For many small businesses, billing or invoicing 
is one of the most time-consuming and tedious tasks.
But let’s face it; in order to get paid and generate
cash flow, billing is something that has to be done.
Why do small businesses have issues with billing their clients?
According to an article published by Zero.com,
some of the main issues that small businesses
have with billing their clients are:
- Manually billing and entering payments, which can lead to errors in data being entered
- Difficulty with recording and tracking payments
- The process is very time consuming
But what can we do about it? Enter cloud-based accounting and invoicing systems.
Cloud-based accounting systems generally simplify the billing and invoicing process.
With these applications, you can easily manage and track client payments
from a single dashboard. You can accept credit card payments online,
send all of your invoices to your clients via email, set up recurring
payments, and, most importantly, save a ton of money on postage.
Here are 6 online invoicing tools that you ought to check out to client billing easier.
1: Invoiceable – Invoiceable is a free online invoicing and billing system that allows
you to create invoices and send them to your clients in a matter of seconds.
With this application, you can also schedule your monthly invoices (date and time),
set up recurring payments, and accept online payments through your PayPal account.
One of the neat features of Invoiceable is its reporting feature. Here, you can
generate a report that displays the status of invoices you have sent to clients.
2: Freshbooks – Freshbooks is the MAC Daddy of online accounting systems.
Some of its notable features are its ability to send invoices from a desktop PC,
smartphone and tablet; recurring payment setup, online payment options, and
sales tax computations. Freshbooks sets itself apart from its competition by
allowing the use of multiple languages and currency as well as the option to
send an invoice either as an email or a snail mail. You can use the free account
if you have only one client. Otherwise, you will need to get a premium plan
with price ranging from $19.95-$399.95 per month based on the number of clients and staff.
3: Blinksale – Efficiency and affordability. Those are certainly what Blinksale
offers to its users. With this invoicing system, you can send professional and
personalized invoices, create elegant estimates, and track the invoices you send
and payments you receive with ease. Blinksale transactions are made sweeter
by the fact that the company is partnered with Stripe, and online payment
system that allows quicker payment receipts and bank transfers while lowering
incurred charges. You can try this program free for 15 days. After your trial has
expired you will need to pay $15 each month for unlimited access.
4: Get Harvest – Do you want to create and send invoices as quick as you can every time?
If so, then you ought to consider using Get Harvest. This accounting system promises
that it can turn billable hours into an invoice in less than 60 seconds. Aside from that,
you can personalize your invoice (e.g., add your business logo, create labels, and
customize messages), set up recurring payments and reminders, and get support
for multiple currencies and languages. Get Harvest offers both free and paid
accounts, with the premium costing $12-$99 monthly, depending on the number of users.
5: Curdbee – The biggest problem with other accounting systems is that they generally
require huge fees to get all the shiny features. Curdbee eliminates that dilemma
and labels itself as the best choice for freelancers and small businesses. Aside
from allowing you to create beautiful invoices and receive payments online,
this billing system also lets you add taxes, discounts, and shipping costs.
Curdbee also lets you see your financial status by delivering graphs
displaying payments received over 3, 6, or 12 months. You can get the
free account (with Curdbree branding) or a premium account at $5 or $20 each month.
6: The Invoice Machine – If you are a fan of simplicity, you will love the Invoice Machine.
This billing system features a user-friendly dashboard and simple but sleek invoice designs.
It provides efficient invoice and payment tracking, different online payment options,
and multiple language and currency support. The Small (free) plan gives you access
to all the features, and it allows you to send 3 estimates and invoices every month.
To delete the Invoice Machine branding and be able to send more invoices, you
need to get the paid plans, which ranges between $12 and $48 in price,
depending on the number of invoices you need to send.
As you can see, creating and sending invoices don’t need to be a pain.
Try any of the cloud-based accounting systems I shared with you today,
to simplify billing and invoicing for your company.
Kim George is the founder of Small Business Sense a blog dedicated to sharing helpful
tips and resources for small business owners and entrepreneurs. A former small
business consultant and lover of “tech stuff”, Kim enjoys reading and catching
up with the latest trends in small business and technology.
You can find out more about her and get tips for
your small biz at www.small-bizsense.com.