Disclaimer: Please note this article is not financial advice. The purpose of our blog is purely educational, so please consult a professional accountant or financial advisor before making any financial decision.
Accounting is undoubtedly one of the most challenging tasks you’ll handle for your small business. Many areas make it complex, such as tracking income and managing business expenses, managing payroll, tracking projects and time worked, computing taxes, and tracking inventory. The good news is many software are available to automate processes and make the job easier.
In this blog post, we’ll focus on how accounting programs like QuickBooks make invoicing easy, the different features QuickBooks has, and some QuickBooks alternatives for small businesses to give you more options. Let’s begin!
How Programs Like QuickBooks Help in Invoicing
Invoicing is as essential as any other accounting task. Through it, you can send your clients and customers the complete details of what they owe you. Before, this task was done manually with bookkeepers and accountants sending physical invoices and collecting payment manually. Today, you can get help from accounting software, and here’s how.
Automate Input of Invoice Details
One of the primary benefits you’ll get by using software that has an invoicing feature is the automatic updating of invoice details. An accounting system stores the contact information of your clients and customers, all the details about your products and services, and tax details. These data are automatically inputted into the invoice together with these other details:
- Invoice number
- Date when the service or order was made
- Description of the order/service
- Date when the invoice was sent
- Payment terms and conditions
- Total payment that needs to be paid
- Any miscellaneous notes
Aside from filling out the details automatically, you can also be sure that the details are accurate.
Generate Different Invoices
With the help of QuickBooks and other accounting software similar to it, you can generate these different types of invoices to fit your needs:
- Sales invoice is a general term for invoices sent by sellers and service businesses to customers and clients.
- A pro forma invoice ensures that you are on the same page with the customer/client on the pricing of goods and services.
- A commercial invoice comes in handy when scaling your business and selling abroad. This is the invoice you’ll submit to the Bureau of Customs.
- Credit notes are invoices you send when you make a mistake in the pricing and overcharge your customer.
- A past-due invoice is what you send clients and customers who can’t pay before the deadline.
- An interim invoice is a document for managing projects. You send this when you request payments for progress on your project.
- The final invoice is the last invoice you send after a series of interim invoices.
- A timesheet invoice is what you send to clients for per-hour payments.
- You send a retainer invoice to clients and customers for advance payments.
- Recurring invoices are what you send to regular customers on scheduled dates.
Accounting software usually have templates for all these different invoices, so you can generate them instantly.
Receive Payments on Time
Your business cash flow gets disrupted when payments do not come in when they are supposed to. Because of that, you’ll need to encourage on-time or early payment from your clients and customers. The invoice feature of accounting software will help you send payment requests ahead of time. These invoices can also have a “Pay Now” button ready for customers and clients to pay conveniently.
Along with sending invoices, you can encourage on-time payments by giving incentives to early payers or setting strict deadlines. Be relentless in sending follow-ups by using a past-due invoice.
Correct Tax Payments
Invoices are the proof of sales the tax bureau needs. Invoices are also documents you need for taxes. Invoicing goes beyond sending payment reminders and receiving them on time. Through it, you’ll have data about the sales taxes you need to remit to the government and your company’s income.
With accounting software, your invoices will be stored in a single space. Your dues will be computed automatically, and the details inside will be 100% accurate.
Update Customers
The invoicing feature of cloud-based solutions like QuickBooks can also work to keep customers happy and loyal. Many software allow the creation of a client portal where clients can view all their invoices. They can check the details there, and they can contact you right away for any discrepancies.
Many software already have a customer support feature, but you can always handle customer concerns yourself if you want to make it personal. Through this, you can maintain transparency with your customers, and they’ll be encouraged to continue transacting with you.
Save Time and Money
Accounting software will automate your system, save time, and minimize errors.
Although accounting software still costs, you’ll save money by investing in one because you don’t need to spend time on manual tasks. Your bookkeeper and accountant can also work efficiently with tools by updating your books, generating invoices and sending them, and creating financial reports to help you make decisions.
QuickBooks’s Online Invoicing Feature
QuickBooks Online is a good choice if you are looking for accounting software with a complete and reliable invoicing feature. Aside from bookkeeping, payroll, inventory tracking, time and project tracking, and reporting features, you can also enjoy all these invoicing features.
Includes a “Pay Now” Button
The invoices you generate with QuickBooks already have a “Pay Now” button to make it convenient for your clients and customers to send their dues. When they click the button, they can send in their payments, and you will receive them automatically. Make sure to reconcile invoices to ensure all transactions are accounted for.
Allows Various Payment Gateways
What makes this payment process more convenient is QuickBooks’s flexibility on payment gateways. Some of what your customers can use are the following:
- Stripe
- Major debit and credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
- Square
- Authorize.net
- PSIGate Intuit QuickBooks Payments
- Braintree
- Global Payments
- PayPal USAePay
- WorldPay
Sends Invoices in Bulk
Instead of having to type, print, and send invoices one by one, you and your accountant can save a lot of time and resources with QuickBooks. With Quickbooks, you can send bulk invoices in a few clicks, online and paper-free.
Generates Recurring Invoices
As you grow your business, you’ll have clients and customers who will sign-up for your services for a certain period or order from you regularly. Skip the hassle of invoicing them repeatedly by automating it through Quickbooks. Schedule recurring invoices and let the software send them out. All you’ll have to do is check whether the payments are made on time or not.
Produces Timesheet Invoices
You can utilize QuickBooks's timesheet invoice if you offer services by the hour. These invoices can help you show the details to your clients by providing them with the hours rendered. All the data is stored in your accounting system, so you can fill out invoices with just a click of a button.
QuickBooks Alternatives for Invoicing
Other programs like QuickBooks can work just as well. For alternatives, try out these top accounting software:
- FreshBooks
- Wave Accounting
- Zoho Books
- Sage Accounting
- Xero
- GoDaddy
- ZarMoney
- Sunrise by Lendio
- Kashoo
Before picking a software, ensure that the tool can also help you with accounting needs other than invoicing. This way, you can make the most out of your investment. Check out if the accounting tools have the following:
- Cash-based and accrual accounting
- Income and expense tracking
- Various payment gateways
- Projects and time tracking
- Automatic bank reconciliation
- Seamless integration with third-party apps
- Tax management
- Bank reconciliation
- Inventory management
- Customer relationship management
- Report generation
- Role-based access
- Ability to add multiple users
- Client portal
- Mobile access
Accounting Software Utilization by Unloop
By now, you should understand the importance of invoicing. Although seemingly simple, proper invoicing can affect the overall success of your business.
If you need a team that can handle bookkeeping for you and create professional invoices if needed, partner with us at Unloop. We utilize the latest accounting software to update your books, generate invoices, and more.
Take advantage of the many services we offer. Call us now so that we can discuss the details with you!