What is an invoicing software? This is a question that I am sure you have asked yourself. Let’s face it…who likes to get invoices? But they are extremely important to successful business operations. Having an organized inventory of your businesses transactions with clients, partners, suppliers, etc. is incredibly useful for all sorts of things including accounting purposes.
Invoicing is an important part of your small business. With invoicing software you can automate your invoices and create professional invoices for your customers or clients. In this post you will learn more about free invoice software and also about invoice software for small business that you can use to create various invoices for your services.
Invoicing software is a tool that automatically generates billing for rendered services and products. This tool creates a list of services and products along with their corresponding costs and sends them to your customers as an invoice. These invoices are commonly created using ready-made templates, mostly professional-looking ones, which makes the process easier and advantageous to businesses.
What Does Invoicing Software Do?
It’s typical for small businesses not to have a dedicated finance department to handle accounts payable. Hence, the task of billing and invoicing is handled by you or a couple of other people. With invoicing software, you can do the following key processes:
- Create and customize invoices. Today’s online invoicing platforms are relatively easy to use than desktop software and are increasingly becoming the preferred choice for many. Not being tied down to an on-premise system allows you to easily access information from anywhere to create invoices and personalize them to carry your brand. Unlike the traditional way where you already have a printed invoice, using this tool allows you to build an invoice from scratch and then populate the line items with customer name, quantity, amount, discounts, sales tax, and others. You may also choose to use templates built into the software and simply fill in the fields. Most applications offer customizing options where you can modify invoice elements or include your logo and other corporate symbols. You can create new clients or import client’s name from a database and simply click send. You have options to transform estimates approved by clients into invoices and send them also, or you can notify them to get the invoice from an online portal. Sending recurring invoices to long-term clients can likewise be automated.
- Facilitate billing and payment. Online platforms do not require additional set up and can provide you with the capability to conveniently process payment. With invoicing software you can create an online portal for customers to directly make payments and for you to immediately process them. It also allows you to accept foreign currency payments as billing and invoicing software has features to handle multiple currencies. With invoicing platforms, managing and processing payments had become easy tasks as you have the option to either integrate with PayPal or another online payment platforms, or process credit card payments. Invoicing software usually has features to handle multiple languages, multiple currencies, and tax adjustments. There is also the functionality to track offline payments.
- Generate reports. You can produce a variety of reports with invoicing software which can assist you to track your finances and monitor which invoices are currently outstanding. You can automate reports generation, export them as PDF files, and share or receive them by email. You can have reports generated and data analyzed to get relevant insights from your billing and invoicing operations such as the number of outstanding invoices, average time for a payment cycle, how many clients pay on time, and how many of them pay late. You can quickly get important information through the software that also manages all your records, transactions and database.
Scoro
Scoro is an all-in-one business management and invoicing software that helps you streamline your entire invoicing process. Compile beautiful invoices, automatically send payment reminders – and get paid faster.
Top features:
- Easily create and send customized sales, prepayment, and credit invoices and quotes.
- Set up recurring payments and spend less time on monthly billing.
- Set up automated overdue reminders, and get paid on time.
- Get a complete overview of each client’s or project’s profitability.
- View all the vital information on a real-time dashboard: sent invoices, monthly estimated revenue, etc.
What’s interesting about this tool: Scoro gives you the tools to manage every aspect of your business – projects, clients, and invoicing. Instead of switching between spreadsheets and emails, you’ll save countless hours by managing everything within a single solution.
Pricing: From $26 user/month.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is an easy cloud accounting software that helps you organize your finances in one place. You can create and send custom online invoices from any device.
Top features:
- Create & send custom invoices, sales receipts, and estimates
- Schedule recurring payments to save time
- Track sales, expenses, and profits
- Track and manage your sales tax
- Transact in multiple currencies
- Create purchase orders
- Track project or job profitability
What’s interesting about this tool: The QuickBooks Online Mobile app automatically stores your data in the cloud and syncs across your devices, making it easy to manage your business on-the-go.
Pricing: From $10.36 user/month.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks offers a scalable invoicing option with polished templates, convenient payment processing solutions, inventory tracking, and a bevy of other accounting tools and services.Pros
- Integrates with over 100 apps
- Recurring invoice & auto payment
- Robust reporting
Cons
- Limited functionality on mobile app
- Limited template customization
- More expensive than basic invoicing software
We chose FreshBooks as the best overall invoicing software because of its affordability, accessibility, and scalability for business owners, regardless of the size or nature of their business. This software also comes with a suite of accounting tools and award-winning customer service.1
FreshBooks gives users customizable invoices with options for recurring invoicing and auto payment. Clients can make credit card or ACH payments, making it a winning combination for business owners and customers alike.
Invoicing and other services can be accessed via desktop, tablet, or mobile, though some users report that the mobile app lacks some features offered by the desktop version. Fortunately, you can still send and review invoices with the FreshBooks mobile app.
In addition to invoicing, a FreshBooks account also gives users access to time and expense tracking project management, payments, and reporting. The software integrates with over 100 third-party apps, including, Salesforce, Gusto, Zoom, and Spotify.
FreshBooks offers a 30-day trial, and if it’s a good match for your business, you can upgrade to one of the following paid plans:
- Lite: $15 per month for five or fewer billable clients
- Plus: $25 per month for six to 50 billable clients
- Premium: $50 per month for 51 to 500 billable clients
If your needs exceed the Premium plan, FreshBooks also offers custom pricing for businesses that exceed 500 customers.
Square
Square has a reputation for helping small businesses manage online and point-of-sale purchases. Their streamlined approach to payment processing is mimicked in their invoicing services, making Square the perfect option for business owners looking for software that does both.Pros
- Real-time invoice tracking
- One-click payment option for customers
- No monthly fee
Cons
- Transaction-based fee can add up
- Limited invoice customization
Since 2009, Square has become a mainstay for small business owners who need simple and streamlined payment processing. In 2014, Square also added a free invoice functionality. When combined with some of the additional features covered below, we think Square Invoice is one of the best apps for business owners who want to centralize their payment and invoicing needs.
Square Invoice lets users create and send customized invoices, schedule recurring billing, and track the status of an invoice in real time. One-click payments make it easier for customers to pay online from their phone or tablet, and 75% of Square invoices are paid within a day.
While many other invoicing apps require a monthly payment, Square Invoice is free to use, and you’re only charged when an invoice is paid. Each Square Invoice is subject to a 2.9% + $0.30 fee. As such, Square may not be the best option for high-volume or high-risk industries. However, since fees are standardized, Square can offer you some predictability without a commitment.
Conclusion:
Invoicing software is a means for you to use your computer in-order to make invoicing a breeze. When you invoice your customers, you need to ensure that everything is in order and correct. With the help of invoicing software, you can effectively send out invoices to customers in order for them pay their bills promptly. Simply, it will eliminate the chances of your customers believing that your invoices are not correct or altered in any way. For this reason, this type of software has been designed to offer a number of advantages that could help you with all your invoicing needs.