I’m in the process of starting a freelance business and need a way to send invoices once I get those lovely customers. How do you do it? or what would you suggest?
Veronica
Hi Veronica! This is such a great question, thanks for getting in touch. 🙂 I have a lot of great options for you!
When it comes to billing customers, you can go the quick and easy route or the more involved route.
PayPal invoices are quick and easy.
Most freelancers accept money via PayPal, so sending out invoices via PayPal is super quick and easy.
If you’re just starting out and not sure if your business will become a full time, long-term job, then PayPal is something I’d recommend. It doesn’t require a new system or a monthly fee or a lot of set up. You can just quickly and easily send invoices from PayPal, that your clients can then pay from PayPal itself.
Pros of using PayPal
- Very quick and easy to set up. In fact, there’s almost zero set up time!
- No monthly fees.
- It’s a system your clients will recognize and they can pay via PayPal.
Cons of using PayPal
- Other than uploading a logo, you cannot completely brand your invoices. It will clearly look like an invoice sent from PayPal.
- The invoices may look unprofessional.
- You cannot customize the layout of the invoices.
Serious about your business? It’s time to use a professional solution.
If your business has been established for a months and you’re confident that it’s something you’ll be continuing for a long time OR if you immediately want to start off with a more professional solution, then there are other options available.
WHMCS
I personally use WHMCS to sent out all my invoices. However, the reason I use WHMCS is because it’s a platform for selling web hosting, which is something I do for my business. It just happens to have the added bonus of being able to send out invoices.
The great thing about WHMCS is that it’s completely customizable, provided you can code a theme. Here’s an example of what mine looks like:
However, I wouldn’t really recommend investing in WHMCS if you’re not in the web hosting business!
Other great invoicing tools
I can’t vouch for any of these tools personally since I don’t use them, but I know many freelancers who do use these options!
I suggest you check out each option, do some research, maybe play around with trials/demos, and see which option will work best for you.
17Hats is the newest option and it seems to be on the rise. But at the same time, it does have limitations (such as no client area).
Pancake is something you install on your own server. This means it’s completely customizable in terms of both theme and functionality! But there are some features it doesn’t have (like contracts, I believe).
What makes a great, professional invoicing tool?
Ideally, you’ll want to find something that is:
- Easy to use.
- Integrates with your chosen payment system (PayPal, Stripe, etc.).
- Is customizable so you can brand it 100%. You don’t want to use a system that has someone else’s logo on it (like the PayPal logo, Pancake logo, etc.). You want it to look like YOU are sending the invoice—not someone else.
Thank you so so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I think for now pay pal may be my best option since I’m just starting out. I had no idea that they even did invoices. And yes my products will be either digital or actual prints of art, illustrations or post cards so no WHMCS for me. Thanks again!!
You’re very welcome, Veronica. 🙂 Once you login to PayPal, the invoicing option should be over on the left. There’s a button for “Invoicing”.
Informative post! I never even considered there where other options than paypal, might have to check those out eventually. For now I am happy with using paypal and I did upload my logo so there is some branding at least. But indeed like you mentioned it does still look like paypal.
I used PayPal myself for a long time. I do think that most people/businesses will want to look for something “more” after a while, I know I did. 🙂 It’s like taking things to the next step!
But PayPal is definitely a good solution at first!
Wow, Ashley, the new design is GORGEOUS!
Thank you! 😀 I’m so glad you like it. 🙂
Thanks for sharing Ashley! I didn’t even know PayPal uses invoices, silly me! I’m still somewhat a beginner in freelancing, these tips will be really useful. II’ll keep them as a future reference!
Thank you for the post!
I use Bitrix24 for invoices. It’s free and you can brand them with logo easily.
Nice I use Waveapps.com it’s really nice.