What makes a good free invoice software for small business? Look no further. In this article, we’ll take a look at several of the most popular invoicing software applications that are available to users for free. These invoicing applications can simplify your bookkeeping and help you manage your accounting with fewer headaches and charges than their paid counterparts. And of course, they’ll all be free!
With over 10 free invoice software providers listed, you are guaranteed to find what you are looking for. The invoice software below ranges from being easy-to-use billing software for small business owners to cloud-based solutions provided by Xero. Whatever your needs, this list should have you covered.
Microsoft invoicing free
The Free Invoice Generator is an easy-to-use app that helps you create invoices quickly, and share them with your customers for free. All you need to do is download the app, fill in the invoice with necessary details and your invoice will be ready
Tide
Tide’s modern financial platform for small businesses is full of features alongside a smart business bank account. Included with your Tide account, you’ll get free tools such as accounting software integration, auto-categories to simplify tracking income and expenditures, manage VAT and invoicing.
The all-in-one system makes it easy for you to manage your business finance admin through either a desktop or an app on your mobile phone. When it comes to invoicing, it’s incredibly simple to create and pay invoices from anywhere, anytime. Save customer details, add multiple line items, references, due dates, and even tie the invoice to a specific category to keep your accounts organized.
For extra peace of mind, when you send an invoice through Tide, eligible members can add Invoice Protection to protect your business against non-payment (terms and conditions apply).
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Customise invoices with your logo
- Preview invoice and edit email message
- Categorise your spending and payments
- Integrates with accounting software
- Insure invoices with Invoice Protection from specialists Hokodo (eligible members only)
- Available on web, iOS and Android
Cons:
- Limited choice of invoice templates
- Charge to insure invoices with Invoice Protection
- Need a Tide business current account to use it
Cost:
- Free for Tide members on all membership plans
- Tide membership plan prices:
- If you’re setting up a new business, you can register your limited company with Companies House FREE of charge when you apply with Tide. Simply head over to Tide Company Formation.
Pro Tip: We are always working with our members to enhance our features to help business owners save time and money. For example, we recently launched invoice matching which makes matching payments to invoices and marking invoices as paid super quick and easy. We also teamed up with GoCardless to remove the stress and admin of following up on overdue invoices. Now, you can collect payments using Direct Debit, simplifying the invoicing process and making payments easier than ever. Open your business account with Tide today to get started 🚀
Xero
With over two million users, Xero is one of the most popular small business accounting software solutions around. It’s invoicing software comes as part of its overall accounting package, so you’re not paying for solely invoicing capabilities. Rather, you get an all-in-all product that lets you create and send personalized invoices, track payments and monitor the overall financial state of your business from a single dashboard.
That could be a positive or negative depending on what you’re looking for. But if you need accounting features to run alongside your invoicing needs, the customization, automation, integration, and multiple payment options, along with the ability to access invoices on the move via a dedicated app, makes Xero a solid choice.
Xero is a well-established and award-winning product and with that comes excellent security and reliability. The company’s 24/7 support is also well-reviewed by users.
Pros:
- Fully customisable invoice templates
- User-friendly dashboard
- Two-step authentication to protect invoices from unauthorised changes
- Good accounting features
- Bulk invoicing
- 24/7 customer support
- iOS and Android mobile apps
Cons:
- Comes bundled with Xero’s accounting package
- No free plan
- No standalone invoice software option
- No customer support by phone
Cost:
- Starter: £10/mo
- Standard: £24/mo
- Premium: £30/mo
- Xero offers a 30-day free trial, no credit card required.
Pro Tip: Our integration with Xero makes it easy for you to feed transactions from your Tide account to Xero every two hours. It takes less than two minutes to set up, and the automatic transaction syncing means you’ll never have to worry about reconciling transactions again.
Intuit QuickBooks
Intuit QuickBooks is one of the best-known invoicing and accounting apps on the market and is trusted by over 4.5 million small businesses. The product is designed for small business owners and self-employed contractors and keeps everything from creating to tracking invoices simple. The software works seamlessly on desktop and mobile, syncing data across your devices and all the features we covered earlier are accessible from a well-developed user interface.
QuickBooks is another of the full accounting packages, but it offers a good selection of pricing plans that are contract-free and can be canceled at any time. For basic invoicing for one user, the ‘Simple Start’ plan is an affordable option. If you want to add multiple currencies, the ‘Essentials’ plan offers that, plus additional users and bills, and payment management. Or if you’re looking for a full accounting package with features such as stock management and budgeting alongside invoicing, the ‘Plus’ plan covers all of your needs.
Pros:
- Designed for freelancers, contractors and small business owners
- Single dashboard for managing invoices
- Online and phone support
- Great templates with full customisation
- Auto-adjustments for exchange rate fluctuations
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- No free plan
- No standalone invoice software option
- User limitations on plans
Cost:
- Simple Start: £6/mo
- Essentials: £10/mo
- Plus: £15/mo
- QuickBooks offers a free 30-day trial, no credit card required
Note: These prices are for the first six months only. After six months, monthly payments increase by 50%.
Pro Tip: Our integration with QuickBooks allows you to sync transactions on demand, from up to two years ago, allowing you to get an easy-to-digest and up-to-date view of your finances, anytime. We built this integration via Open Banking technology, which is the fastest, most secure way to put you in control of your financial data.
FreeAgent
FreeAgent was crowned Small Business Accounting Software of the Year by Accounting Excellence in 2018 and is popular with freelancers and new business owners for its user experience and customer support. With FreeAgent’s invoicing software, you get a wide range of HMRC compliant templates that can be edited and sent in minutes, then tracked from a simple Invoice Timeline that uses color-coding to indicate which invoices have been opened, paid, or are overdue. Invoices can also be converted from quotes to save time when a price has previously been agreed upon.
As with the above software, invoicing comes as part of an overall accounting package, which may mean paying for things you don’t need. And price plans can be expensive. But if you’re looking for a single home for managing finances and sending invoices—via your phone or desktop—FreeAgent ticks all of the boxes.
Pros:
- UK-based
- Easy to use templates
- Good customisation including CSS editing
- Reporting and tracking features
- Online and phone support
- UK-based business
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- No free plan
- Price plans can be expensive
- No standalone invoice software option
Cost:
- Sole Trader: £9.50/mo + VAT
- Partnership: £12/mo + VAT
- Limited Company: £14.50/mo + VAT
- FreeAgent offers a 30-day free trial, no credit card required
Note: FreeAgent’s listed prices are for the first six months only. After six months, monthly payments increase by 50%.
Pro Tip: Our integration with FreeAgent allows you to set up an Open Banking feed that automatically syncs your transactions from Tide to FreeAgent. Once set up, new transactions from Tide will appear in your FreeAgent dashboard every day.
Kashflow
Kashflow is a multi-award-winning, UK-based online accounting solution for small businesses. While its invoicing software is only one part of a wider suite of bookkeeping products, it offers everything needed to easily customize and edit invoices, set up automatic invoicing and reminders, and follow up payments. All of this can be done from a single user-friendly dashboard that also includes reports, customer details, and quotes that can be turned into invoices with one click.
Depending on your needs, Kashflow offers good pricing plans that can be canceled at any time, starting with its ‘Starter’ plan aimed at sole traders, contractors, and small businesses, and moving up to a ‘Business’ plan for growing businesses and limited companies, with the option to add payroll services. These plans allow the software to grow with your business.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Good pricing plans
- Simple customisation
- Good accounting features
- Online and phone support
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- No free plan
- Limited invoice templates
- Fewer customisation options than some competitors
- Fewer integrations than some competitors
Cost:
- Starter: £8/mo + VAT
- Business: £16.50/mo + VAT
- Business + Payroll: £22.50/mo + VAT
- Kashflow offers a 14-day free trial, no credit card required
Pro Tip: Our integration with KashFlow takes advantage of Open Banking Feeds so that you can automatically sync transactions from Tide with KashFlow. Transactions will be pulled in daily so you are always up-to-date with your income and expenditures.
19. OneUp
OneUp is an online business banking solution. The invoicing software lets you input accounts, track transactions, and even forecast your company’s finances. There’s even a smart assistant that offers business advice based on the financial information you add. The invoicing portion of the tool allows users to send quotes, get paid, and even calculate expenses like sales tax.
Plans range from $9 per month for one user to $169 per month for unlimited users. There’s also a 30-day free trial offered.
20. Chargebee
Chargebee is an invoicing software that is built for subscription-based businesses and recurring payments. You can set up billing schedules, create invoicing templates and proration, and even manage your taxes. The invoice software even integrates with third-party tools like Salesforce, Paypal, and Stripe. This allows you to automate everything from sales and CRM to the ability to accept online payments through various payment gateways.
The invoicing tool is completely free for up to three users until you hit up to $100,000 in revenue. Then plans range from $249 to $549 per month. And it includes everything you need to manage subscriptions and recurring payments.
Crunch
Crunch is an online accounting service that supports freelancers, contractors, and practically anyone who’s self-employed. They combine bespoke online accounting software with award-winning client support and expert accountants.
Crunch offers free bookkeeping software – known, appropriately, as Crunch Free – that you can use to securely send invoices and record expenses, and it can even be securely linked to your bank account (such as Tide!). They also offer a suite of paid packages that include all your tax filings and unlimited support from a team of client managers and expert accountants.
Pros
- Simple, secure online accounting software
- Award-winning team of Chartered Certified Accountants and client managers
- Real-time view of company profits and taxes owed
- HMRC and Companies House taken care of for you
- Self Assessment submission support
- Expert IR35 advice, tools and solutions
- Open Banking feeds to easily import bank transactions
- Secure and easy-to-use on any device
Cons
- No free plan has customer support by phone
- No standalone invoice software option
Pricing
Crunch Free: Completely free!
Crunch Pro (Sole trader): From £24.50+VAT per month
Crunch Pro (Limited company): £71.50+VAT per month
Crunch Premium: £109.50+VAT per month
Pro Tip: It is super fast and easy to use Tide’s accounting integration with Crunch. Using Open Banking technology, all transactions made in your Tide app can be automatically and securely imported into your Crunch software, ready for you or your Crunch team to view and manage.
Bokio
Founded in 2015, Swedish company Bokio is a relatively new kid on the block. But while it’s perhaps not as well known as QuickBooks or FreshBooks, it’s a more than worthy competitor.
Like Wave, Bokio’s biggest benefit is the fact that it’s free. But free doesn’t mean you have to miss out on any much-needed features. Customizable templates, invoice tracking, automated reminders, and multiple currencies are all there. And usability is simple—the app and online platform are minimalistic and very user friendly—true to popular Swedish design principles.
You also get to benefit from machine learning, with an automated invoice system that can capture transactions, automatically recognize dates and amounts and detect whether important information has been missed.
How is all of this free? Bokio makes money by charging for additional accounting partner services that include account management and access to a personal adviser.
Pros:
- Free invoicing software
- Aimed at freelancers, sole traders and small business owners
- User-friendly app and online platform
- Automated ‘smart templates’ save time and prevent mistakes
- Simple invoice management and tracking
- Integrated bookkeeping software
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- Premium help comes at a cost (accounting partnerships start at £25/mo)
- No phone support
Cost:
- Free
Zoho Invoice
Zoho offers a range of online productivity tools for small businesses of which invoicing software is one. Unlike other products in this list that include invoicing as part of an overall package, Zoho offers Zoho Invoice as a standalone solution.
Zoho Invoice lets you quickly create and send professional invoices, automate recurring invoices and accept online payments. You can also generate estimates and convert them to invoices and track time to bill clients for unpaid hours.
Although limited, Zoho provides integration options for payment gateways, CRMs, documents, and G-Suite. And like other apps in the suite, the software offers a free price plan (limited to five customers).
Zoho Invoice was crowned Expert’s Choice and awarded Great User Experience in 2019 by FinancesOnline. It’s also been rated as Editors’ Choice by PCMag.
Pros:
- Reliable software from a respected company
- Good pricing options, including a free plan
- Fully customisable templates
- Email and phone support
- Client portal for communicating with clients outside of email
- Accept online payments
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- No reporting feature
- Mobile version has fewer features than the desktop version
- Not as many integrations as some competitors
Cost:
- Free (for up to five customers)
- Basic: € 9/mo
- Standard: € 19/mo
- Professional: € 29/mo
Invoice Bus
Invoicebus helps you send online invoices to your clients and get paid instantly – regardless of wherever you are based in the world.
For those seeking an alternative to PayPal invoicing, InvoiceBus is an option that won’t have quite so many restrictions. It also allows you to work more independently with multiple payments processors and has beautifully designed templates for almost any purpose.
Aside from great looks, their templates come customizable and include auto-calculation of prices, taxes, and more. Send and track invoices in the system and be supported with helpful reminders in a high-security environment.
What you get from Invoice Bus:
- Customized your invoice – upload logo, customer details, and items
- Auto-calculating for prices, taxes, subtotals, and totals
- Generate printer-friendly invoices from web browsers
- Send your invoice direct to customer or download as PDF
- Integrates with Stripe, 2Checkout, and PayPal
Invoice Generator
Invoice Generator lets you create a customized invoice for a variety of businesses. All you have to do is fill in the information about the work and costs, then you can choose to download the invoice or send it straight from the website.
What’s great about invoice generators is that you can also add discounts and shipping rates into the total, and there’s even the option to adjust the currency.
What you get from Invoice Generator:
- Customized your invoice – upload logo, customer details, and items.
- Optional to add Shipping and Tax rates
- A copy of a draft invoice will save on your device
- Send your invoice direct to customer or download as PDF
- A free to use invoice template by Invoiced
- Optional to upgrade for more features including cloud-based access
Skynova
You can create an invoice and download an Adobe PDF format of it at Skynova. In order to create the document, you need to put the basic information about the receivable, such as date, unit price, and a description.
After putting in the details, you can then save or just immediately print the professional-looking invoice.
What you get from Skynova:
- Track your invoices – the amount paid, balance due and total
- Allow your customer to pay using a credit card
- You will know when your customer opens the invoice
- Stay organized – the payment and customer record
- Able to upload your own logo
- Unlimited storage and customer contacts
Indy Invoice Generator
The Indy Invoice Generator uses the industry’s most trusted online payment solutions, and clients are one click away from paying using the method of their choice.
Indy is an all-in-one management software that helps self-employed people and small businesses easily manage their invoices.
Invoice templates include all the info your clients need and give you the ability to add your personal branding. You can link working hours directly to an invoice using the Time Tracker tool and save yourself time.
What you get from Indy Invoice Generator:
- Prepare professional Proposals in moments.
- Create Contracts and send them instantly to your new clients.
- Link contracts to projects to keep your records organized.
- Make Tasks and connect them to projects to manage your progress.
- Chat with your clients and team to build momentum.
- Bill your clients using Indy’s Invoices tool.
Invoiceto.me
Invoiceto.me is one the easiest and most straightforward invoice generators on the list. You can use it to send invoices for multiple types of work.
All you have to do is put in details about the work and payments. You can then download the invoice as a PDF and have a professional-looking way to request payments.
What you get from Invoiceto.me:
- You can to add and edit row any time
- Able to edit and add text within the template
- Automated calculate Tax and total
- Download the invoice in PDF format
- It’s a free tool by Invoicely
- You can do more – manage clients, accept payment online, etc, when you sign up with them (It’s free!)
Create.OnlineInvoices.com
Create.online invoices, you can choose and customize from three types of invoices: tax invoices, simple invoices, and business invoices. Using the three templates, you can create your own invoices by entering your information and downloading it as a PDF file.
You can also print it or send it directly from the website after you finish customizing your invoice.
What you get:
- Use different invoice template (3 layouts to choose from)
- Change to the currencies that suits you
- Add your own tax and discount value
- Upload your logo and add a note to the invoice
- Send the invoice via email and receive payment
- Create a free account for more advanced features
Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja is an open-source invoicing software solution, supported by a growing community of developers around the world. What this means is that the product is always evolving and improving to meet the needs of its 120,000+ customers.
The range of features packed into Invoice Ninja is vast, including everything you need for invoicing and automated billing, online payments, quotes, and proposals, streamlining workflows, tracking work time, and managing expenses.
What’s even more impressive is that these features are all included in the ‘Forever Free’ plan, which lets you send unlimited invoices to up to 100 clients. This option is well suited to new and small businesses, but if you want to stick with Invoice Ninja as you grow, both the ‘Ninja Pro’ and ‘Enterprise’ plans offer unlimited clients and additional features such as multiple custom invoice designs, custom URL and a branded client-side portal.
Invoice Ninja was awarded ‘Great User Experience’ and ‘Rising Star’ by FinancesOnline in 2018 and ranked as ‘Top 3 Most Worthy Software in Billing and Invoicing’ by Saasworthy in 2019.
Pros:
- Free invoicing software
- User-friendly app and online platform
- Wide range of customisation and integration options
- Client-side invoice and payment history portal
- Invoice alerts for sent, viewed and paid invoices
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- Invoices are watermarked with Invoice Ninja logo in the free version
- No phone support
Cost:
- Forever Free (for up to 100 clients)
- Ninja Pro Plan: $10/mo
- Enterprise Plan, from $14/mo
Invoicely
Unlike other apps in this list that provide invoicing software as part of their wider accounting package, Invoicely (formerly known as Invoiceable) does things the other way around, offering accounting tools as part of its invoicing product.
Invoicely aims to bring free cloud invoicing to as many people around the world as possible and is currently trusted by over 100,000 small businesses. The tool lets you create and send professional and elegant-looking estimates and invoices in any language or currency in seconds, receive online payments, track time and expenses, and keep on top of your finances from a single user-friendly dashboard. All for free.
Better still, there are no limits on how many invoices you can send or how many clients you can add. You can also use an unlimited number of businesses in tandem on their platform. For example, if you have one registered company but two trading names, you can send and track invoices from each trading name from your Invoicely account.
But the free plan isn’t without limitations in other areas. If you want to add team members, accept online payments from a payment gateway other than PayPal, or set up recurring invoices, you’ll need to upgrade to the ‘Basic’, ‘Professional’ or ‘Enterprise’ plan.
Pros:
- User-friendly design
- Generous free plan
- Let’s you add multiple businesses to a single account
- Real-time reporting
- iOS and Android apps
Cons:
- No custom branding in the free plan
- Fewer customisation options than some competitors
- Email-only support
Cost:
- Free
- Basic Plan: $9.99/mo
- Professional Plan: $19.99/mo
- Enterprise Plan: $29.99/mo
Scoro offers end-to-end work management software that also includes invoicing. The idea is for Scoro to act as a control hub for your business. You can add the apps you need within the platform. And it even integrates with third-party programs like Slack and Evernote as well. When it comes to invoicing features, the platform lets you automate billing and create custom invoices for customers. You can also track the rest of your finances within the same dashboard.
Scoro plans range in price from $26 to $49 per user per month. They all support a minimum of five users. And they include features beyond invoicing like task management and bundles. The upgraded plans offer options like recurring tasks and project templates. There are also custom plan options for advanced users.
Conclusion
There are some businesses that regularly run out of inventory, and there will come a time when they’d have to close down due to unforeseen circumstances. Fortunately, today there are various software systems designed to help them manage their inventory to effectively operate their business. Check out this exhaustive list of the best inventory management software used by small businesses.