As a freelancer or small business owner, you’re well aware of the importance of invoicing: If you don’t invoice clients, then how are you going to get paid? Thankfully, plenty of invoicing options available today allow you to easily send out these all-important communications. But, with so many services available, which one should you choose? Here are recommendations for 10 invoicing services perfect for freelancers and small business owners alike.
1. Due
Due is is one of the best options. One of its advantages is speed; it quickly generates professional invoices. What’s about this service is that it comes with a billing timer and the ability to export your invoices or estimates as an XML or CSV file. The clean interface also allows you to see which invoices have been sent or paid, and which ones are due. You can further create options for taxes, discounts and language.
If you only send out three invoices per month, Due is free. Its top plan, which I use, is $49 a year.
2. Freshbooks
There are several reasons why over five million people trust FreshBooks for their invoicing needs. For starters, the platform is incredibly user friendly and easy to use. But, if you do have a problem, FreshBooks has an award-winning support team ready to assist you 24/7. If that weren't enough, FreshBooks allows you to add your logo to your invoice, initiate repeat billing, calculate taxes, send paper copies and get paid in any currency. You can even see if a client has viewed or paid your invoice in real time. In a nutshell, FreshBooks offers everything you need.
After a 30-day free trial, plans start at $19.95 per month.
3. Zoho
While Zoho Invoice has many features outside of invoicing, such as sales and marketing tools, this simple invoicing software is perfect if you want to create invoices quickly. Besides the well-designed invoices, Zoho also allows you to create automated payment reminders; collaborate with team members, like accountants; and track the time it takes to complete a project. Zoho also integrates with popular payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe and Authorize.net, so that you can get paid quickly online.
Zoho is free to use if you have under five customers; paid plans start at $15 per month.
4. Invoicera
What makes Invoicera stand out are the variety of features provided for different-sized businesses, whether they be freelance, small-to-medium-size businesses or enterprise-size busineses. Irregardless of business size, Invoicera offers free invoicing templates that can be converted into PDF files or a different language/currency for global clients.
Another unique Invoicera feature is its availability of detailed invoicing reports. These can be used to forecast revenues in the future, which are handy for creating a budget.
A free plan is available for subscribers with fewer than three clients; pricing starts at $19.95/month.
5. Harvest
Like other invoicing services, Harvest allows you to quickly create personalized invoices in multiple currencies. Harvest also claims that its service will get you paid twice as fast. Some of its more unique features include the ability to create retainers and to feature the amount due on both the top and bottom of the invoice. There’s also a search feature, similar to PayPal’s, so you can easily locate previous invoices.
Harvest also has a number of add-ons, such as Trello, PayPal, Stripe, Zendeskand Salesforce, so you can give your account a little extra boost.
After a 30-day free trial, pricing starts at $12 per month.
6. Simplybill
As its name implies, Simplybill allows you to create invoices with ease. In fact, the company boasts that it has“been designed to be the easiest online invoicing solution out there.” Besides its simplicity for creating and sending out invoices, Simplybill has around 40 template designs and the option to include tax rates. It also has a great dashboard which allows you to view which payments are overdue, and to see a snapshot of your invoicing history.
You can try Simplybill for 14 days, and plans begin at $5 per month.
7. Hiveage
Hiveage (formerly known as CurdBee) is used by over 45,000 small business in 140 countries. Why? Because not only is the service easy to use but it’s packed with a wide range of features. On top of the customized invoices, you can send clients reminders and convert estimates into invoices. Hiveage also sends you detailed reports and enables you to track your time and expenses and the power to manage multiple users and businesses.
You can use Hiveage for free, but if you require something more robust, plans start at $6.95/month.
8. Wave
Wave provides accounting software for small businesses, which includes invoicing. Like other invoicing software, Wave allows you to produce customized, professional invoices in a snap. Other features include recurring payments, and the ability to see when invoices are viewed, to add messages, to create estimates and to invoice for multiple businesses.
While Wave is loaded with more than enough invoicing features for your business, the fact that’s free is its most appealing feature.
MakeSomeTime
If you’re on the go a lot, then you might want to look into Make Some Time. It allows you to easily and quickly create professional invoices from your smartphone, tablet, or computer. On top of the customizable invoices, you can also create estimates and view reports that illustrate how your business is performing.
For under 3 invoices the service is free, if you send out more plans start at $49 per year.
Xero
Xero is a top-notch accounting server that includes a powerful invoicing. Some of the features are expected - customizable invoices and seeing when a client has opened the invoice - but there are also some interesting features that make Xero stand out from the pack. For example, you can add inventory to an invoice, apply credit notes and get paid quickly through a payment link.
Because you can also use Xero to do all of your online accounting, it may worth using its invoicing feature so that everything is under one dashboard.
Starter plans begin at $9/month.
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