bitroot.org
kit·intermediate·updated 2026-07-08

Modern LaTeX Invoice Generator Kit

Professional invoices. LaTeX precision. One command.

Next.jsLaTeXNode.js
View on GitHub

Generate pixel-perfect invoices with LaTeX templates. Customizable, PDF-ready, and built for freelancers who care about presentation.

Install

~60 seconds
terminal
bash
npx create-bitroot@latest my-invoices --kit latex-invoice-kit
cd my-invoices
cp .env.example .env.local
npm run dev
~/ what's inside

Already wired, so you can skip to features.

Professional LaTeX templates

Clean, customizable invoice templates with proper typography and spacing.

PDF generation

Compile LaTeX to PDF on-demand. Download or email directly to clients.

Invoice history

Store invoice metadata, track payments, and re-generate past invoices.

~/ the stack behind it

Every dependency has a reason.

  • Next.js 16
    Server actions + API routes for LaTeX compilation.
  • LaTeX
    Unmatched typographic precision for professional documents.
  • Node.js
    Server-side PDF generation with child_process.
~/ environment

Here's every env var, labeled.

Copy to .env.local. The included first-run script refuses to boot if any of them are missing — you'll know immediately.

.env.example
dotenv
NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL=http://localhost:3000
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@localhost:5432/invoices
LATEX_BIN=/usr/bin/pdflatex
~/ walkthrough

Zero to first deploy.

This is the exact sequence we'd run from a blank directory. Steps are reproducible — if one fails, we want to know.

  1. 1. Install LaTeX distribution

    Install TeX Live (Linux/macOS) or MiKTeX (Windows). Verify pdflatex is in your PATH.

    # macOS
brew install --cask mactex

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install texlive-full

# Verify
pdflatex --version

  2. 2. Configure database

    Point DATABASE_URL to your Postgres instance. Run migrations to create the invoices table.

    npm run db:migrate

  3. 3. Customize templates

    Edit templates in /latex/templates/. Variables use \VAR{} syntax. Change logo, colors, and layout to match your brand.

~/ known gotchas

The stuff that ate our afternoons.

Things we'd have wanted a heads-up on. Logged as we hit them.

  • !LaTeX compilation can fail silently — check logs in /tmp/ if PDFs don't generate.
  • !Special characters ($, &, %) must be escaped in invoice line items.
  • !Large LaTeX installations (3+ GB) — use a minimal scheme if disk space is tight.
when not

If you need real-time collaborative editing or WYSIWYG, LaTeX is overkill. This kit is for developers who want programmatic control over document layout.

license: MIT·star on github →

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