The right invoicing software for small business will help you get paid faster, avoid late payments and handle cash flow better. In fact, if you’re a small business owner, it’s more important that you have the right invoicing software then a website! That’s why I’ve put together this handy guide for free online invoicing software.
There aren’t many free invoicing or billing software available, but we managed to find some to share with you. Many businesses use free invoicing software out there for their invoicing needs. Some of them are even designed for small business invoicing. This article will help you learn all that you need to know about free online invoicing software.
Wave Invoicing
Pricing: Completely free invoicing and accounting, with the option to pay additional fees for payment and payroll features.
Pros:
- User-friendly.
- Easy-to-automate invoicing and recurring billing, with payment reminders.
- Automatic integration with Wave Accounting.
- Unlimited invoicing, income and expense tracking.
- Ability to integrate credit card and bank account payments (transaction fees apply).
- Access to free receipt scanning service, allowing integration both with and without Wi-Fi access.
Cons:
- No option to upgrade to a higher-tier plan, potentially limiting fast-growing businesses.
Why we like it:
Wave Invoicing is ideal for small-business owners who want free accounting software along with a basic invoicing platform. It automatically integrates with Wave Accounting, one of the very few free accounting platforms.
The company’s accounting software offers unlimited income and expense tracking, bank and credit card options, and robust reporting. But because there’s no higher-tier plan available to upgrade to, fast-growing businesses may be limited by the platform’s free capabilities.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is another popular invoicing software that efficiently consolidates your accounting data to help you monitor all the transactions efficiently. Moreover, it ensures access to sales and customer management modules, allowing you to handle all the invoices in one place.
Want to see how Xero and Quickbooks stack up against one another? Check out my Xero vs Quickbooks comparison post.
Best For:
This tool is suitable for mid-sized businesses that are witnessing brisk growth.
Key Features:
- Seamless Integration: With support for over 180 third-party integrations, it offers robust integration capabilities with your business’ existing applications.
- Industry-Specific Solutions: It offers industry-specific accounting solutions to meet specific business requirements to expedite the process of integration with the native system.
- Automated Reporting: Easily customize reports, schedule in a calendar, and send them to different stakeholders. It also offers business-specific templates for efficient customization.
- File Manager: Ensure version control, store client passwords securely, organize all the QuickBooks files of clients, and easily upgrade clients’ business files in batches.
Pros:
- Start reconciliation instantly with all the accountant tools present in the Accountant Center
- Easily reclassify heaps of transaction data and rectify incorrect sales tax payments
- Clear the undeposited funds through a single screen
- Instantly send journal entries to the client with the required changes
- Get access to immersive reports through easy-to-read consumer tools
- Efficiently consolidate multiple invoices in a single email to enable customers to make payments easily
Cons:
- Customer support is not efficient
- It’s a bit more expensive than other invoicing options
Pricing:
QuickBooks invoicing software offers three simple pricing plans:
Xero
Xero is an online invoicing software for businesses that works well from any location. It comes equipped with impressive features, including automatic reminders, customizable templates, and online payment options. On top of that, it offers robust data security for all the shared invoices.
Best For:
Xero offers excellent customer experience with a free trial. It’s good for businesses and for professionals looking to try the software solution before making their final purchase.
Key Features:
- Streamlined Transactions: Leverage its multiple-approval model and two-factor authentication to minimize financial fraud possibilities.
- Inventory Management: It allows you to track your inventory and keep detailed records. These records include purchase costs, descriptions, committed quotes, tax status, among others.
- Easy to Use: It comes with an easy to use dashboard that helps you easily monitor business-wide invoicing and billing statuses.
- Integration with a Large Number of Tools: It offers reliable integration with a large number of popular third-party solutions, including Kabbage, ZenPayroll, Evernote, Deputy, Vend, Stitch Bill, Labs, Synergy, Mogul, Workflow Max, Carbon Analytics, among others.
Pros:
- Easily control purchase orders, categorize invoices as drafted, or awaiting approval, and payment, or delayed
- Make an efficient comparison of finances through interactive charts
- Allows you to reduce the entry of repetitive data entry
- Expedite invoice generation by leveraging existing invoice templates and setting recurring invoicing
- Easily send invoices from your tablet or smartphone
- Embed ‘Pay now’ option on your online invoice to enable the customer to make payments instantly
- Easily add your costs and expenses on an invoice
Cons:
- Offers limited reporting options
- All digital payment solutions require a paid subscription
Pricing:
Its monthly subscription plans start from $9 and go up to $60. You also get a 30-day free trial that comes with all the features.
Zoho Invoice
Zoho Invoice’s completely free platform includes customizable invoices with professional templates. You can send invoices to an unlimited number of clients, and while Zoho does have an invoice limit, it’s 1,000 invoices a year—more than enough for most freelancers, solopreneurs, and small to midsize businesses. (And if you need more than 1,000 invoices, you can contact Zoho directly to discuss a custom invoicing plan.)
Plus, even though it isn’t a total accounting solution, Zoho Invoice includes additional features that compare to and even exceed a lot of standard accounting software offerings, such as these:
- Built-in time tracking and project management
- Expense tracking, including receipt scanning
- Multicurrency support and multiple payment gateways
- Customer self-service portals and automatic estimate approvals
Zoho Invoice has one notable downside: it only syncs with Zoho Books, not with other accounting software options like FreshBooks or Xero. For what it’s worth, Zoho Books is an excellent (and affordable) accounting solution—but since Zoho lacks an integrated payroll solution, its accounting and invoicing software work best for freelancers and solopreneurs with no employees.
Pros
Free customizable invoices to unlimited clients
Automated billing and invoicing features
Additional accounting features, including expense tracking and receipt scanning
Cons
Invoice limit (1,000/yr.)
Limited integration with non-Zoho products
Square Invoice
Square’s free invoicing app, Square Invoice, lets you charge clients and receive payments anywhere, anytime. There’s no monthly subscription fee, invoice limit, or client limit. With the app, you can send free estimates, then instantly convert them to invoices on mobile once a client approves. Like Square’s payroll app, Square Invoice is geared towards contractors—its free contract templates are easy to fill out and send alongside your estimates, invoices, and bills.
But freelancers and contractors aren’t the only business owners who can benefit from Square Invoice. In Billing-wise, the product integrates perfectly with Square Point of Sale—a preferred point of sale and payroll system for restaurant owners, food truckers, and retailers. If your business fits into one of those categories and you’re already using Square’s mobile credit card reader, it just makes sense to go with Square Invoices. (And if Square’s free invoicing plan isn’t enough for you, its $20-a-month Plus plan offers additional support for midsize and growing businesses with heftier invoicing needs.)
Square Invoice recently started letting customers accept ACH transactions, which brings it up to speed with other billing and invoicing products on the market. It still lags behind in some key areas, though, like multicurrency support (which it doesn’t offer) and project tracking (which many business owners need to correctly bill their clients).
Pros
Seamless connection with other Square products
Automatic late payment reminders and recurring invoices
Next-day fund access
Cons
No built-in project tracking or time tracking
No multicurrency support
Conclusion:
Virtually every company, including freelance ones, needs to issue invoices. Since business is all about money, it’s vital that these invoices are made as efficient as possible. Invoice software helps businesses with the process of issuing invoices. It manages all of your billing data and allows you to create professional-looking invoices in just minutes. Here are the most important things to look for when choosing invoice software for your small business or company.