. An old address or phone number undermines trust. Review the template whenever something changes, and avoid printing large paper runs.
• An oversized header. A logo block that takes a third of the page pushes short letters onto a second sheet and looks dated.
• Low-resolution logos. A logo copied from a website often prints blurry. Use the original vector file.
• Sending editable files. A Word document can reflow on another computer or be altered. Send PDF.
• Using letterhead as an invoice. Invoices need numbering, dates, line items, tax and payment terms. Use a proper invoice template instead.

Using your letterhead template consistently

Once the design is final, lock it down. Save the master in a shared folder, restrict who can edit it, and give everyone the same version. Create variants only where there is a real need, such as a continuation-page version without the full header for multi-page letters. When your branding changes, update the letterhead template and your invoice template at the same time so clients never receive mismatched documents.

For more on layout and branding across business documents, browse the design and templates articles, or compare styles in the invoice template gallery to find one that matches your letterhead.