20 Online Invoice Solutions That Offer More Than Just Invoicing Collecting what you are owed is maybe the least pleasant, and most important, task confronting entrepreneurs.
By Peter Daisyme Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
More small business owners and freelancers recognize the benefits of moving from manual invoices created in a word processing program and then mailed or faxed to their clients, to online invoicing solutions that speed the process of invoicing and payment. As the demand has increased for affordable online invoicing solutions, more companies have appeared with the tools and platforms that offer a way to send online invoices.
With so many online invoice companies now available, it's difficult to know which one is the best choice for your business. One way to narrow down the options is to look at those online invoicing companies that offer more than just invoicing. This way, you are getting additional tools and features that help you streamline other aspects of your business, including accounting and bookkeeping, project management and collaboration, productivity, and payment processing.
While you may be familiar with comprehensive solutions like PayPal and Quickbooks, you maybe not realize there are at least 20 other online invoicing companies that offer more solutions beyond billing for free or at a very low cost:
1. Due
Starting as an online invoice platform, Due has evolved into a payments solution company that offers an end-to end solution for businesses of all sizes. The tools include time tracking, customizable estimates and invoice templates, more than 100 currency and language options, integration with other tools like Basecamp as well as payment integration with PayPal and several other companies. Additionally, Due gives users a free digital wallet feature, ACH payments, and domestic and international payment processing. Most of Due's features are free, including unlimited professional invoices while others like domestic and international credit card processing comes with a low flat-rate transaction fee of 2.7%.
2. BillBooks
BillBooks provides a free plan that allows you to send three invoices and free estimates as well as unlimited staff and clients. The $10 per month plan increases the amount of invoices you can send to 20 per month. Serving freelancers and small business owners in over 120 countries, it also includes the ability to invoice in multiple currencies, notifications, complete customization on invoices, recurring billing, payment and online payment processing, and mobile payments.
3. Wave Accounting
Wave Accounting offers a way to cover numerous financial, accounting, bookkeeping, productivity and project management tasks in your business. You can choose the tools that work for you and then build a custom solution from Wave's large suite. Some of the tools include free online and mobile invoicing and payments, customizable invoices, payment and overdue invoice tracking, invoice templates, and custom messaging.
4. Zoho
Zoho delivers a comprehensive billing, invoicing, and payment platform. Features include branded and customizable invoices, time tracking, shared data, project management, and payment processing through PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net and 2Checkout.
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5. Apptivo
You have access to dozens of apps for all type of business functions and needs with Apptivo, including supply chain management, CRM, project management, billing and invoices, and payments. The free plan includes 50 of its standard apps, including the invoice tool that provides features like customization, automation, and notifications. The $10 per month plan adds payment integration capability with companies like PayPal, Zipmark, and Authorize.net, as well as offers access to all of Apptivo's mobile apps, Google apps integration, and email integration.
6. Paymo
Paymo goes beyond invoicing with project management features, time tracking, and payments tool for the desktop and mobile environment, including iOS and Android. You will be able to tap into features like recurring invoices and customized invoices as well as payment gateways like PayPal and Authorize.net.
7. PayPanther
PayPanther offers more than just a free online invoicing system. It's a total business management platform for creating customized quotes, estimates, and invoices, tracking individual and team time, multiple currency acceptance and use, recurring and subscription billing, and customer features like a database and portal. It works in a desktop and mobile environment as well as provides numerous online and mobile payment options.
8. InvoiceOcean
InvoiceOcean expands on your accounting and financial capabilities handled in-house by offering a more in-depth set of tools to handle invoices, estimates, and receipts in multiple languages in currencies. You can keep track of purchase orders, receipts, disbursements, receipts and financial reports. There is also payments capability through integration with PayPal so you can accept bank and card payments.
9. Braintree
A company that you may not have heard of is Braintree, owned by Paypal. They cover all your billing and invoicing needs but that expands on the type of payment options you are able to offer. Its payment options include PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Android Pay, Bitcoin, and debit and credit cards. Braintree is compatible with 40 countries and 130 currencies. There are free sign-ups and no monthly fees as well as very competitive transaction fees.
10. CitrusDB
CitrusDB is an open source customer service and billing software that is designed for continual improvement by its users and focuses on the customer service experience. It comes equipped with a customer service database, service management functionality, billing system, credit card batch processing, and multiple language capability. It works with a wide range of payment processing tools.
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11. Nutcache
Nutcache takes care of numerous operational tasks so you don't have to, such as project management, time tracking, collaboration, invoicing and payment processing. The free plan includes 20 users and 1GB of storage. For just $5 per month, you can have unlimited members and 25GB of storage. Tools include project workflow, expenses, time tracking, custom invoices, and recurring invoices. Payments can be handled through integration with PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, or 2Checkout.
12. Harvest
Harvest has a free account for one user and up to four clients that integrates with numerous third-party apps to bring all your business tasks together into a seamless system. It includes time tracking, multiple currencies, online invoicing, mobile functionality, reporting and dashboard capability, and data import and export. Payments can be accepted through Stripe integration while access to other apps increases the type of payment methods you can accept for your business.
13. FreshBooks
Another comprehensive suite of solutions for your business is Freshbooks, so you can take care of many operational tasks together on one platform. Its low-priced options include features like customized quotes, estimates, and invoices; print, download a PDF, or email invoices capability; and time tracking, expense capture, and recurring invoices. Payment and credit card processing is possible with PayPal, Stripe, or Authorize.net integration.
14. AccountSight
AccountSight is a scalable, cloud-based solution that covers many aspects of your business for just $10 per month per user. Features include time tracking, resource planning, expense management, estimates and invoicing, reports, and a dashboard that offers an overview of the real-time state of your company and its fiscal health. Other features included with AccountSight are notifications, multiple currency tools, subscription and recurring invoicing and payment processing.
15. MoneyPenny
MoneyPenny is a low-cost online invoicing company that charges just $15 per month per user, making it an affordable option for freelancers or work-from-home small business owners. Beyond just online invoicing, you can use MoneyPenny to track your time, make and receive online and mobile payments, process all types of payments like debit and credit cards or ACH, and provides personalized and branded communications with your customer base.
16. Less Accounting
A company that helps you get more done with less accounting tasks while also offering numerous tools that cover many operational functions. Less Accounting features include accounting workflows, reports, mileage reports, invoicing, contacts database, proposals and the ability to import data. It also integrates with many third-party apps, including a wide range of banks and financial institutions, PayPay, WePay, ZenCash, Wagepoint, Highrise, LessTimeSpent and Basecamp.
17. Kashoo
Kashoo is an accounting program that gives you a wide range of options to cover many financial and productivity aspects to your business. They offer a free plan as well as a special plan for freelancers and small business owners. Features include invoicing, check printing, and multiple accounting tools for handling bookkeeping and payments. It also integrates with Freshbooks as well as works with multiple currencies.
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18. FreeAgent
This cloud-based software solution covers numerous accounting tasks plus handles your invoicing, expenses, time tracking, and reporting. FreeAgent offers one low price of $24.95 to cover all your accounting, billing, cash flow, and financial reporting needs.
19. Yendo
Yendo is a cloud-based solution that combines CRM cloud capabilities with cloud accounting, cloud payments, and newsletter software. Used in 17 countries, this full-scale accounting and business management platform gives you a robust set of tools that grows with your business and includes a wide range of tasks in one location to reduce the time and cost of various operations and functions.
20. BrightBook
BrightBook is a completely free online accounting solution that includes a wide range of tools to help you cover many of the time-consuming tasks in a freelance or small business. There are tools for invoicing, banking, accounting, bills and expenses, online payment acceptance and multi-currency capabilities. It is focused on secure domestic and international transactions to keep your business and its data safe.
Many of the companies listed here offer trial periods so you can try them out before you add them into your business plans. This gives you the ability to see just how easy it can be to take control of all aspects of your business, reducing costs and time-intensive tasks while freeing up more time to spend on marketing and the customer or client experience.
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