Advice needed for free invoicing software

[danb4026]

Does anyone have a recommendation for free (or at least inexpensive) invoicing software out there that works well for our industry? I do not want it to be full blown banking or accounting software, but simply software where I can create invoices, keep track of money due and aged past due balances.

 

It would be nice if it produced an aesthetically pleasing piece or had nice looking, well formatted templates. Perhaps I could import a previously produced template from Word.

 

Thanks!!

[erickdt]

That sounds like a job for Microsoft Excel :-)

[danb4026]

I have Excel....I guess I am being excessively lazy.

[erickdt]

It's really a very handy program. I use it for writing invoices as well as keeping track of finances (it's alot easier than using a checkbook registry). Once you've setup a template it's a breaze.

[BrianKitts]

http://www.freshbooks.com

 

Used the heck out of the site when I was freelancing. Manages 3 clients for free, then you can add more for a fee I paid $14 a month for it when I was running 10 clients or so....

 

just checked, rates went up.... it's $19 a month for 25 clients.

 

It allows you to send out estimates, converts those to invoices, tracks payments, you can see if clients have retrieved their invoices, etc. It's really great being able to access this info from anywhere with an internet connection.

Edited September 11, 2009 by BrianKitts

[danb4026]

Thanks Brian, I will check it out.

 

If that doesn't work out or there are no other recommendations, I will futz around with excel.

[bmcgonigle]

Quicken Home & Business is $80. We use it for our finances and various freelance jobs I do. Makes doing the taxes at the end of the year a snap.

[danb4026]

I just stopped using Quicken and Quick Books. I used to have a pretty big (unrelated) business, and used QuickBooks for my in house finances.

 

Now that I am freelancing and my banking is all online, I just want something for invoicing and estimates. Although I would like some flexibility with formatting of invoices so I can interim bill for % of job complete, past due amounts, etc.

 

FreshBooks, mentioned above, does not seem to have any flexibility in terms of changing and formatting invoices.

[WAcky]

Yeah I've started using Excel this year to keep track of my work. I have a sheet for each month that lists dates, times, and all my rates for each job. Then I have a summary sheet which tells me from each month my profit rates and how much I need to put away for tax and super etc.

 

Its good but probably not as good as something you can probably buy...

[danb4026]

Did you set it up for invoicing as well, or just to keep up to snuff with your finances?

[SandmanNinja]

There are a lot of free Excel templates for accounting purposes.

I did something similar to Wacky for my photography business.

I had 2 boxes: Income and Expenses

I photocopied the cheques from clients (or a print-out from my bank for a direct deposit) and then anything I would buy - batteries, memory sticks, cameras, etc.

I eventually switched to MYOB, do VERY basic entry into it, then take the MYOB disc to my accountant every quarter (along with the 2 boxes).

[danb4026]

I don't need accounting software for income and expenses, my online banking does that for me. I just want a good invoicing system.

 

Other than the work I produce for my clients, and my sparkling personality of course, the only other thing they see is my invoice and statements.

 

I would like the invoices and statements to look professional but also keep track of past due balances etc.

[SandmanNinja]

I guess consider the benefits of overall system integration.

 

MYOB keeps up with my depreciation of my physical equipment (and the different levels based on their value). You can examine all sorts of data in ways that might improve your understanding of your profit and loss issues.

 

ex. I have a tripod that is 7.1m tall. I use it for elevated shots of houses and what-not. I can easily see that it has finally paid for itself after 'x' number of months of use and how much money only that component has contributed to my business.

 

If it was not bringing in enough or paying for itself quick enough, I could run some What Ifs and see how much sooner it would break even (with depreciation) if I increased my charge to my clients for its use by 25%.

 

===

 

On the other hand, I have a Word Template that has some mini-calculation fields in it. If I need to print several different possible invoices to take with me to a client's site, then I do different versions in Word, write a PDF, and stick 3 or 4 different invoices (with different rates - in case the situation changes or if the client adds additional services onto my visit) (I invoice new clients on the spot and leave with a cheque).

 

Perhaps a Word Template that lets you dress it up to be as fancy or professional as you want and the you have the ability to easily edit the 'invoice' (as it's just a Word document) and you can make PDFs and e-mail them easily as well.

[WAcky]

Did you set it up for invoicing as well, or just to keep up to snuff with your finances?

 

I do use a basic excel sheet as an invoice and quotation template which I print as a pdf and send or print. It could be expanded far beyond what I'm doing now. I could have a sheet that lists all of my services and corresponding prices and rate. I could probably then have some sort of function that sucks all that info into my invoice. Like a drop down box in each cell of the invoice that, when an item is selected, it will put in the appropriate $$$ into the right column. Not sure whether excel is capable of dropdown boxes but it is capable of a LOT