Free Invoicing: Why You Shouldn’t Have to Pay to Get Paid

Invoicing is the process by which entrepreneurs and freelancers get paid for their services rendered or their products provided—yet in order to get paid, many small business owners actually shell out huge chunks of change for subscription-based invoicing software.

We’re not knocking those programs, which have their place, but there’s something small business owners should know: Free invoicing options do exist. You don’t have to pay a lot of money in order to maintain a robust and effective invoicing process.

Different Options for Free Invoices

There is, of course, no one right way to handle your invoicing; the needs of one small business might differ from the needs of the next. There is, however, one invoicing method that we can probably all agree to be foolish, and that’s invoicing totally manually and totally from scratch, creating a new Word or Excel invoice for each new customer. This is massively time-consuming, and frankly it just isn’t necessary.

So what are the options for free invoicing? Online invoices are easy to find, and they come in different forms—you can either use an invoice maker or else just download some invoicing templates. There are also invoicing apps, which often provide the same robust features as paid software but for little or no financial investment.

Three Ways to Invoice for Free

Of course, these different methods of invoicing for free come with some distinct pros and cons, which are worth unpacking.

• First, there are the invoice templates. Full disclosure: We offer some of these—21, to be exact—at BizXpert. You can download them in PDF, Word, or Excel files. So obviously we believe in this option, and support it. Using an invoice template is quicker than building an invoice from scratch, and it ensures that your formatting is consistent and your layout is sufficiently simple, yet also thorough. In the end, this method doesn’t offer you anything for invoice automation or invoice management, yet it is nevertheless an option that many entrepreneurs prefer.
• For those seeking a bit more automation and speed, using a free invoice generator is a good way to go. Here again, BizXpert proudly offers one, and we endorse it fully. An invoice generator allows you to master invoice design and to ensure an aesthetically pleasing invoice. You can also send or print your invoice with the push of a button. The only downside is that, again, invoice management options are hard to come by.
• If you really want to streamline your invoicing, the best bet is to download an invoice app, such as BizXpert. Using an invoice app is simply the best way to make your invoicing process fast, to easily keep tabs on your company’s invoices, and—again—to really hammer home invoice design.

And speaking of which, let us mention just in passing that invoice design really is important. It maximizes the odds of prompt payment, and diminishes the chances of delinquencies. Plus, well-conceived invoices improve the customer experience—so invoice design is certainly worth mastering, which any of these three tools will help you do.

Making an Investment

But what about all of the paid invoicing programs out there—aren’t they worth a shot?

Well, maybe. They certainly come with robust features. What you should know about them, though, is that you will typically have to pay the highest possible subscription price in order to get full functionality. In many cases, this can get pricey, as your month-to-month payments will really stack up.

Often, then, your best bet will be to spend some time mastering invoice design—perhaps through the use of one of these free invoicing tools.