Invoicing Software & what to look for!

The one shared feature of all businesses is the need to get money flowing inwards. The ideal goal is to make that money flow into your bank accounts as simply and quickly as possible! Invoicing software, also known as Billing Software, can make all the difference. Before your choose your system, there are some key features to look out for:

1. Invoice Templates – these should make it easy for you to add your logo, contact details and payment terms.
2. Quote to Invoice Conversion – If you have this set up, once you’ve created a quote, a customer should be able to just click on ‘approve’. You then convert the approved quote into an invoice and away you go!
3. Price Learning – Some Invoicing software can ‘learn’ your pricing so that your prices pop up as you raise the invoice. Not only is this quicker for you, it also makes it easier to delegate the process.
4. Online Invoicing – This creates a web page for your invoice and sends your customer a link to the page, rather than sending a pdf or a hard copy invoice. Why? There are benefits:
   1. You can amend the invoice right up until payment is made, so there is no need to keep sending revised invoices.
   2. You can track when the invoice is viewed, or not…!
   3. Customers can pay you straight from the invoice, without needing to go to their online banking pages or calling you.
5. Faster Payments – Customers are becoming far more accepting of faster payment methods such as Stripe, PayPal and GoCardless, so look for software that can cope with these. They get you to the payment far faster than waiting for bank transfers, and are very cost effective to set up.
6. Reduced Data Input – Linking Invoicing to your Accounting software means you have just one set of input to deal with. There are therefore less errors to contend with and month end becomes far easier!
7. Mobile Invoicing – If you visit customers’ premises, it can be ideal to send any invoice through an App on your phone as soon as the job is finished. This can be ideal for trades, but also if you just want to avoid having to deal with lots of admin when you get back to the office.
8. Automatic Invoice Reconciliation –  Another real time saver, linking your software to your bank account will update your system as soon as the payments come through, or when they don’t…
9. Outstanding Invoice Flagging – If your payments don’t come through, the system will highlight the overdue ones ready for you to chase them promptly.
10. Send Automatic Reminders – Chasing for payment is soul destroying for any business owner. Ignoring non-payment isn’t going to solve it though! The right system can send automatic reminders for you as an invoice becomes due, or goes past due. Apps such as Chaser and Debtor Daddy take this process further and can really keep Debtor Days low.

In summary…

So, the right invoicing system can be a huge boon to any business. If you’re still preparing invoices without using this type of software, you could be wasting huge amounts of time over a year.

That’s time that could be spent looking after existing customers, developing new products or having fun with your family.

Why not look into Invoicing Software now and feel the benefits? If you’d like our help, or a demonstration of how the Xero or Quickbooks versions work, do get in touch. As Certified Advisors for both products, we’re perfectly placed to help! We can also talk to you about some of the other Apps that can work alongside the Invoicing Software that can help streamline the payment process and get you to the cash faster…