When doing customer discovery calls around late payments, I was surprised to discover just how many freelancers hate sending invoices.
Invoicing clients and getting paid was always one of my favourite parts of freelancing! Why wouldn’t you want to get paid? But I wonder if that was because I had the right tools to compliment my workflow, meaning it wasn’t something I had to spend too much time fussing with.
With so many choices out there, figuring out what app is right for you can depend on:
- what stage you’re at in your business (because budget is important)
- what else matters to you like forecasting, accounting, proposals etc
- your type of clients. If working internationally you’ll need to consider multi-currency
Let’s look at what online invoicing systems are on the market.
Invoice applications with credit control features
Chasing overdue invoices is every freelancer’s nightmare yet, according to Leapers 2024 study on mental health in self-employment, 71% of freelancers say a client has paid them late. Given how common late payments are, when choosing an invoicing tool consider one that has elements of credit control to remove some of the stress of late payments.
This could include sending automated reminders or calculating and adding interest and late fees once the invoice is overdue.
Not only does this do a bit of the heavy lifting for you, but it ties nicely into your legal expenses insurance should you need to take the issue of late payment further. If wanting to use the debt recovery service, one of the questions the insurer asks is, “Have you exhausted your usual credit control procedures?”. With the assistance of these tools you can confidently say yes!
Crunch
Crunch allows you to set automated reminders to chase overdue invoices, helping you skip the awkward follow-ups and save you effort.
Xero
Xero has a simple feature for turning on invoice reminders, but it also has a boatload of app integrations. This includes integrations that can calculate late fees and interest for you based on outstanding invoices or connect you to trusted debt collection partners in just a few clicks.
FreeAgent
Alongside invoice reminders, FreeAgent has an insights feature which uses your account data to identify your slowest-paying customers. Knowledge is power and these insights can help you mitigate cashflow issues and inform your payment terms with those late-paying customers.
Quickbooks
It’s good practice to personalise your invoice reminders because it increases engagement. Increased engagement should result in you getting paid quicker. Quickbooks lets you personalise the automated reminders you send to clients.
Free small business invoicing software
When I booked my first job as a freelancer I was unprepared. I kind of fell into freelancing as opposed to it being a methodical pathway I planned and prepared for. This meant that when it came time to billing my first client I had to find a quick solution and didn’t want to make a big commitment in case I only got one job.
If you don’t love the idea of subscribing to an invoicing tool while you figure things out, here are some hassle free ways of sending a simple invoice.
PlainInvoice
PlainInvoice was built by a freelance developer who was tired of managing invoices manually. They’ve built a simple tool that allows you to create and download invoices without even logging in.
The Invoice Machine
You can set up an account without giving card details and send your first invoice for free using The Invoice Machine. The free version is limited to 3 invoices a month, which is ideal if you want to buy yourself time before finding a better solution and seeing if you can make this small business thing work.
Canva
Canva has plenty of invoice templates which you can customise. This is only a short-term solution because it can be tricky to allocate invoices for bookkeeping purposes and keep track of what’s been paid and what’s overdue.
SumUp
Creating an account for free and sending an unlimited amount of invoices is appealing if you don’t want the monthly commitment of SaaS, but SumUp takes a cut of whatever payments you receive. Depending on the size of the invoice that could work out more expensive.
Forecasting tools with online invoicing
Irregular income is part and parcel of running a small business, which makes being proactive about your finances even more important. Instead of only looking at what you earned last month, financial forecasting provides a bigger picture.
Cushion App
Cushion is designed specifically for freelancers so you always know where you stand with invoices and potential income. It helps you predict your unpredictable schedule and stabilise your fluctuating income. You can generate invoices based on its time tracking tool.
Proposal tools and invoicing systems
Proposal reviews and chasing late payments can eat into a chunk of a freelancer’s time. These tools can help direct your time and energy elsewhere. We’re also big believers that the less surprises there are between you and your clients, the smoother projects run. That’s why a clearly defined proposal is so important. And if your proposal is accepted these tools can help you get paid for them!
Bonsai
Bonsai isn’t just for invoicing but includes a full suite of features for service businesses. Proposals, time tracking, agreements… It’s also one of the apps that supports multi-currency if working with international clients is important to you.
Bookipi
Bookipi is a suite of business management tools including invoicing, proposals and a CRM. It has a free plan where you can send up to 3 invoices a month. You can run your business on one platform by managing your sales pipeline, invoicing customers and receiving payments.
Our favourite software for invoices
Whatever small business invoicing software you choose, you need to pick what’s right for your set-up and circumstances. It’s a business choice that only you can make since you know what stage you’re at, your budget and what other features you’re seeking to compliment the running of your business.
We think Xero is the most well-rounded tool of them all. This is because of the integrations it boasts which give you lots of control over your invoicing, and the fact all accountants are familiar with Xero makes it a solid tool for small businesses. It also supports multi-currency should you expand your services internationally.
With an invoicing system like Xero it will make it easy to keep on top of your client billing. It will also remove the awkwardness of chasing late payments since it can do it for you, and it can calculate late payment interest and fees automatically. With an integration like Chaser you can also personalise those automated reminders.
Whichever tool you end up choosing, the goal is to make invoicing and getting paid as frictionless as possible.
