Best Invoice Maker for Small Businesses

A high-quality invoice maker will help your business manage your existing relationships with customers and build new ones. In turn, this can streamline your processes and increase sales by creating better customer experiences.

Since there are so many options available, it’s difficult to tell which is the best invoice maker for your needs. It can be a challenge to sort through them and find the right fit for your business. However, we’re going to guide you through the process to ensure you pick out an invoice maker for small businesses that ticks all of your boxes and streamlines your day-to-day operations.

Why an Invoice Maker Is Important for Your Business

Customers are vital to your business, so it makes sense that managing each client interaction should be at the forefront of your mind. In the beginning, this is an easier process because you’ll generally have fewer customers to track and deal with. However, your number of customers will grow as your business takes off, and this is when it gets more challenging to keep every relationship organized and on track.

Invoice makers for small businesses can help here. For example, you can use this software to ensure each interaction with different customers is organized. If someone orders a large number of products or services, it’ll go into a unique invoice. A second customer who orders just one or two things goes into a second invoice so you know who gets what and track when they pay. Software like Billdu will store all of your customers’ information, and you can use it to ensure your customers have an optimal experience whenever they purchase products or services from your brand.

Also, invoices don’t just help with existing customers. You can use it to manage your business’s relationships with leads. This software typically has features installed to optimize your sales processes, keep everything organized, and it’ll allow you to edit invoices as you need to add or subtract services. You can even send email notices to warn of payment due dates and add discounts to each invoice as you see fit.

How an Invoice Maker for Small Businesses can Help You

If you don’t have an invoice maker for your business yet, you most likely don’t know exactly how it can benefit you. Not knowing can make you hesitant to add it as you’re already trying to mind your budget. However, it’s essential you get an invoice maker that is user-friendly and intuitive, and we’ll outline why below.

Improve Customer Retention

Having information at your fingertips about how your customers best utilize your business can help increase your retention rates. Imagine that you own a gym, and you use your invoices to track the attendance of every frequent member you have. You’d notice if one customer stopped frequenting your gym. To entice them back, you could send out a free workout plan or reminders about upcoming classes to help increase engagement and the likelihood of your customer renewing their contract.

Assist Sales and Customer Support to Work Seamlessly

If you’re not keeping your customer interactions correctly using an invoice maker, it can be difficult for sales representatives and support personnel to get the information they need to do their jobs correctly. Keeping your data organized in a platform makes it easy to pull it up, and this can save time and ensure that each area of your business runs effectively.

Many invoice makers for small businesses use sales and marketing automation to help reduce the amount of manual administrative work these two key teams have to do. If the business is small enough, all of these tasks may fall on you, so any software that makes it easier to stay organized is much appreciated. For example, with the correct software, you can automatically create and file entries when a new customer fills out a form. This will help you follow up.

Automation

One of the biggest advantages of online invoicing is automation. It makes it easy for you to set up recurring payments for your long-term clients. It also allows you to create a subscription-based model. The system can send payment reminders and follow-ups for past-due or upcoming invoices. As a bonus, automating these items can save you a huge amount of money and time that you can dedicate to other areas of your business.

With the correct software, you won’t have to pay someone to do all of these small administrative tasks for you, so this can also save you money that you can put back into your business. It gets rid of the frustration of forgetting to follow up on a payment or chasing it down too.

Helps Establish Brand Identity

Having a cloud-based invoice maker can help you reinforce your brand’s identity. With Billdu, you can easily add your color scheme, logo, and fonts that match the voice you want your brand to have. When you strengthen your business’s identity, it boosts the chances of your customers paying on time, and this is great for your bottom line.

You can also easily create custom messages on the bottom of your invoice, like a short “Thank You!” This space also is a great place to upsell other services or products, or you can link to a piece of content to help your customer solve a problem. It could seem very trivial on the surface, but these messages can easily enhance your brand by allowing it to demonstrate expertise and personality.

Security

Most people are creatures of habit, so it’s easy to see why some may spend a lot of time resisting online payments and invoicing. Some businesses may have trouble with change, too, as they’re used to using paper invoices. Other businesses jumped onto the online payment trend early because they wanted to eliminate security concerns.

Security must always be a top priority in your business, and reputable online invoice software is always extremely secure. These platforms have to adhere to specific PCI Security Standards. It’s difficult to get clearance at the PCI Security Standards level. They help you put advanced security safeguards in place to protect your business and customers against any interference or loss. SSL encryption is one such safeguard you can use.

Different Language and Currency Options

Thanks to technology, everyone is technically a “global citizen.” A freelancer in the United States can easily bill a client in Australia. A customer in the UK can easily order a product from a company in Japan. Cloud-based invoicing platforms like Billdu allow you to pick your preferred currency and language. So, both the business and your customers can have choices that weren’t possible before. Cloud payments and invoicing make it easy for small businesses to enter the global marketplace, and it strips away payment barriers.

Enables Remote Work

The best invoice maker enables your employees to access it anywhere they have internet. Remote workers will have the same amount of access to the information they need as those in the office do, especially through user-friendly apps. In turn, this can streamline your team’s ability to effectively work wherever their base may be.

This gives your business the option to have remote employees, and you can easily take advantage of global talent when you start hiring a team. Or, you can offer your existing staff flexibility in how they work best, either in the office or at home. This is important because your employees may be happier working from home than they are commuting and coming in.

Offers Detailed Reporting

An invoice maker for small businesses will usually offer you in-depth reporting features. Many offer sales pipeline management and sales forecasting. These can help you estimate revenue within a given period based on your average conversion rates and where any prospective leads are in your current sales funnels.

For example, you can print reports that show you exactly where your cash flow stands. Do you have a lot of outstanding or overdue invoices? Maybe there are customers who need reminders. Whatever the case may be, keeping track of one centralized platform is an easy way to tell where your business’s financial structure is at a glance. You can use this information to decide the best step for your business to take next.

How to Pick the Best Invoice Maker

Since there are a lot of invoice makers on the market, it’s a good idea to go into the search knowing what you want from this software before you start comparing your options. Here are a few important questions to answer before you dive into the search.

Is the Invoice Maker Self-Hosted or Cloud-Based?

Cloud-based invoice makers are generally more flexible and economical for small businesses when you compare them to self-hosted solutions. Since most of them are pay-as-you-go, you have a far lower upfront fee. Third parties also usually provide them, so you don’t have to hire a full IT team to manage the product and work out the issues. Instead, the company that has the software will keep everything running and have tech support on hand.

What Documentation Do You Get and How User-Friendly Is the Invoice Maker?

The ultimate goal is to have everyone in your business be able to benefit. So, this is why ease-of-use is extremely important when you look at different invoice makers. As well as picking one that is easy to use, look for one that offers excellent documentation. This allows anyone on your team who isn’t sure how to use a feature to find an answer with minimal hassle.

What Customer Service Support Does it Offer?

Even if your invoice maker is very intuitive and user-friendly, there will be times when you want to speak with someone on the phone or chat with a person in real-time. The best invoice maker software will have a strong support team available. Think about whether or not online help is enough or if you would rather get support over the phone. Also, consider the operating hours of the customer support team for your chosen software. Having support hours that don’t match your U.S.-based company’s operating hours won’t be ideal.

How Does the Invoice Maker Blend with the Existing Workflow?

An invoice maker for small businesses typically works with different tools. This is why you have to make sure the one you pick out integrates with the software that is most important to your business’s current workflow. Common integrations you have to consider include Google/G Suite services like Gmail, email clients, social media, Microsoft Outlook, and eCommerce.

Do You Need Extra Features and What Are the Costs?

Invoice makers are rarely just invoice makers. They usually come packed with extra features like sales pipelines, email marketing, marketing automation, and much more. Consider which ones will benefit when you compare products. Also, you should note that these features aren’t always free. Sometimes, you’ll have to pay more for features over the basic subscription tier to get these extra things. Consider how much you’re comfortable paying and find software that falls into this budget.

What Happens as the Business Grows?

Most people want to grow their businesses, so you want to consider whether or not your invoice maker can grow with you. Some platforms will charge you depending on how many contracts and customers you have, and this can quickly drive your bills up as your business starts to grow. You should also consider how many employees can use the software because some have limits on the number of people allowed to use it before you have to upgrade. Others have a minimum on the number of people you’ll have to pay for.

What Is the Best Invoice maker for Small Businesses?

Below, you’ll find a quick roundup of the top invoice makers for small businesses available on the current market. Keep in mind that there are other great invoice makers out there, but we’re only going to compare a core few to give you a good overview.

Billdu

Billdu is a fantastic pick for businesses of all sizes, but it really shines with small to medium-sized businesses. There is a basic free plan, and plans go all of the way up to $16.99 per month for the premium levels. All of the products come with an invoice maker, and you can create estimates, delivery notes, credit notes, set up an online store, quote requests, and set up online booking. The Standard plan is the most popular one available, and you get access to unlimited invoices, estimates, and appointments for $8.99 for two users a month.

Freshbooks

Freshbooks is a very well-known invoice maker with bookkeeping options. It allows you to save time with automation, store key information like discounts, taxes, and items, and collect customer insights. You can track your payments in real-time, spend money when you get it, and create custom invoices, estimates, and professional contracts. It also integrates seamlessly with other software platforms. It has a mobile app and desktop version, and you can accept online payments.

Bill.com

With Bill.com, you can control your business’s accounts payable by approving and reviewing bills from any device, storing receipts, checks, and invoices, and sending international or domestic payments to suppliers and vendors. You can also manage your accounts receivable. It includes automated invoices, contact management, automated reminders, and direct payments using PayPal, credit card, or ACH. It is a bit pricier, and it works better for medium-sized or larger businesses.

Invoice2go

There are powerful iPhone and Android apps from Invoice2go that makes it quick and easy for you to create customized invoices from your phone while you’re out and about. Setting up the software is very simple, and you’ll be able to send your first invoice in minutes. You can also take advantage of other features like invoice templates, expense tracking, time tracking, estimates, and purchase order management. You can send invoices in several ways as well, including SMS. It has cloud-based desktop software you can use too if you prefer it.

Why Choose Billdu as an Invoice Maker for Your Small Business

It shouldn’t surprise you that we think Billdu is the best invoice maker available for any small business. Billdu is a very intuitive and agile invoice maker with loads of great features that make it the obvious choice.

Cloud-Based Software

Billdu is a cloud-based invoice maker. This means that you get low setup costs without having to try and budget for a tech support team to help manage a self-hosted-type platform. You also get all of the benefits of cloud computing with this software suite, including the ability for both you and your employees to access it through internet access anywhere they happen to be in the world.

Fantastic Support

Billdu offers a responsive customer service team that you can email any time of the day or night, and they speak English and German. They’re based in the United States, and they’re extremely responsive to questions or concerns to ensure that the software works for you.

Invoice Maker with a Host of Features

Billdu proudly gives small businesses a comprehensive, all-in-one invoice maker that allows you to seamlessly keep your business’s finances on track, send payment reminders, accept a host of payments in different currencies, and create a powerful sales pipeline. It also integrates with tools you already utilize, and you can invite your accountant to connect.

Mobile Apps and Desktop Platform

You’ll get apps for iOS and Android systems with Billdu, and the integrated mobile app allows you to stay connected to key business information while you’re on the go. All of Billdu’s exclusive features are just a click away on your phone. You can easily stay on top of each business process, monitor your online store, create bookings, and send quote requests. There is also a platform for PCs.

Powerful Marketing Automation

There are powerful automation features on Billdu that you can use to create and nurture new leads and build sales for your business. You can easily create an online store with multiple payment options, send invoices and estimates, send bills and payment reminders, and more.

Transparent Pricing Guide

The pricing you get on our pricing tiers is what you get, and each one clearly outlines the services available at that specific price point. There are no added extras to worry about driving the prices up, and the only way they increase is if you decide to go up a tier.

Invoice Templates

In Billdu, you will find five professional invoice templates which you can further customize by adjusting the color scheme, adding your logo, changing the texts, language, currency etc. Billdu has also prepared some popular free invoice templates for you to look at and download which include a blank invoice template, PDF invoice template, simple invoice template and many others. You can try our free invoice generator and Billdu’s free proforma invoice generator to have a look at how Billdu works without registering.

Get Your Free Trial of Billdu Today

Don’t take our word for it. Instead, try Billdu for yourself with our free 30-day trial. Once you sign up, you’ll get immediate access to everything Billdu offers, and you can quickly see how it works with your current processes. Try it out, see how it streamlines your business, and trust Billdu to help you grow your business.