14 Best Invoicing Software For Small Business Billing in 2023 [Ultimate Guide]

Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business. If you aren’t able to get paid on time, you won’t have enough money to pay your bills.

Invoicing software is one way to help solve this problem. It enables you to create professional invoices and automatically send them to clients via email.

It can also help you track the status of each invoice, such as whether it’s been sent or if it’s overdue. The best invoicing software is easy to use and doesn’t come with a long list of hidden fees.

It also offers features that make it simple for your customers to pay their bills, such as electronic payments and mobile apps. Read on for our top picks for the 13 best invoicing software products for small businesses.

Invoicing software automates the process of creating and sending invoices to your customers. It helps you get paid faster by making it easy for your customers — even if you’re not in the same room or country.

You can also use an invoicing tool to track which customers have paid and who still owes you money, without needing a dedicated accounts department.

 

 

Invoicing Software – Introduction

Invoicing software is a category of computer program designed to simplify the invoicing process for small to medium-sized businesses. This software can help a business streamline their invoice management by making it faster and easier to create, send and track invoices from start to finish.

The software also offers enhanced reporting features that make it easy to analyze outstanding invoices. Invoicing software is often included as part of an integrated accounting system for small businesses and sole proprietors.

However, there are many companies specializing in cloud-based invoicing solutions that allow users to create, send and manage invoices online. Some of these systems offer robust features such as recurring billing, inventory management, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, project management tools and more.

There are many benefits to using specialized invoicing software.

These include:

Reduced paperwork – The ability to automatically generate and send invoices over email can eliminate paper use and reduce the time required for mailing.

Enhanced accuracy – Invoice creation software includes built-in templates that make it easier to enter accurate information on every invoice generated. 

What is the Best Invoicing Software?

The best invoicing software will allow you to customize and brand your invoices, enjoy a simple interface, accept a variety of payment methods, and offer reporting capabilities. There are a number of features that set the best invoice software apart from the rest.

These include:

Ease of use: A simple interface is important because you want your invoicing process to be quick and painless. The last thing you want to do is spend several minutes creating an invoice for each customer.

Customization: You should be able to quickly add or remove fields on an invoice. You should also be able to customize your invoice with your company logo or another image.

This will make your customers remember you and increase repeat business.

Payment options: You should be able to accept as many payment methods as possible so that you can receive money from most of your customers without any hassles. The most popular electronic payment methods include PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net

Reporting capabilities: Being able to see all the money you collected, who still owes you money, how much time it takes for bills to get paid, etc., will help keep your business running smoothly.

1. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a cloud accounting software that has helped millions of business owners save time and get paid faster, while making sure they and their team has access to the information they need to make strategic decisions.

Features

1. Get paid faster with online invoicing and automatic recurring billing.
2. Simple to use, no accounting background required. Beautiful reports so you know where your business stands.
3. Track time for yourself or employees to ensure you bill for every minute worked.
4. Keep all your business expenses in one place using mobile apps and receipt scanning.

More than just an invoicing software, FreshBooks has everything you need to manage your business better including: expense tracking, project management, contract management, contract tracking, lead generation and more!

Pros

•  User friendly and easy to navigate interface.
• Tracks time, invoices & expenses all in one place.
• Provides access to an accountant and the ability to give clients access to their own account portal.
• Offers project management tools and allows you to create estimates (quotes) for projects.
• Reasonably priced for most small businesses and freelancers.

2. QuickBooks

QuickBooks is an accounting software package developed and marketed by Intuit. QuickBooks products are geared mainly toward small and medium-sized businesses and offer on-premises accounting applications as well as cloud based versions that accept business payments, manage and pay bills, and payroll functions.

Features

• Manage your business from anywhere
• Use your desktop, tablet or mobile device to manage your business.

• Access and share data across multiple devices — even offline — to keep work moving forward.
• Get paid faster with online invoicing
• Customize invoices with professional templates.
• Know when your clients have viewed an invoice.
• Online payments are quick and easy for you and your clients.
• Get paid 2x faster with QuickBooks Payments

Pros

QuickBooks is a popular accounting software that can make your job simple.

1. Easy to Use QuickBooks offers an intuitive interface that is easy and fun to use.
2. Consolidated Data and Reports Users can easily access all the data and reports on a single screen, making it clutter-free for users to find the information they need.
3. Accessible from Anywhere
4. Save Time by Automating Tasks
5. Track Invoices and Sales with Ease
6. Find the Features You Need in Addons, Plugins, and Apps
7. Receive Customer Support from Intuit

3. Xero

Xero is a cloud-based accounting software platform for small and medium-sized businesses. It’s designed to make life easier for business owners and their advisors, by helping them manage the day-to-day numbers and get the financial information they need to run their businesses better.

Features

1. Online invoicing – Customise, send and track your invoices online.

2. Repeating invoices – Save time by creating repeating invoices for regular payments. Invoice templates – Use one of our free templates or create your own.

3. Reminders and payment receipts – Send friendly reminders to customers or set up automatic payment receipts.

4. Foreign currencies – Invoice in foreign currencies and get paid faster.

5. Mobile invoicing – Create quotes and send invoices on the go from your mobile or tablet device.

6. Purchase orders – Automatically convert purchase orders into bills to save time.

4. Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice is a simple invoicing software designed for freelancers & small business owners. Send invoices, track time, manage receipts, expenses, and accept credit cards.

Create and track invoices Zoho Invoice lets you create and send professional invoices with the click of a button. Set up recurring invoices too.

Free invoicing software that’s easy to use. Zoho Invoice is an online invoicing app designed by Zoho Corporation, a global company specializing in business and productivity software that helps businesses accelerate sales, improve marketing ROI, and streamline business operations.

Zoho is well-known for delivering cloud-based solutions across multiple product lines — including CRM, Accounts, Books, Projects and more.

• Organize expenses easily
• Manage recurring invoices
• Track time and bill your clients
• Automate invoicing with rules and templates

Features

Feature-rich and user-friendly, Zoho Invoice helps you invoice your customers the smart way.

1. Create invoices with a click of a button
2. Use pre-designed templates or create your own
3. Send professional looking invoices in PDF format
4. Add notes, instructions, terms and conditions to your invoice
5. Automatically send payment reminders to clients
6. Accept payments via credit card, PayPal or bank transfer Track time spent on projects and bill clients accordingly

Pros

•  Zoho Invoice has a free plan which is suitable for freelancers and startups.
• The UI is user-friendly and easy to navigate.
• The software allows you to create invoices in multiple languages and currencies.
• You can set up recurring invoices to save time.
• Zoho Invoice integrates with various other Zoho apps as well as third-party apps such as PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, Gusto, etc.

5. Wave

Wave is here to help you succeed with your small business. Instead of waiting to get your tax return back from an accountant at the end of the year, Wave lets you see your financial position in real time so you can make smart decisions along the way.

You can send professional invoices and get paid faster online. And at tax time, everything is right where you need it. Best of all — Wave is free. There are no hidden fees or monthly charges.

Features

1. Double-entry accounting
2. Invoice templates
3. Automated payment reminders
4. Expense tracking
5. Balance sheet reporting

6. Intacct

Features

Grow your business, not your software. Intacct is the only cloud ERP solution that supports a true partnership model with our customers.

As a true cloud ERP system, Intacct is easy to use, fast to implement and flexible to adapt to your changing business needs.

Unlike other financial management systems, Intacct is built on a modern platform that is designed for today’s cloud-first world. Built on a modern platform to meet the needs of today’s business.

You can choose from pre-built modules and applications or build your own custom applications using the Intacct Application Platform tools. The sky’s the limit with Intacct!

Pros

1. Intacct is a cloud-based accounting software that automates the basic tasks of an accountant. This saves hours to days of manual work, which can be spent on more value-adding tasks.

2. It integrates with other systems, such as CRM and payroll, so that you don’t have to enter data twice or manually reconcile it between different applications. 

3. It offers a variety of pre-built reports, which we can also customize based on our clients’ needs, complete with drill-down capabilities.

4. The Software as a Service (SaaS) model allows us to focus on our clients’ needs while Intacct manages and upgrades the software in the background, saving us money and time.

5.Reporting and analytics tools allow us to provide insightful analysis of the information in Intacct

7. Brightpearl

Brightpearl is a cloud-based all in one business management solution for omnichannel retailers and wholesalers. The platform allows users to manage their entire business from a single system, including sales orders, purchasing, inventory, accounting and reporting.

The product is highly customizable and can be tailored to suit the unique needs of each user. Brightpearl helps businesses scale up their operations by automating key processes such as fulfillment, payment processing, stocktaking, accounting and more.

Users can track performance across multiple channels such as mobile apps, marketplaces and ecommerce websites in real-time. Brightpearl comes with a CRM module that lets users store contact information of customers and leads in a central database.

Users can also create personalized customer profiles based on their preferences and purchase history. Additionally, the CRM module lets businesses segment customers based on factors such as gender, location and birthdays, enabling them to send targeted marketing campaigns accordingly.

Brightpearl’s integrated accounting features let users automatically sync sales and purchase records to their books of accounts. Users can also generate financial reports in a variety of formats such as balance sheets and profit & loss statements with just a few clicks.

Other features include expense tracking, bank reconciliation and more. 

Features

Point of Sale

Automate your brick and mortar stores with a cloud POS system that can be used offline. Sell anywhere you like with our mobile POS app for iPhone or iPad.

Inventory Management

Manage all your stock in one place and automate stock control processes to save time and reduce errors.

Keep an eye on your supply chain to ensure you never run out of popular products, and stay ahead of the trends with forecasting tools.

Financial Accounting

Keep track of every single penny in your business from within Brightpearl. Be confident that you have complete visibility over who owes you money, what bills are due to pay, when payments have been made and where money is going out.

Produce financial reports in a range of formats including Xero and QuickBooks compatible files to improve record keeping or provide tax information easily, as well as creating budgets to manage cashflow.

Pros

Brightpearl is the only integrated system that can manage the entire order lifecycle from marketing to accounting. It integrates with popular ecommerce platforms and marketplaces, allowing retailers to sync their inventory and orders with ease.

This integration frees up time for business owners so they can focus on growing their business instead of spending countless hours on tedious tasks like manual data entry.

Inventory Management: Accurately track your stock across all sales channels, including online stores such as Amazon or eBay, physical locations, and even if you sell internationally.

Brightpearl automatically syncs your inventory levels across all your sales channels to prevent overselling.

Order Management: Increase your efficiency by managing the entire order lifecycle from one tool.

From receiving an order to shipping and accounting for it, Brightpearl helps you stay organized so you can focus on growing your business instead of spending countless hours on tedious tasks like manual data entry.

8. ZipBooks

ZipBooks is the leader in cloud-based accounting software, providing fast and easy invoicing, time tracking and expense management. The best part about ZipBooks? It’s 100% free.

Features

Get paid faster with automatic payment reminders and online payment options.

Invoice customization

Add your business logo, update your invoice template and add a personal touch to your invoices.

Securely track expenses

Track your business expenses by uploading receipts and keeping track of everyone on your team.

Free online invoicing

Send professional invoices and collect payments easily (and securely) online. 

 

 Pros

Zipbooks is quick and easy to set up. Just add your company name and logo, then choose a theme for the invoices. You can create your own invoice template later if you want it to be more customized.

It lets you easily track time spent on jobs through its time tracking feature. The software is cloud-based which means you can access it from any device at any time without losing any data or documents.

It allows you to create customizable invoices in different currencies as well as send them via email or print them out for mailing purposes. Its dashboard gives you an overview of the amount of money owing, when payments are due, etc., so you have all the information about your clients and their finances in one place Zipbooks offers accounting services such as payroll, tax filing and bookkeeping at a fee

9. Hiveage

Hiveage lets you bill securely, get paid online and track time and expenses. Create estimates, invoices and recurring bills from anywhere. Automate your billing with recurring invoices, self-serve client portals and auto-billing.

Fully-customizable templates are available for each type of document you need to send. You can also create multiple profiles to fit the needs of different types of clients — one for individuals, another for small businesses and yet another for large corporations.

Invoices can be sent as PDF downloads or via email, as well as printed out for mailing. Hiveage integrates with PayPal, Authorize.NET and Stripe for secure online payments. It also supports over 40 currencies from around the world, making it ideal if you’re working with clients in multiple countries.

Features

Hiveage is an easy-to-use online billing software and invoicing system made for freelancers, consultants, entrepreneurs and small business owners. It lets you create, send, manage and get paid for your invoices online.

With Hiveage you can:

• Create beautiful invoices with our invoice editor
• Accept online payments from anywhere
• Manage invoices, expenses, estimates and recurring bills in one place
• Collaborate with team members on projects
• Analyze financial data with our invoicing analytics tool

Pros

Hiveage is the best invoicing software on the market. The price is fantastic, especially when you consider all of the features. I would recommend it to anyone who is doing invoicing for their business, or just for themselves as a freelancer

The flexibility of Hiveage is fantastic. There’s a wide variety of options for you to choose from and customize in order to create a unique look and feel for your invoice. You can also upload your logo and information so that the invoice looks like it’s coming from your company.

Hiveage has a very intuitive interface, which makes it very easy to use. It only takes me about 30 seconds to create an invoice, and there’s no need to enter any information twice since everything is saved in the system.

I can just open up my previous invoice template, update any details that need updating (like date or price), and then send it out via email!

Very easy-to-use invoicing software with great features like recurring billing, estimates and reports. I use Hiveage to track my clients’ payments and make sure they’re paying on time.

It saves me a lot of hassle by doing this automatically so that I don’t have to do anything manually myself.

10. Stripe

Stripe is a suite of payment APIs that powers commerce for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re creating a subscription service, an on-demand marketplace, an e-commerce store, or a crowdfunding platform, Stripe’s meticulously-designed APIs and unmatched functionality help you create the best possible product for your users.

Features

It’s powerful and flexible, with a wide range of features to help you customize your payments. Easy setup. It takes just a few minutes to create your Stripe account and start accepting payments.

With the Stripe Dashboard, you can enable extra features and functionality as they become relevant to your business.

Flexible pricing. Stripe offers a simple, transparent pricing model with volume discounts and no hidden fees. You’re charged the same fee for all major cards.

Intelligent fraud protection. Use Stripe Radar for Fraud Teams to help increase authorization rates, reduce false positives, and block fraudsters before they get through to your checkout flow. Instant payouts.

Get your money as soon as the next business day. No minimum payouts or special hardware required—just connect your bank account and you’re set up in minutes.

Pros

– Stripe is a true SaaS service, which means you don’t have to worry about any of the underlying infrastructure. It just works.

– Stripe has a developer friendly API, which allows you to easily integrate payment processing into your site.

– Stripe’s dashboard shows you everything from failed transactions to how long it took for your webhooks to respond. This is great when debugging issues with your application or API.

– You can create test credit cards for use during development, which makes testing out different scenarios very easy without having to use real credit card numbers.

– Stripe supports many payment methods like credit cards, ACH transfers and even Bitcoin payments.

They also support many currencies and allow you to process payments in multiple currencies at once (although this may require some special “Know Your Customer” requirements depending on where you live).

11. Invoice2go

Invoice2go is the fast and easy invoicing solution for service professionals. With this app, you can create professional invoices, quotes and purchase orders on the go. The app is packed with all the tools you need to grow your business, including:

-Create and send professional invoices in seconds

-Email or print invoices directly from your iPhone

-Capture expenses on the go and track miles

-Send estimates and convert them to invoices in one click

-Keep financial records organized, get paid faster

-Encrypt sensitive customer information

-Add an invoice logo or signature – or take a picture of customer’s signature right on your iPhone

-Accept credit card payments on your invoices.

Features

 -Free support from our friendly customer service team, who are ready to help with any problems you might have.

-Create beautiful invoices with our easy-to-use invoice templates. Choose from a variety of templates for all types of businesses.

-Send invoices by email or text messages in a single click and know when they’ve been viewed and paid.

-Add billable expenses to your invoices in seconds.

-Save time by adding your products to the item library so you don’t need to enter their details every time.

-Create professional estimates, quickly and easily. Turn them into invoices as soon as your estimate is approved!

-Accept credit card payments with Stripe or Square, or get paid instantly with PayPal Payments, Venmo or Apple Pay. Get paid faster than ever before!

Pros

Invoice2go is the best way to track your business expenses. It’s a cloud-based software that enables you to create and manage your invoices, and it allows you to view your records from anywhere at any time.

Not only that, but it fully automates everything from billing to payment processing, so you can spend less time managing invoices and more time running your business. Here are some of the ways Invoice2go can help you run your business better:

The cloud saves you time by eliminating the need for an IT infrastructure of your own. You don’t have to worry about setting up or maintaining hardware or software; all you need is internet access.

Invoice2go’s online invoice creation makes it easy to create professional-looking invoices in no time at all.

There’s no need to make extra trips to the printer or waste time loading paper in an office printer. You can also use Invoice2go to create professional-looking statements, so you’ll be able to track payments much easier than ever before.

You’ll never have to worry about misfiling invoices again because everything is organized in one place. 

12. Bill.com

Bill.com is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

The company’s flagship product is an online system for managing the accounts payable and accounts receivable functions of small and medium businesses.

The company was founded in 2006 by René Lacerte, a former tax accountant who developed technology to automate the billing process.

In 2011, it acquired Hubdoc, a cloud-based financial document management solution. In 2014, Bill.com acquired Primetime Software Solutions, a provider of payment and banking solutions for small businesses.

Zoho Invoice integrate with each other to help you manage your business more efficiently. You can now easily sync your customer data between Bill.com and Zoho Invoice, and create bills in Bill.com from invoices in Zoho Invoice.

What Is Invoicing Software?

Invoicing software is a tool that allows you to create professional-looking invoices, generate estimates and track your expenses.

The best invoicing software will also allow you to manage your clients so that when you send them an invoice, they can pay it directly from the invoice itself.

Some of the most popular invoicing software options include FreshBooks and QuickBooks.

If you’re looking for a way to automate your business’ bookkeeping process, then you should consider using an invoicing software solution instead of doing everything manually.

These types of applications are widely used by businesses because they provide a convenient way for users to manage their finances.

How Do You Use Invoicing Software?

Invoicing software is a great way to keep track of your business finances. You can use it to create invoices, track payments and manage customer information.

Here are some ways you can use invoice software:

Create invoices

Use your invoice software to create invoices for each customer who owes you money.

The software will generate an invoice automatically, so all you need to do is print it out and send it via regular mail or email.

Track payments

Invoice software also lets you track payments from customers and vendors using the same system.

This can help you identify which customers are late with their payments and what vendors fail to pay on time — which can help prevent future problems with those vendors or customers.

Manage customer information

Invoice software also lets you store customer contact information — including phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses.

So that you can quickly fill out new invoices when necessary without having to look up the information from scratch each time. 

This makes it easier for your company to provide good customer service because there’s no need for manual entry errors when sending invoices out or updating customer records when they contact you via phone or email).

Create estimates with ease

Some invoicing services let you estimate the cost of each service or product before you begin working on it.

So if there are any changes later down the road, you’ll already have an idea of how much extra money must be paid out by your client before proceeding with the project further (and vice versa).

What Features Should You Look For In Invoicing Software?

Let’s now look at some of the features you should require in your invoicing tool.

1. Wide Range of Templates

The templates in invoice software are designed to make creating invoices easier and faster.

They have pre-designed layouts and fields so all you have to do is fill in the information that’s relevant to your business.

Some invoice software also allows you to customize the layout of the template and change fonts, colors, and other aspects of the design so that it corresponds with your brand identity.

2. Customer Records

Customer records are a vital part of your invoicing software. They allow you to keep track of all the information associated with each customer, including their contact details and payment history.

Invoicing software that offers customer record features can be extremely useful for small businesses, especially since it often means you won’t have to manually enter any customer data. 

Many invoice templates also include fields that are automatically populated based on information in your customer records. 

This makes it easier for you and your employees to quickly create invoices and save time when processing payments.

3. Credit Card Processing

Credit card processing is a feature most invoicing software providers offer. It’s an essential feature for any business that wants to accept credit card payments from their customers, but it’s not an option that’s available with every provider.

Why? Because credit card processing requires licensing and compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). 

This standard is a set of rules established by Visa and Mastercard to ensure the security of your customer’s credit card information. 

If there are any errors or breaches in security, it can result in fines and even blacklisting by Visa or Mastercard.

So how do you ensure that your software provider is PCI DSS compliant? Here are some questions you should ask:

• Do they have a plan in place to become compliant?
• Do they already have a PCI-compliant solution?
• If not, what steps will they take to get there?
• Can they provide references from other clients who use their solution?

4. Automatic Billing

Automatic billing can be set up as a recurring payment, which means that every month or year, you will receive the same payment from your client. 

You can also set up automatic billing for one-time payments. 

This means that once they pay their invoice, they will not see another one until you manually create another invoice for them.

Automatic Billing Features

Recurring Payments

Recurring payments are ideal for small businesses who want to keep up with their cash flow. 

The automatic billing feature allows you to issue an invoice to your customer each month or year without having to manually do so yourself.

One-Time Payments

One-time payments can be issued when a client needs only one invoice in order to pay off an outstanding balance due from previous invoices. 

This feature is perfect for large businesses who want to make sure all of their accounts are settled before issuing another invoice.

5. Compatible With Multiple Currencies

One of the main features that you should look for when shopping for invoicing software is whether or not it is compatible with multiple currencies. 

This is a very important feature that can save you time and money so make sure you don’t miss it!

Some of the top-rated invoicing software programs have this feature, but there are some that still need to catch up. 

If your business operates in multiple countries, then you will want to make sure that your chosen system supports multi-currency transactions.

This way, you can accept payment from customers in their own currency, while also sending invoices in yours. 

The program will automatically convert the price of items into an equivalent amount in their currency so they can pay with ease.

Invoicing Software – Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s now take a look at some frequently asked questions.

Which Is The Best Free Billing Software?

Wave Accounting is worth a look as a free billing software that provides small businesses with all the features they need in order to manage their finances efficiently and effectively. 

The program offers support for multiple currencies, customizable reports, import/export functionality, multi-currency support, and more!

Is Quickbooks Good For Invoicing?

The answer is yes. QuickBooks is a great accounting software for invoicing, as well as other accounting functions.

Many people use QuickBooks to invoice their clients and customers, so it’s no surprise that they would also use it for their own business. 

QuickBooks is designed to be an all-in-one solution for small businesses and freelancers who need to track their income, expenses, and taxes. 

Best Invoicing Software – Summary

 The best invoicing software is the one that suits your needs.

There are a lot of great options out there, so it’s worth doing some research before you invest in any particular one.

If you’re looking for something more basic, then FreshBooks or Wave Accounting might be the right fit for you. 

They both offer free plans and have simple interfaces that make them easy to use.

If you want something more advanced, then Intuit QuickBooks Self-Employed or Wave Accounting Pro would work well for you. 

These two platforms offer more robust features and allow for more customization than other invoicing tools on our list.

 As a small business owner, you need to keep track of your cash flow. A great way to do this is by using invoicing software.

It can be difficult to choose the right invoicing software for your business. There are many different options available on the market today and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

FreshBooks also supports invoice tracking and has integrations with different payment processors such as PayPal and Stripe so that you can accept payments from clients easily. 

The interface is easy to use and it comes with templates that are already built-in so that you don’t have to spend too much time creating new ones yourself.