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A letterhead is the printed (or digital) header that identifies a document as officially coming from your business — name, logo, and contact details arranged at the top of the page, usually with a matching footer. It sounds cosmetic. It isn't: banks, government offices, corporate clients and courts all treat "on letterhead" as shorthand for authentic and authorised. A price confirmation on plain paper is a note; the same words on letterhead are a commitment from the business.
What goes on a letterhead
Header (top block):
- Business name — the largest element
- Logo
- Tagline, if you use one
- Full address
- Phone, email, website
Footer (bottom strip):
- GSTIN, if registered
- Registration numbers as applicable (see legal section)
- Social handles, if client-facing
Keep the header under 20–25% of page height — the letterhead frames the document, it isn't the document. Everything between header and footer stays blank for content.
Legal requirements by business type
Different structures have mandated disclosures on official stationery:
- Private/public limited companies — Section 12 of the Companies Act requires name, registered office address and CIN on all business letters and official publications; add email/website where they exist. Missing CIN attracts penalties.
- LLPs — name, registered office and LLPIN similarly required.
- GST-registered businesses (any structure) — GSTIN belongs on invoices mandatorily and on letterheads by strong convention.
- Professionals — CA firms add FRN; doctors add registration numbers (medical billing has its own rules); architects add COA numbers.
- Proprietorships and freelancers — no statutory list, but name + address + phone + GSTIN (if any) is the standard.
Design conventions that read "professional"
- One or two colours, drawn from your logo. Rainbow letterheads read as bill-book printing from 2005.
- Two fonts maximum — one for the name, one for details.
- Alignment discipline — either everything left-aligned with logo right, or a centred stack. Mixed alignment is the most common amateur tell.
- Consistent margins — 1-inch sides; the header shouldn't touch paper edges except for deliberate full-bleed colour bars.
- A5 and A4 versions — invoices and letters use A4; receipts and short notes often suit A5. Same design, two sizes. (Standard dimensions and print specs are in our letterhead size guide.)
If you're making one yourself, Canva has hundreds of free letterhead templates — search "letterhead", swap in your logo and details, download as PDF and PNG. Word also ships with usable templates (File → New → "letterhead"), which have the advantage of doubling as typing templates. Either route beats paying a designer for v1; upgrade when your brand does.
Letterhead in the digital workflow
Most "letterhead" use today is PDF, not print:
- Save a blank letterhead PDF and a Word/Docs template with the header/footer locked in
- Quotations, confirmations and formal letters get typed into the template and exported to PDF
- Your invoice template is effectively letterhead + billing table — which is why invoice tools ask for logo and business details once and apply them everywhere. BrightDesk's free invoice generator does exactly this: upload a logo, fill your details, and every invoice carries consistent letterhead-grade branding.
- Keep the header image under ~200KB so emailed PDFs stay light
One caution: a letterhead PDF is trivially copied. For documents where authenticity matters — contracts especially — pair the letterhead with signatures (e-signatures are legally valid in India) rather than relying on the design alone.
When letterhead paper is actually demanded
You'll be asked for "a letter on your letterhead" for: bank account opening and loans, visa invitation/NOC letters, tender submissions, vendor empanelment with corporates and hotels, and address/experience confirmations for staff. Keep 20 printed sheets around even in 2026 — some counters still want ink.
For wedding vendors, the empanelment case matters most: hotels and planners adding you to approved-vendor lists routinely want your rate card and confirmation letters on letterhead. A clean one signals you'll be equally clean to work with — the same logic as a professional pricing presentation.
The five-minute version
Logo + name + phone + address + GSTIN, arranged cleanly in Canva, exported as PDF and PNG, saved as a Word template. That's a functioning letterhead system. Apply the same branding to your invoices via BrightDesk — where your logo, signature and business details live once and appear on every document — and your paperwork is consistent everywhere a client sees it.