The 6 Best Invoicing Software For Small & Growing Businesses

If you own and operate a small business, then you know that creating invoices is one of the most mundane yet incredibly important tasks you need to do. 

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Invoices are important for you to be able to keep a track of what services or products you’ve supplied your customers, and what they owe you in return. 

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These invoices will also be helpful when it’s time to pay the tax man since they will clearly show what income you’ve had, and help you calculate how much tax you need to pay after tax deductions. 

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Invoicing does not need to be such a chore, considering all you need to do is start using invoicing software to automate the process for you. 

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We’ve compiled our picks for the best invoicing software for small and growing businesses to help you make the right choice.

What to look for in an invoicing software

Essentially, invoicing software is a tool that makes invoices and credit notes for businesses in a format that is accepted by customers and other businesses. 

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However, good invoicing software does a lot more than create invoice templates. Let’s take a look at what features you’d want to find in the best invoicing software.

Ease of use

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Technology is meant to make our lives easier, not harder. That applies to automation technology that we use to help run aspects of our businesses as well. 

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Considering the task of creating invoices is already boring and repetitive, the last thing you want is to use invoicing software that is complicated to use.

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Choose invoicing software that is easy to use and comes with an easily navigable user interface, or in other words, tools with smartly designed UI/UX. 

Integrations

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You ought to invest in invoicing software capable of integration with other applications for project management, time tracking, and more. That way, you can streamline the way you run your business from a single dashboard. 

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An invoicing tool with an in-built payment gateway is a great integration to look for.

Scalability

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While yours may be a small or medium business right now, you may want to scale your business up as it becomes more profitable and as your client base grows. Who knows, that may well be in the near future! 

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This implies that you will need an invoicing tool that is capable of scaling your business and handling the creation of more invoices at a faster pace every day.

Pricing

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This is what often breaks the camel’s back. While some invoicing tools may have great features, it is difficult for small businesses to afford them if they aren’t reasonably priced, if not completely free. 

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Even if you need to pay, look for software that offers a hands-on trial period, so you get the look and feel of the tool before entering into a contractual agreement with them. 

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Luckily for you, we’ve chosen tools that tick most, if not all, of these boxes.

The best invoicing software for your business 

We’re not just going to take you through our top picks for invoicing software, we’re also going to break down their best features and their cons, so you know just what to expect. 

Harvest

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Harvest is multiple tools rolled into one efficient package. You get a time tracker, a payment collection tool, and an invoice generator, all of which are easy to use. 

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Your staff can track their productivity and set budgets for their time spent working using harvest, a detail that is very handy when you charge customers by the hour.

Pros

• Once you have sent your customers invoices, you can automatically send them payment reminder emails.
• Harvest integrates with Google Calendar, Asana, Slack, Trello, and other apps.
• You can upload receipts and other documents to help with expense tracking.

Cons

• There is only one template, and it isn’t very customizable. In fact, if you’re a free user, you cannot even add your logo.
• The paid subscription may be too expensive for small businesses.

Price

Harvest is free for two users servicing two unique customers. For $12 a month, or $10.80 a month if you pay for a yearly subscription, you get unlimited user access for unlimited clients.

Zoho Invoice

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Zoho Invoice is rated among the best invoice generators for freelancers as well as small and growing businesses because it is absolutely packed with amazing features. 

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In addition to creating invoices, you can use the tool for expense reports, calculate the taxes you owe, create estimates for your customers, keep track of your inventory, and even forecast revenue!

Pros

• Easily add discounts and make billing calculations on the go.
• Templates are customizable.
• Recognizes multiple languages and currencies, making it ideal for transacting with international customers.
• Integrates easily with Zapier, PayPal, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Stripe, in addition to other Zoho apps. 
• You can create invoices in advance and schedule to send them later. 

Cons

• Functionality is limited when used on a mobile device.
• Some of the advanced features are not very user-friendly.

Price

Zoho Invoice is free, with no limitations as to the number of invoices you can generate.

Freshbooks

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Freshbooks is a great, customizable invoice generator that works efficiently on both Apple and Android platforms.

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In addition to enabling you to create customized invoices, you can also calculate your taxes, track your sales, track incoming payments, create estimates and even use the platform to receive payments if your customers want to pay you by credit cards or bank transfers. 

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What makes Freshbooks stand out from its peers is its accounting capabilities. The tool allows for double-entry accounting reports, and lets you give access to your accountant as a team member, which reduces the stress of communicating with your accountant by a great deal.

Pros

• Integrates seamlessly with bookkeeping software, project management tools, e-commerce software, and more.
• An easy-to-use interface that lets you add discounts and taxes if applicable easily.
• Automatically updates invoices and sends payment reminders.
• Has great accounting features.

Cons

• While there is a free trial, there is no free version of the tool. While the price tag is affordable for accounting software, it is steep if all you need is an invoicing tool.
• You need to pay for every team member you add.

Price

The pricing for Freshbooks is in slabs. $15 a month lets you service 5 billable clients, and is called the Freshbooks Lite plan. 

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For $25, you get the Freshbooks Plus plan, giving you access to additional accounting features, and can service up to 50 clients. 

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If you want all the bells and whistles with the ability to service an unlimited number of clients, or Freshbooks Premium, as they call it, it will cost you$50 a month. 

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Every team member you give access to will cost you an additional $10 per month. And if you want top-tier services, called Freshbooks Select, you will need to speak with a dedicated account manager and customize a plan based on your needs. 

Square

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If you are a small or growing business that has a brick-and-mortar store as well as an online presence, then Square is just the right invoicing tool for you. Combined with point-of-sale capabilities, Square will empower you to run both sides of your business seamlessly.

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While Square started off as a payment processing solution, its invoicing capabilities have made the tool even more popular. 

Pros

• You can track invoices in real time.
• You can schedule recurring billing automatically.
• Customers can make payments with a single click from their mobile devices.

Cons

• While there is a free plan, every paid invoice is charged 2.9% plus $0.30.
•  Customization of invoices is limited.

Pricing

While the paid plan is $20 a month and gives you extra features, you still pay the transaction fee on every invoice. 

Invoice Ninja

Invoice Ninja uses open-source technology to offer its subscribers affordable invoicing and accounting solutions. Their Free Forever plan allows you to send unlimited invoices to 20 customers. You can set up auto billing for these clients and automate the creation of invoices for them. 

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The tool also has great payment gateway integrations and accepts over 50 international currencies. So if you want your business to have global reach, this is the tool for you.

Pros

• You can custom-build invoices from scratch.
• Bulk sending of invoices is possible.
• Recognizes 20 languages and 50 currencies.
• You can accept payments via PayPal, credit cards, and even bank transfers using Invoice Ninja.
• You can add payment buttons to your invoices.
• Schedule automatic payments from regular customers.
• Fully compatible with mobile devices.

Cons

• The free invoices are all watermarked, and look unprofessional.
• Limited reporting, CRM, and inventory management capabilities.

Pricing

The free subscription plan gives you unlimited invoices for up to 20 customers, all with watermarks. The $10 per month subscription, called the Ninja Pro, allows you to send unlimited invoices to an unlimited number of customers. 

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However, only one of those customers will get invoices without the Invoice Ninja watermark. You also get access to over 10 invoice templates.

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For $14 per month, you get the Enterprise subscription which ensures unlimited access to the tool, and a lot more templates, and is capable of more customizations. None of the invoices will have any watermarks. 

Prio

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We at Prio have an extremely effective and user-friendly invoicing tool that can help you automate your invoicing process.

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After subscribing to our invoice generator, you can program the repetitive fields you want in your invoices and how often you want these to be generated. The tool will automatically have invoice drafts ready for your approval on schedule.

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You can even customize these fields specifically to suit formats unique to different clients. 

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If you charge your customers an hourly rate for the services your business provides them, you can track the time spent on their needs and add that as a unique field as well. 

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And the best part is that the use of our invoicing software is absolutely free, irrespective of how many invoices you generate.

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Visit our website to learn more about Prio’s invoicing software and other amazing solutions for small businesses.

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