Five invoicing apps for small businesses

By Brien Posey , March 26, 2012, 9:25 AM

Introduction

I recently started shopping for new invoicing software because some aspects of my business had changed. I evaluated a number of software packages before finding one that fit my needs. Here are five of the better options I came across.

Note: If you'd prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

Photo: iStockphoto.com/maxexphoto
BillingTracker Pro

BillingTracker Pro is designed to automate the invoicing process and track cash flow. Out of all the invoicing apps I looked at, BillingTracker Pro offered the best support for foreign clients.
BillingTracker Pro

I didn't choose BusinessTracker Pro because some of the field lengths are too limiting for my needs. For instance, project names are limited to 40 characters, and although you can append a note to the end of an invoice, the space allotted isn't sufficient for including wire transfer instructions.

A single user license of Billing Tracker Pro costs $179, and you can download a free trial.
kBilling

kBilling is the package I decided to purchase for my own business. It's flexible, has an easy-to-use interface, and includes a number of customizable invoice templates. You can also append extra information to an invoice if you have a client with special requirements.
kBilliing

kBilling offers various reporting options. You can export reports to PDF format or view the data in Excel, and you can export quotes and invoices to PDF files.

One note: When I tried to install the purchased version of kBilling, my antivirus software reported that a DLL file was infected with a virus. However, technical support assured me that AVG Antivirus generates false positives. I confirmed that the product was not infected by scanning it with other antivirus products.

kBilling sells for $99, and you can download a free trial.
Ezy Invoice

Ezy Invoice offers a dizzying array of reporting options, and it will allow you to track practically anything you want. Unfortunately, I found the user interface to be cumbersome and somewhat confusing at times.
Ezy Invoice

Ezy Invoice ranges in price from $99 to $899 depending on the features you want and the number of users you want to license. You can download a free trial.
Invoice Expert

Invoice Expert lets you build a customer list, as well as lists of products and vendors. When you create invoices and purchase orders, it uses an array of reports and dashboard objects to show you your current cash flow situation.
Invoice Expert

I almost chose Invoice Expert for my own use. The thing that stopped me was that the invoices themselves are difficult to customize. Don't get me wrong -- you can create custom invoices. It's just that my business requires a higher degree of customization than Invoice Expert could easily handle.

Invoice Expert sells for $69.95, and you can download a free trial.
Volutive

Volutive uses a simple relational database to create tables for customers, vendors, and salespeople, as well as invoices and purchase orders. It can generate reports of outstanding invoices on a per-customer basis and allows you to create a product list and manage your inventory.
Volutive

Volutive has the basics covered, but I found it to be pretty inflexible. It might work well for someone who operates a small business that sells specific products, but it doesn't lend itself to service businesses or businesses with a dynamic product line. Still, it's hard to argue with the price: free!

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Introduction

I recently started shopping for new invoicing software because some aspects of my business had changed. I evaluated a number of software packages before finding one that fit my needs. Here are five of the better options I came across.

Note: If you'd prefer to view this information as a blog post, check out this entry in our Five Apps blog.

Photo: iStockphoto.com/maxexphoto

23 comments

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Jim1983

I use SliQ Invoicing Plus for my small software business. Found it on toptenreviews.com under their top ten billing apps section.

Ontario Canada

I think this is a good article, but after struggling through the slideshow's first couple of photos I gave up trying to read it.

carmike

For me it is Owlsoftware.com called Small Business Invoicing. Not free but not expensive and a lifetime licence 1 small problem (It is possible to retrospectivly alter an Invoice rather than create a Pro Forma) which is the correct way. Does GST\VAT calculation and also other type tax (ontop of GST\Vat)

fiberella

1 Like

Freshbooks?

m.t.skelsey

1 Like

I've been using freshbooks for the last 2 Years - fantastic app that is easy to use and full featured - it integrates with many other mobile and cloud business applications. Free for first 3 clients, then subscription after that.

alix

I found this review to be pretty unhelpful, except for the links and the comments from other people. I can google these tools, I need to know what people who test them think. Three or four sentences isn't a review, IMO.

xmechanic

1 Like

Linux-based with a *SQL back-end, this has been my mainstay invoice program for the last 5 years. A little tricky to setup but easy to use and very configurable. Plus, it's remotely accessible via web browser with a login screen, so it's available wherever you have internet access. Invoices can be exported as .pdf or e-mailed directly from the program, or printed to a local printer from the web browser. Works great for me, being a service and product based biz. :) http://www.simpleinvoices.org/

a.portman

I used Simple Invoices for about three years. I am still looking at a alternatives, but if you have the server (I attached mine to my hosted webpage) it is easy to set up and use.

Softheads

I'm an onsite comp tech, I use Invoice2Go on my iPhone. Waiting for comp reboots, I build the invoice on my phone, add in any parts, finish the invoice & email to the customer. The customer tests their email and prints the invoice at the end of the call. I collect the check & go. I bought Invoice2Go kind of as a "toy", however, I find it very useful. There is a PC component to it as well, that i havent tried. www.invoice2go.com

todd_dsm

Aren't compiled desktop apps dead yet?

mfjm74

I think the trust factor is the biggest stumbling block right now. No matter how much us techies can try to explain it and with as much reassurances, there is always that fear that someone might steal data and that the cloud company can be here and gone tomorrow.

wdewey@cityofsalem.net

Not yet as monthly fees usually cost more than purchasing software. Bill

scottwyden

Although these are stored apps on a computer, I prefer the web based Pancake App. Its perfect for freelance and small business work. Even more so for creatives like photographers and graphic designers. Here is a link for more information on it: http://scottwyden.com/photographer-invoicing-software-with-pancakes/ - It's similar to Freshbooks but without the monthly fees.

dennis

1 Like

I've done it for my invoices, qoutes, estimates, everything I send by email. In QB 2010 Help you can find somewhat incomplete instructions under "Change the default e-mail message for forms". I've added more detail for clarity. First, you must be logged into QB as Admin. 1. Go to the Edit menu and click Preferences. 2. Click Send Forms in the list on the left. 3. On the right, click the Company Preferences tab. 4. Choose the form you want to change from the Drop Box at the top. 5. Make your changes and click OK to save the changes. If you are already logged into QB as admin, you can also change the default text as you send the invoice, or whatever form, when you use Reminders & Alerts in the lower right corner of the Home page. Click on the Alerts link and it opens the Reminders windows (sometimes Intuit isn't very intuitive). Or choose Reiminders from the Company menu. In the Reminders windows, if you have forms (e.g. Invoices) to send, "Business Services Messages" will appear as the first Item description with "You have forms to send" below it. Double click "You have forms to send" and the "Select Forms To Send" window appears where you can click the Edit Email button and make one-time changes in the "Edit E-mail Information" window, or from here click the Edit Default Text button which takes you to the Company Preferences windows I described above. There are 2 or 3 more ways to get there too, but I'll let the you explore if you want to.

seanka

Volutive is dead software (there is no support for US at least). Try Nevitium Invoice Manager.

zazizou

I use an SAAS solution by Zoho. Accessible from any device. Rocks my world as long as customers pay on time!!! http://invoice.zoho.com

lee.lloyd

If you just want to invoice and track it. It is a simple SaaS solution.

C-3PO

My business is not large - just a little hobby business - but my need to track money and create invoices sent me to a tool I already was using - Quicken - I've found it's pretty good at tracking invoices, customers, payments etc. and has filled my needs for now quite nicely.

John_IP911

It also tracks expenses and the invoicing options meet my needs...

artlife

I just got through trying out several different free invoicing programs and ended up choosing QuickBooks Simple Start (Free Edition). The only program that emails from within the program (that actually works). complaint: cannot edit email template (can edit email before sending). There were some programs which may have worked better but I deliberately avoided any that were online based.

ks321

I LOVED the email function within QuickBooks....until suddenly everyone was 30+ days late on payment. Turned out the places I was invoicing had spam settings were scooping QB emails with attachments and not delivering them, and a lot of times not even notifying them that it had been blocked. There have been quite a few scams floating around with fake QB invoices, unfortunately the real ones are being caught up in filters as well. I deal with mostly school districts and large hotel chains and these were my customers who were not getting their invoices. I decided if I was going to have to take the time to fax or email invoices I was going to not pay for upgrades and do it for free. I switched to Wave Accounting and I really like it. I miss a few of the QB features I had, but not enough to switch back.