[Free online invoice template] Automate your invoicing process to earn more!

Is creating an invoice easily an impossible dream for a small business? How can you avoid waiting to receive payment from your customers for months, and free up time to continue to grow your business?

This article discusses the difficulties faced by small businesses to easily invoice, and advises you on how to achieve this without a worry. Would you like to continue invoicing on Excel? We offer you the opportunity to download our free online invoice template. This is the first step towards invoice automation, but be careful with the accuracy of your invoices!

To avoid errors and fines in the event of non-compliance of your invoices, appvizer explains you how an invoicing software can help you smooth out your processes. Choose a billing software that is easy and free, or at a lower cost, 100% online and available on a mobile application. Your quote and invoice management becomes child's play: you send personalized documents, get paid on time and centralize all customer information in a secure tool.

Read on to understand all the benefits of billing automation:

All companies need to charge their customers for the products or services they sell. So how can you reduce the time spent invoicing, without reducing your company's turnover?

Self-entrepreneurs and small businesses do not have a sales manager responsible for creating, modifying, sending invoices and reminding customers in the event of non-payment. They, therefore, find themselves facing many difficulties.

The time spent creating a personalized invoice, which includes all the mandatory information required by law, is time spent not focusing on its core business. However, for a small business or entrepreneur, this can quickly become expensive.

In addition, there is a high risk of error: an error in the invoice number, the date the invoice was issued, or your customer's name or contact information can make your invoice invalid or more serious consequences.

Invoicing is governed strictly by the law; there are many invoicing rules to know in order to issue invoices in compliance with the law and avoid a fine.

One of the most challenging tasks for companies is receiving payment on time. How can you stop a customer from waiting a month or longer to pay you? Managing reminders, if not automated, is also time-consuming. It is time you don’t spend developing your business.

As stated above, the law requires a certain number of mandatory statements to be included on all invoices issued by a company:

• Your company name, address, and contact information 
• The buyer's name, address, and contact information 
• The issue date of the invoice
• Shipping address
• The date of the sale or provision of the service
• The invoice number, i. e. a unique identification number
• Payment terms
• Due date
• The description of the product or service and their settlement (quantity and unit price)
• Total amount in USD by line of service/product
• Total sales tax amount, including sales tax rate used for calculation
• Total amount due in USD
• Payment information 
  • Wires and ACH: bank name, address, account #, and routing #
  • Checks: mailing address and order
  • Credit card: separate form or link to your payment platform

You are a self-employed entrepreneur and start your business with or without VAT? appvizer provides you with a free invoice template in Excel format.

You are a self-employed entrepreneur or manager of a small business (VSE, SME) and don’t have the budget to acquire a costly solution, but still want to automate your invoicing management?

Here are the benefits of an online invoicing software compared to an Excel invoicing:

• The automation of tasks, and in particular calculations,
• The simplification of your invoicing processes,
• A time saver by transforming a quote into an invoice in one click,
• The reduction of the number of errors (omission, dangerous copy and paste, applicable VAT rate, customer data to be included, etc.),
• Compliance with invoicing legislation,
• Simplified management of reminders: get paid on time,
• Better managed recurring invoicing,
• The centralization and storage of commercial documents,
• Access to quotes and invoices at any time through the cloud,
• The personalization of your business documents, etc.

In addition to these advantages, some tools even offer you:

• personalized reports and graphs for efficient collection tracking,
• synchronization with your bank account,
• access for your accountant,
• and even your company's accounting management.

An online solution requires only Internet access: the tool is compatible with both Macs and PCs, but also on iPads and smartphones thanks to dedicated mobile applications (on iOS and Android).

You want to professionalize and automate your invoicing, but do not have the necessary budget to invest in a paid solution? Here is an example of free online invoicing software, whose functionalities may be sufficient for a freelancer or a very small business:

Zervant is a free solution for small businesses. Create and send an unlimited number of invoices by email or in PDF format.

Advantages of Zervant:

• Create invoices in 60 seconds,
• Get paid faster,
• Centralize your customer and product database.

Before you commit to a free solution, take the time to identify your needs and the scope required, as free solutions have limitations such as:

• Need to buy additional modules or subscribe to a premium package to benefit from advanced features;
• No support, or non-priority support - this can be blocking in case of an urgent problem, and, if you don't invoice, you are jeopardizing your monthly revenue;
• An often limited number of invoices;
• No interoperability with your accounting, customer relationship management, inventory management software, etc.

appvizer has selected and compared three professional invoicing software packages for you to choose the best option for your company.

Sellsy invoicing allows you to create commercial documents automatically and quickly. You accelerate your sales with customizable documents and secure electronic signatures.

Advantages of Sellsy invoicing:

• The management of the product catalog,
• The tracking of opening and reading time,
• Online payment with Paypal, Atos, Stripe or Gocardless,
• Management of recurring invoices.

Teamleader invoicing is a particular module of a well-known software. It incredibly streamlines the entire management of billing. It is a SaaS software, accessible from any device and compatible with any device. All invoices and documents produced through this software are in compliance with the law.

Among the main features:

• Recurring invoices
• Integration with major accounting software
• Compliant for electronic invoice management

Invoicing by hand is no longer a necessity for entrepreneurs and small businesses. The choice of tools is now wide enough to be able to forget Excel and professionalize its invoicing. Not only do you ensure the legal compliance of your invoices, but you also benefit from other functionalities to better manage your activity (CRM, inventory management, etc.). 

For more invoicing solutions and insights, check our main article on Best Billing Software for Small Businesses. Whatever solution you choose to edit your quotes and invoices with, the important thing is that it is adapted to your business, both in terms of functionality, interconnections with other tools or price. In any case, the return on investment of this software makes this choice a wise one.

How do you manage your invoicing? Do you have any feedback to share?