Job invoicing software – What is it and why is it important? Well, I’m going to be elaborating on that a bit today. I’ll break down the different types of job invoicing software, give you a general overview of how they work and I’ll recommend a few of my favorites as well.
Many businesses use project-related software to run their companies. For example, if you own a lawn care business, it’s essential to create invoices for clients who hire you to mow their lawns or cut their bushes. However, since many small businesses don’t use commercial invoicing software, you may be interested in learning about job tracking and invoicing software.
Freshbooks
FreshBooks is an invoicing, time tracking, and expense-tracking software geared towards small businesses and freelancers.
Top features:
- Customize and send unlimited invoices, including automated recurring invoices.
- See when a client has received, viewed, and paid an invoice.
- Set-up automatic late payment reminders and fees.
- Easily accept online credit card payments.
- Create and send professional looking estimates.
- Get business insights with simple reports and dashboards.
- Work on any device – computer, tablet, or mobile.
What’s interesting about this tool: With FreshBooks, you can track and log time by project and clients, and easily collaborate with your team.
Pricing: From $15 user/month.
Zoho Books
Zoho Books is simple online accounting software that covers all the basics: create and send invoices, track expenses, sync bank accounts, create reports, and do accounting on the go on all devices. But it also offers a full set of accounting tools that grows with your business.
Top features:
- Send professional invoices, set up automatic recurring invoices, and accept online payments in a simple, fast and convenient way.
- Track and categorize expenses, and bill them to your clients all from one place.
- Connect Zoho Books to your bank account and get a real-time update on your cash flow. Monitor transactions and categorize them instantly.
- Stay on top of your finances with powerful accounting reports like P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement.
- Enable inventory tracking and manage goods as they come in and go out.
What’s interesting about this tool: Most accounting solutions require an accountant or accounting knowledge to measure and analyze financial metrics. But not in the case of Zoho invoices. For a quick real-time view of the health of your business, a glance at the dashboard would suffice.
Pricing: From $10 organization/month. Free trial for 14 days.
Simplybill
REASONS TO BUY
+Large number of invoicing templates+Automated tax rates+Backups provide redundancy against accidental deletions
REASONS TO AVOID
-Might be too basic for some-Payment gateways unsupported-Less practical for large volume use
As the name suggests, Simplybill is a simplified billing software which includes all of the basic features you would expect for setting up and sending invoices, including the ability to set up automatic tax rates (even for different countries).
The product runs in the cloud, allowing you to access your account on the go through mobile apps, and you can elect to receive push notifications in the event that an invoice becomes overdue.
One drawback is that there is no support for any payment gateways currently, although Simplybill allows for PayPal subscription links.
Pricing for Simplybill is based, unusually, not on the number of clients but simply on the number of invoices sent out each month.
SimplyBill – try it free for 14 days
Get to grips with everything SimplyBill has to offer thanks for a 14-day free trial, which has no hidden fees and you can cancel at anytime. Like what you see? Choose from Basic at $5 per month, Enhanced for just $15 per month and a Premium edition that’s great value for just $25 monthly.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks by Intuit is one of the most well-known invoicing and accounting apps for small businesses. We featured it in our list of the best accounting software for small businesses.
QuickBooks is a general accounting app that can streamline your business’s finances. You can even connect your online bank account to the software, reducing any manual data entry errors.
It’s also great for invoicing. You can see and update your invoices from a single dashboard, automate sending your invoices, and the software can proactively show you the impact of paying bills on your cashflow.
QuickBooks’ Self-Assessment plan for freelancers and independent contractors costs £8.00 a month. They also have a choice of plans for small businesses and VAT-registered companies in their Making Tax Digital for VAT Ready category, starting at £12.00 a month.
Both Quickbooks for Self-Employed and Quickbooks for Small Businesses are available on iPhone and Android.
Invoicely
Invoicely used to be known as Invoiceable. Whereas some other free invoice builder apps put limitations on the number of invoices you can send, Invoicely lets you send unlimited invoices to unlimited customers, even on the free plan. This makes it useful for businesses just starting out.
It’s cloud-hosted and easy to use and if you want more features as your business grows, its pricing plan is very affordable. The ‘Basic’ plan is $9.99 a month and gives you the ability to track time and expenses, set up recurring statements and provide quotes.
InvoiceBerry
InvoiceBerry is designed specifically for small and micro businesses, unlike many of the invoice builder apps we’ve already highlighted.
InvoiceBerry has simplicity in mind. They claim that through the software, you can create and deliver invoices to customers in under a minute. The software will send reminders to late payers and even send a thank you note when a payment has been received.
For £10 a month, the ‘Solo’ plan allows you 15 invoice templates, 35 clients, and two users, whereas the ‘Pro’ plan offers unlimited clients and users, and 15 invoice templates, for £20 a month.
Xero
Xero is accounting software with all the time-saving tools you need to grow your business with unlimited users and 24/7 support. Xero also prides itself on its security and reliability.
Top features:
- Easy invoicing: create professional custom-designed invoices.
- Set up repeating invoices.
- Automate invoice payment reminders and get paid faster with tailored emails to your customers.
- Accept payments online with a debit or credit card, or with PayPal, right from the invoice to keep cash flowing.
- Invoice on your mobile: Create and send invoices straight from your phone or tablet right when you finish a job.
- Let your customers pay you online with a debit or credit card. Or with their PayPal account.
What’s interesting about this tool: With Xero, you can also bulk-invoice customers – that saves you a lot of time. What’s also interesting is that you get notified when invoices are opened!
Pricing: From $20 user/month.
Sage 50c
Sage, a leading provider of business management software and services to small and medium businesses, has been around for over 25 years. Sage 50c was released in 2016. It is accounting software that combines the familiarity of using a desktop-based product with the anytime, anywhere access to data that a cloud-based solution provides.
Top features:
- Create, edit & send invoices directly from your software.
- Track your cash flow by linking directly to your bank account, record sales, and receipts in real time.
- Create professional quotes.
- See powerful reporting and dashboards.
- Track Project income, expenses and profit.
- Trade in multiple currencies.
What’s interesting about this tool: Sage 50c combines the power and productivity of a trusted desktop solution, with secure online access and Microsoft Office 365 integration.
Pricing: From $192 user/year. Free trial for 60 days.
Conclusion:
Work orders and invoicing are an essential part of running a successful construction business. If you don’t have a system for tracking time, billing clients, and creating estimates, your company is going to suffer from inefficiencies and problems.