6 Best Invoicing Software for Small Business 2020

The best invoicing software allows you to create customized invoices quickly and get paid faster by allowing customers to pay online. All of our choices for the best small business accounting software include an invoicing function. However, specialized invoicing software can often give your invoices a more customized feel and will sometimes integrate with your existing bookkeeping software.

Best Invoicing Software for Small Business

• FreshBooks: Best overall invoicing software
• Zoho Invoice: Best for an integrated business management solution
• TimeTracker: Best for professional service firms
• Invoicera: Best for managing both invoices sent and received
• ZipBooks: Best free software to create simple invoices
• Invoice Ninja: Best free full-featured invoicing software

FreshBooks: Best Overall Invoicing Software

While FreshBooks now provides an entire bookkeeping system, it started as a way to produce great-looking, professional invoices. FreshBooks continues to stress invoicing while adding features like the ability to track hours and assign them to invoices. There’s no credit card required to start a 30-day free trial.

	Pros	Cons
	Produce professional invoices	Fee for additional users
Visit FreshBooks	Add time and expense to invoice	Limited number of clients
Read FreshBooks Review	Track outstanding invoices	Expensive compared to other invoicing options
Pricing New users can choose a 30-day free trial or 50% off the monthly price for three months. Lite: $15 per month for one user and five billable clients Plus:$25 per month for one user and 50 billable clients Premium: $50 per month for one user and 500 billable clients Select: Custom pricing for 500+ billable clients Additional users can be added to any plan for $10 per month.

Why We Like It

Not only does FreshBooks have great-looking invoices, but it also has all the features of a full bookkeeping system. FreshBooks accepts online payments, calculates late fees automatically, creates recurring invoices, and prints a list of outstanding invoices. Beyond those typical invoicing features, FreshBooks will connect with your bank to import transactions, reconcile bank and credit card accounts, and print basic financial statements like a balance sheet and profit and loss (P&L) statement.

Zoho Invoice: Best Integrated Business Management Solution

Zoho provides a large selection of software and apps that integrate to form a comprehensive business management solution. Zoho Invoice can be purchased separately or as part of the Zoho Finance Plus bundle of programs. Beyond just finance, Zoho provides bundles to cover customer relationship management (CRM), human resources (HR), and workplace apps, such as email, spreadsheets, documents, and other programs commonly used by office and remote employees. You can evaluate Zoho Invoice with the free plan that is good for up to five customers.

	Pros	Cons
	Integrates with other Zoho Apps for great scalability	Free plan only includes five customers
Visit Zoho Invoice	Track time and employee timesheets	Can get expensive when adding multiple apps
Read Zoho Invoice Review	Customizable invoice templates
Pricing Free: Free for five customers and one user Basic: $9 per month for 50 customers and one user Standard: $19 per month for 500 customers and three users Professional: $29 per month for unlimited customers and 10 users

Why We Like It

Zoho Invoice allows you to create custom invoices that look great. You can issue invoices in multiple currencies, track expenses, set up recurring invoices, and provide a portal to customers to view their invoices.

A major strength of Zoho is its scalability. It has a huge selection of apps that you can pick from as your business grows and your needs change. You and your employees will love Zoho for the consistent interface and flawless integration of the apps. Apps can be purchased separately, in bundles grouped by major functions, or you can purchase access to every app with Zoho One.

TimeTracker: Best Invoicing Software for Professional Service Firms

TimeTracker offers lawyers, accountants, engineers, and other professional service firms an invoicing option that also tracks the time of your professionals. It makes sense to combine these functions for professional service firms since billable hours are the primary item on your invoices. TimeTracker offers a 14-day free trial without requiring a credit card.

	Pros	Cons
	Tracks hours written-off vs invoiced	Expensive for firms with many employees
Visit TimeTracker	Includes employee management features like GPS tracking and facial recognition	Invoices are not as elegant as other options
Read TimeTracker Review	Includes client portal
Pricing New users have a 14-day free trial. Billing: $20 per month plus $10 per month per user Legal: $20 per month plus $15 per month per user

Why We Like It

TimeTracker is a unique invoicing option because it is built around a time-tracking system, which makes it perfect for businesses where time-tracking and invoicing go hand-in-hand. What sets TimeTracker apart from other invoicing options is that it tracks billable hours that are written-off. A billable realization report shows the billable hours invoiced to clients versus written off, which is a crucial report to gauge the productivity of your professionals and the profitability of your firm.

Invoicera: Best Invoicing Software to Manage Both Invoices Sent and Received

Invoicera combines accounts receivable (A/R) management (sending invoices) and accounts payable (A/P) management (receiving invoices) in a single dashboard. While not a complete bookkeeping system, Invoicera makes cash flow management simple by focusing on two of the most important aspects of your business: collecting cash from your customers and paying your vendors. You can try Invoicera for 15 days without providing a credit card.

	Pros	Cons
	Track both receivable and payables	Unlimited clients is very expensive
Visit Invoicera	30+ international payment gateways	Additional users requires the Business plan
Read Invoicera Review	Issue invoices in multiple currencies
Pricing New users can try any plan free for 14 days. Starter: Free for three clients and one admin user Pro: $15 per month for 100 clients and one admin user plus one staff user Business: $29 per month for 1,000 clients and one admin user plus 10 staff users Infinite: $149 per month for unlimited clients and unlimited users

Why We Like It

Invoicera is all the accounting many microbusinesses will need. It keeps your finances simple by focusing on the two most important finance functions: getting paid and paying bills. We especially like the Pro plan for 100 customers because of its very affordable $15 per month price tag. If you have more than 100 customers, you might consider a more complete accounting program like those reviewed in Best Small Business Accounting Software.

Invoicera has powerful invoicing features, including an approval process, automated late payment reminders, and automatic invoice scheduling. Because it also tracks payments to your vendors, Invoicera can produce a profit and loss statement.

ZipBooks: Best Free Software for Creating Simple Invoices

Creating invoices with ZipBooks couldn’t be easier. ZipBooks provides a template that you can customize with your logo and then input your sales information. While not as customizable as some other software, the invoices look nice and provide a good first impression to your customers. The ZipBooks free subscription is all you need to create, send, and track invoices to an unlimited number of customers.

	Pros	Cons
	Invoices are very easy to create	Free plan invoices have limited customization
Visit ZipBooks	Unlimited customers with the free plan	Free plan doesn’t allow predefined products and services
Read ZipBooks Review	Accounts receivable reports shows unpaid invoices	Free version includes only one user
Pricing New users have a 30-day free trial for any version. Starter: Free forever Smarter: $15 per month for five users Sophisticated: $35 per month for unlimited users

Why We Like It

ZipBooks doesn’t require any sophisticated set up to create and send invoices. You can type your services and products directly in the invoice template, upload a logo, and send your invoice. The downside is that by not setting up predefined products and services, you’ll need to type the description every time you create an invoice. If you send many invoices, you’ll want to upgrade to the Smarter plan to save item descriptions.

Invoice Ninja: Best Free Full-featured Invoicing Software

Invoice Ninja’s free plan is a great place to start for your invoicing needs. As your business grows, you might upgrade to a paid plan, which is still very affordable. The Forever Free plan has most features found in expensive plans like customizable invoices, recurring invoices, product/item library, and customer portal. You can get started in the free plan with just a few clicks.

	Pros	Cons
	Up to 100 customers in free plan	Requires Enterprise plan for more than one user
Visit Invoice Ninja	Unlimited invoices, quotes, and proposals	No reports are included in the free plan
Read Invoice Ninja Review	Dashboard shows current period activity and outstanding balances	Only customization of invoices is to add logo
Pricing Forever Free: Free forever for one user Ninja Pro: $10 per month for one user Enterprise: $14 to $44 per month depending on the number of users

Why We Like It

Invoice Ninja’s Forever Free plan is large enough to handle many small businesses with unlimited invoices and quotes for up to 100 customers. You can generate quotes and proposals and convert them to invoices with a few clicks. Recurring invoices can be emailed automatically on whatever interval you choose. The only major weakness of the Forever Free plan is the lack of reports, which requires the Pro plan. However, you can view the dashboard in Forever Free, which summarizes the current period activity and outstanding balances.

How to Choose Your Invoicing Software

Here are a few crucial features to consider when you are selecting your invoicing software:

• Customize invoices: You should be able to make your invoices distinct with your company’s colors and logo.
• Email invoices: Invoices should be emailed without having to leave the program.
• Accept online payments: Always allow your customers to pay electronically as soon as they receive their invoice.
• Add expenses: If your business passes through the cost of expenses to customers, your invoice program should track expenses and allow you to add them to an invoice with just a few clicks.
• Automate recurring invoices: If your business bills customers a set amount monthly, choose a program that can generate these recurring invoices automatically.
• Track unpaid invoices: You need to be able to review a list of unpaid invoices, or A/R, to identify customers that may need to be contacted. Some software has an advanced feature that will send reminder emails automatically to customers with overdue invoices.

Bottom Line

If you’re unhappy with the invoicing function in your bookkeeping software, or you choose not to use bookkeeping software, there are plenty of good invoicing options available. The effectiveness of whichever software you choose will largely depend on how you use it. Be sure to email invoices whenever possible and always provide a way for your customers to pay electronically.