How to Choose the Best Invoicing Software
The right invoicing software not only helps you create legally compliant invoices, but it also helps you keep track of both your accounting and finances that come with running your business.
If you stumbled upon this article, you’ve probably already started searching for an invoicing software that’s right for your business. As you may have noticed, there are several choices readily available, including free invoicing software, paid subscriptions, apps for iOS or Android devices, and software designed for Mac and PC’s. It can certainly be overwhelming trying to find the perfect choice for your business.
When choosing software, you should first decide which features your business will need. Do you need access to accounting reports, such as the profit and loss statement? Maybe you require software that will help you issue invoices while away from your computer? This article explores the different types of invoicing software, and how to choose the right solution for your business.
Before we dive right in, you should create a list of all the features that are important to your business before looking for the right invoicing software. Then, you can consider the following options:
Multi-device invoicing software
Multi-device invoicing software can be used on a variety of different devices, including computers, phones, and tablets. This type of software helps you issue invoices from anywhere and on any device with an internet connection.
This is particularly useful if you are not always at the office, or you travel to meet clients. In addition, if you have employees who work in the field, you can issue invoices from the office computer while your team also issues invoices from their phone.
Online invoicing software
Another feature worth considering is whether your software is accessible online. While some invoicing software needs to be installed on your computer, others run entirely on a browser or app.
Most online invoicing software is also multi-device software since it’s accessible from any device with access to the internet. This means that you’re not only limited to one device, but your invoices are also securely saved in the cloud.
If your data is saved in the cloud, you can rest assured that it’ll never be lost, even if your computer or phone crashes.
Offline invoicing software
The alternative to online invoicing software is offline invoicing software. This is software that needs to be installed on a device and saves your data to the device’s hard drive, rather than the cloud.
The most common examples of offline software are Word and Excel. Both options are convenient, simple, and customizable, however, they are not specifically designed to create invoices. Because of this, it’s possible to make simple invoicing mistakes, such as incorrectly typing a customer's address or invoice number, which can take you more time to fix.
The other important thing to note is that you’ll need to either print your invoices or download them to your device to email to the customer. Since they’re saved to your hard drive, if your computer or phone crashes, your data will be lost.
Nonetheless, if you prefer to use offline software to create invoices, you can download our free invoice templates in Word, Excel, and PDF formats.
Simple invoicing software
As a small business owner or freelancer, you may not have a lot of invoicing or accounting experience. Finding simple and intuitive software will help you quickly get your paperwork done, so you can focus on other aspects of your business.
Invoicing software should allow you to issue invoices quickly without having to read an instruction manual first. Choosing software that's simple to navigate and helps automate fields to ensure they’re compliant will put your mind at ease.
It’s hard to tell from a website if the software will be easy for you to understand. Most software providers offer free trials to test the software. It's a good idea to sign up for a few trials to see what feels comfortable to you.
Another useful tip is to see if the software includes customer support, tutorials, or other helpful content. Having these resources available can help you get more out of the software and swiftly resolve any problems that may arise.
Free invoicing software
If you’re a freelancer or small business owner, there usually isn’t a lot of extra capital to go around. Free invoicing software might make more sense than paying for a subscription, especially if you issue a small number of invoices each month.
Price is usually the most important consideration when choosing invoicing software. There are several free software available, but they usually offer limited features. It’s up to you to decide if it’s more important to have free software with fewer features, or paid software with a variety of features.
Regardless, there is something for every budget, and you should test a few types of software to find the one that works best for you.
SumUp Invoices: online invoicing software
With SumUp Invoices, you can create professional invoices, and send them directly to your customers’ email. A SumUp payment link will automatically be added to the invoice so your customer can pay quickly and securely online.
All of your data is stored in the cloud, so you can access your data from any device with an internet connection. In addition, your payments are automatically matched to your invoices and reconciled for you.
SumUp Invoices was created with simplicity in mind. It can take less than 1 minute to create and send an invoice, and we make sure that all of the mandatory invoice fields are input for you.