Freelancers handle every task independently—from job search to invoice creation. Thankfully, modern technology may make invoicing for freelancers less daunting. These tools allow you to focus on the important parts of the job. They lift the pressure of spending hours creating one from scratch. And that is not all!
The best freelancer invoicing tool offers additional features, which you will read about here. These help freelancers build a profitable financial business.
But how does one land such a tool? Is it through research, referral, or trial?
Let’s find out how in this ultimate guide to choosing the best invoicing services.
Introduction to Invoicing Tools
Invoicing tools are a game changer. These software take the hassle out of getting paid.
The best invoicing tool for freelancers streamlines your finances and frees up your time. It automates repetitive tasks, ensures accuracy, and keeps you organized. It also helps you keep records.
These tools excel at fast-tracking the payment process with features like automatic tax calculation—or pre-populated client details. Using the best may also send automatic payment reminders, accept payment, and track your cash flow.
Such invoicing software for freelancers translates to faster payments, improved client communication, and follow-up. It also provides valuable insights into your business’s financial health.
The following section highlights what you need to seek in the best freelancer invoicing software.
Key Features to Look for in Invoicing Software
Any freelancer seeking paid or free invoicing software has to have a list of features their chosen one contains. These may be anything from automated invoice creation to multiple payment gateways. Wherever the case, we’ll cover all that in this section.
Invoicing Templates for Freelancers
Invoicing never focuses on aesthetics, but the cleaner the invoice looks, the more professional your business is perceived. This is where invoicing templates for freelancers come in.
The best invoicing tools should have these pre-created templates that contain all the slots you require to insert all details. The templates should also be in multiple styles, suiting different freelancing jobs. For instance, a freelance writer’s template should contain metrics such as word count to facilitate the final calculations.
However, if it does not have career-specific templates, you should be able to customize it to your liking.
Automatic Invoice Creation
This feature allows you to generate professional invoices quickly. This may come in handy if you prefer to create invoices from scratch. An automatic AI invoice creator may use prompts or questions to gather your details. It may also ask for specific information, such as the product or service offered and the metrics you use to calculate the totals.
Once you have these in check, the software generates a page or pages of the invoice that suits your service.
Fast Payment Processing and Reminders
Your chosen best invoicing tool should offer fast payment processing. It should also be able to accept online payments through all the gateways you have set up.
Sending reminders to you and your clients is also a feature attached to fast-tracking payment processes.
Your clients haven’t paid yet?
No worries, the tool will automatically send out a reminder.
It will also do the same if you forget to update the invoice.
Expense Tracking
Expense tracking is essential for a few reasons. It helps you manage business spending based on your services or products. It also gives you insight into the adjustments required to improve your finances. An efficient freelance invoicing software with an expense tracking feature facilitates all these.
Multiple Payment Gateways
If you have clients paying through bank transfers or online channels like Paypal, the best invoicing tool should allow you to consolidate all of them. Offering a variety of convenient payment options improves payment speed.
The best tools should also provide multi-currency support, allowing global operation.
Accounting Integration
Accounting integration is also valuable beyond payment channel integration. The best invoicing tool allows you to integrate invoicing into your freelance accounts. This minimizes duplication by promoting workflow.
For example, your account balance automatically adjusts once a client clears an invoice payment. This means you do not have to constantly switch between different pages and accounts to do the work manually.
Real-time Reporting
A real-time report is valuable because it shows your business trajectory. For example, if you have been having a slow month, a real-time report on freelance invoicing software will highlight this. This insight may help you seek ways to improve your business. Maybe beef up marketing to attract more clients or offer incentives.
Tax Calculations and Compliance
All businesses must pay their taxes, usually a percentage under all country or state laws. Invoicing software for freelancers with this feature automatically applies the rate to the figures to output an accurate total.
This automatic capability keeps you on the right side of the law.
Mobile Accessibility
Let’s be honest:
It’s inconvenient always to open your laptop or PC to create, update, or refer to an invoice. Hence, mobile accessibility is a must-have feature of the best invoicing tool for freelancers In a career where every minute counts, accessing any invoicing processes remotely helps reduce time wastage.
Complementary Services Integration
Imagine a tool facilitating freelancer invoicing and additional services like project or team management. Such capabilities can benefit a team of freelancers. In conjunction with real-time reporting, the team leader can oversee how their team is fairing. Such complementary service integrations may be instrumental in awarding exceptional talent or when compensation is on commission.
Additional integrations may be crafting contracts and proposals or access to client portals.
Data Security and Backup
Invoices contain sensitive details for both parties— you and your clients. That said, freelance invoicing software must have robust data security and backup features to safeguard this information.
But having one is not enough; there’s more!
You still require a strong password and use a secure cloud service that keeps all this information safe. The encryption should be top-notch to deter attackers from using that information even if there is a breach.
Top Invoicing Tools for Freelancers
Here comes the fun part: a list of freelance invoicing software to use.
This list will highlight the exact tools and their features. We’ll also mention what you can get on the free and paid plans.
Ruul
Ruul is a specialized invoicing and payment collection tool for freelancers. It currently hosts over 65,000 freelancers and 15,000 organizations globally.
Ruul’s primary invoicing services are:
- User-friendly interface.
- Speedy invoice creation.
- Online payment acceptance.
- Automatic payment reminders.
- Project management tools.
- Accounting software integration.
- Expense tracking.
Rull offers free and paid plans to suit all freelancers and organizations. It is also scalable, highly customizable, and has many templates.
Dubsado
Dubsado is a comprehensive tool that also streamlines freelancers’ invoicing. Besides payments, it also gives you a project management tool to oversee all your projects. This way, you can trace the financial progress of each task. The features Dubsado offers are:
- Customizable contracts and proposals.
- Online scheduling.
- Invoice creation.
- Workflow automation.
- Payment processing.
- Client portals.
- Team management on the paid plan.
Dubsado is ideal for a team of freelancers because of the above features. For example, a team of freelance web developers can use it. The software outlines who serves whom, thanks to the client portals, workflow automation, and team management.
HoneyBook
HoneyBook is another impressive tool, more than a simple freelance invoicing software. It is especially beneficial to freelancers in the creative industry because it offers:
- Invoice creation.
- Contract signing.
- Proposal management.
- Online booking.
- Mood board creation.
- Client portal.
HoneyBoook offers freelance creatives such as designers and event planners the opportunity to have offices anywhere.
Zoho Invoice
Zoho is a paid and free invoicing software all freelancers can use. Its impressive free and paid plans offer incredible features like:
- A 50 monthly invoice limit on the free plan.
- Automatic recurring invoices.
- Customizable invoice templates.
- Online payment processing.
- Multi-currency support.
- Project management tools. (paid version)
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is among the best invoicing tools available, both free and paid. The most fantastic feature has to be its free unlimited invoicing capabilities to onboard up to 5 clients. This makes it ideal for startup freelancers or those who only deal with a few clients. Besides this benefit, it also features:
- Customizable invoice templates.
- Automatic recurring invoices.
- Expense tracking.
- Online payment acceptance.
- Client portal.
- Time Tracking on the paid version.
What’s Your Best Invoicing Tool?
We’ve already established that creative or technical freelancers have a lot on their plate. So, invoicing should not be an issue causing delays in any way.
Delays are a thing of the past due to the availability of multiple invoicing software for freelancers. Today, using Ruul or any other invoicing tools eases this burden. Selecting what suits you accords you custom templates, speedy invoice creation, and other extras that boost your business. The most important addition they bring is that you get paid on time.
Another thing?
You access all your records in one place! No paper trails that go missing or unfulfilled payments.
With Ruul, invoicing becomes a breeze!
