Best Invoicing Software for Business Consultants
Getting paid for the work you have done is arguably one of the hardest things about business consulting. Cash flow can make or break your consulting career. The best free invoicing software for consultants can help smooth out the cash flow by automating the process. You don’t need complicated system, it should in its most basic form, allow you to send out invoices automatically for the work you have done record payments, and follow-up on the ones that don’t get paid.
What is the best invoicing software for consultants?
The best invoicing software for consultants is Zoho invoicing. Zoho has everything you need to run your consulting practice and the free version performs just as good if not better than software that costs twice as much.
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Best Free invoicing software option - Zoho
For a free invoicing software option Zoho was very good for a small business. It would be hard to find something to dislike about it if you are a small business or solo freelancer that just needs software to send out invoices. If all you want your invoicing software to do is send out invoices then Zoho will work be the best option for you.
Pros
- Free
- Integrates with the full suite of Zoho Tools
- Know when your invoice is viewed by a customer
- Brand your invoices with custom logos and colors
- Mobile app
- Can set recurring invoices
Cons
- Not a true accounting software by itself
- Can only integrate with the other Zoho Suite of tools
- The interface can be confusing to use
Zoho invoicing software is an application that helps small businesses create and send invoices to their customers. Zoho Invoice integrates with Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Expense, making it easy to track customer payments and expenses. Overall, Zoho Invoice is good free invoicing option for the small business on a tight budget.
What I liked about Zoho invoicing:
- Know when an invoice is viewed by a customer – You can set up the software to notify you when an invoice is viewed by a customer through the portal.
- View invoice history – Keep track of changes of the invoice for payments received and when more expenses were added.
- Brand your invoice – Add customizable branding to your invoice with a logo and colors that are unique to your brand.
- Multiple Pre-made templates – Choose from a large library of pre-made templates and customize to fit your brand.
- Create multilingual and multicurrency invoices.
- Compliant with ESIGN and eIDAS e-signature laws
- Set recurring invoices – If you have a service or customer that receive periodic services you can set up invoices to go out automatically.
- Get real-time invoice reports. You can run real time reports or schedule them to run on recurring basis and receive them by email.
- Easy estimates – Create estimates and turn them into invoices with one click.
- Time tracking – Zoho allows you to log and track time spent on projects.
- Collect advance payments for projects – Zoho will automatically deduct advanced payment from invoices to show the customer their true balance.
- Expense tracking – Allows you to track your expenses and know where your money is going with a reports.
Pricing: FREE
Runner up - invoicing software for Business consultants - Wave
Wave accounting software is invoicing tool for small businesses. Wave helps business owners keep track of their finances, create invoices, and manage payroll. The software offers a suite of features specifically designed for small businesses, including Wave Payroll and Wave Invoicing. Wave accounting software is easy to use and is free, so you can decide for yourself if it will work for you.
Pros
- Accepty Payments Online
- Recurring billing
- Syncs with your banks accounts
- Can be used it for payroll
- Free to use
Cons
- Have to pay extra for some
What I liked about Wave:
- 100% free if you don’t use any addons
- Get paid via credit card if you sign up for their credit card processing service
- Wave can send overdue reminders automatically
- Has a recurring billing function
- Invoicing and payment information can sync with your account
- All Major Credit Cards are accepted: Visa, Master Card, and American Express.
- Get Paid within one day for credit card payments.
- You can process credit card payments over the phone, online, or in person through their software.
- Has the option to sync with their free accounting software so your bookkeeping is already done.
Pricing: Free
Premium software option for business consultants - FreshBooks
FreshBooks was by far was the easiest to use and had the most options. It was the closest to a full accounting software as you can get without spending a small fortune, and it will handle all the needs of a small business.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Native integration with lots of other software
- Bookkeeping and accounting features
- Lots of useful reports
- Mobile app
- Customizable profesional invoices
Cons
- There is no free option
- Can get expensive if you have a lot of users
FreshBooks has lots of features that are essential to running your business. It can keep track of income and expenses, and can integrate with your bank account to show you where you stand.
Some of the stand-out features I liked of FreshBooks are:
- Professional Invoicing – Impress Clients with customizable professional invoices that clearly show the work you have done.
- Expenses – Never miss a expense, you can snap receipt photos, email receipts to your account, and import expenses directly from your bank account.
- Track time to the minute – You can work on multiple projects at once and log the times into FreshBooks. This will automatically add the time to invoices if you choose to bill that way.
- Set up Multiple Projects – Projects allow you share information all in one place and keep everyone updated.
- Automated Payments – You can give your clients multiple ways to pay. From credit cards to multiple other options, making it easy for your client to pay their invoices.
- Reporting – FreshBooks can track every dollar in and out of your business so you can run any report you want to diagnoses any issue you may have with cash flow. This also makes it easy at the end of the year when tax time comes around.
- Accounting – Has Double-Entry Accounting tools and reports that are the standard for all accredited accounting firms.
- Mobile – You can send invoices track expenses, and check up on projects all on the go with the FreshBooks mobile app.
- Good Customer Support – FreshBooks says that a real human will always answer your calls and help you with your questions.
Pricing:
Why Should Business consultants use invoicing software?
It allows you to create and send invoices quickly and easily, keeping track of payments and outstanding balances. The right invoicing software can help streamline your business so you spend more time working on the things that actually get you paid instead of administrative work.
You can use invoice software to generate invoices for the work you have done, automatically send follow-ups, and track your overall revenue for the year.
How to choose The right Invoicing software for your consulting agency?
Here are five key features to look for in a good invoicing software:
1. Ease of use: The software should be easy to set up and use, with a user-friendly interface.
2. Invoice customization: The software should allow you to customize your invoices to match your brand identity, including your logo, color scheme, and contact information.
3. Payment processing: The software should offer convenient payment processing options, such as online payments or integrations with popular payment processors such as PayPal or Stripe and Square.
4. Reporting: The software should provide valuable insights into your business through comprehensive reporting features. This data can help you track your progress, identify areas of improvement, and make better informed decisions about your business.
5. Pricing: Here are two most common pricing and fee structure for invoicing software.
- Monthly subscription fees
- Payment processing fees
Lili - Honorable Mention for Freelancing invoicing software
Lili is a banking tool that is designed for your business. They offer a one stop shop for all of your small business financial needs like banking accounting and taxes. Lili has no Minimum deposit and and no monthly fees.
Pros
- Easy to use
- manage everything with one app
- No hidden fees
- Lots of useful reports
- Mobile app
- Customizable professional invoices
Cons
- Cannot choose to use just their invoice function
- Invoicing software is not very good
If you are looking for a business banking account and want everything all in one place Lili will be a good option for you. It can be nice to have just one app for all your banking needs that is tied to you accounting software. The issue may be if you ever decide you want to change banks or invoicing software, they will not integrate as easily into Lili software.
Some of the stand-out features I liked of Lili invoicing software are:
- They accept all payment methods – Visa, Mastercard, American Express, ACH, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal and much more.
- You can generate custom invoices in just a few clicks
- Invoice tracking to manage overdue invoices
- Has a CRM software that allows you to store your customers information
- No limit to the number of invoices you can send
- Each account comes with a Visa Business debit card.
- Their mobile app will send you a notification every time you get paid or money leaves your account
Pricing: Free
Bonsai- best all-in-one Freelance invoicing software
Bonsai is an all-in-one software that allows you to focus on your passion and not your paperwork. This tool can help make you look more professional. Their CRM software is very good and it allows you to keep all your information about your customers in one place.
Each one of their custom contracts are vetted by legal professionals to be sure that the language is correct and meets all regulatory requirements.
Pros
- can accept lots of different payment options
- manage everything with one app
- Invoice automation is very good
- Lots of useful reports
- Mobile app
- Customizable professional invoices
Cons
- can get expensive
- Some hidden fees
If you are looking for an all-in-one software that can take the place of your current CRM software, accounting software, and invoicing system that combines them all into one place. Bonsai is the best software for you.
Some of the stand-out features I liked of Lili invoicing software are:
- Custom CRM software
- All their software works together and moves down the pipeline as it progresses.
- Invoice tracking to manage overdue invoices
- Has a CRM software that allows you to store your customers information
- No limit to the number of invoices you can send
Pricing:
What is invoicing software for business consultants?
For business consultants, invoicing software can be a time saver. It allows you to keep track of your invoices and payments in one place, and makes it easy to generate new invoices and send them to clients for the work you have done. It can also help you manage your expenses, so you can see where your money is going and make sure you’re not overspending. When it comes to invoicing software for business consultants, there are a lot of options out there. But, with so many choices, it can be hard to know which one is right for you. That’s why I have put together this guide to the best invoicing software for business consultants.
Why you should trust me
I have been using invoicing and accounting software for over 20 years as a freelancer and as a business manager. In that time I spent hundreds of hours immersed in the software studying the reports and using it to send invoices and writing custom code to get it to do what I wanted it to do.
How I picked and tested
Ease of use
I wanted to see which software was the easiest to use and most intuitive. How much accounting background did you need to have to set it up correctly.
Did it integrate into software that you already use?
I wanted to see how easy it was to integrate into accounting software stack that someone may already be using.
Was it scalable
How easy was it to scale to the size that your company grows to.
Reports
Were the reports easy to create and read.
Conclusion:
The best software for business consultants is Zoho, because you can modify it to meet your needs. You can just use the free version or if you need more it is easy to add another one of their modules to it.
I was surprised at how far software has come in the last couple of years. It is really easy to take one of the free versions and make it fit you needs. I was also surprised that the most expensive software as not necessarily the best.
I am confident that any of the options I listed above will meet your needs.
