How many times have you forgotten to send an invoice? How about having an invoice getting lost? Are you getting overwhelmed with this additional accounting task? The more complex your invoicing processes become, the more there is standing between your latest closed deal and cash in your bank account.
Invoicing can be a hassle. Whether you operate a large agency or work with a mix of project and retainer-based clients, managing invoices can become a complicated process. Check out these three easy ways your invoicing process can be simplified.
1. Go Paperless.
If you’re still using a paper-based system you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. These relics of the invoicing-world are frustrating, time-consuming, and can be easily misplaced. That’s why you need to make the move to a cloud-based invoicing system.
With an online invoicing tool, you can create and send professional looking invoices to your clients electronically. That means that they’ll pay you faster since you no longer have to use snail mail to send invoices and receive a check.
In short, cloud based invoicing software handles all of your invoicing needs in one convenient dashboard.
2. Define your terms of agreement.
As a small business owner, you should already know how important agreements are. Without them, you could be greatly increasing your chances of getting stiffed.
No matter what industry you’re in, you and the clients should be both agree on terms like cost of the project, scope of the project, how long the job will take, what types of payments you accept, the deposit amount, how many days does the client has to pay after the invoice has been sent and many more.
Having an agreement not only protects you and the client, it also speeds up the payment process. In fact, those with invoice terms are 1.5x more likely to get paid on time than those without.
Also Read: Choosing The Best Invoicing Software For Your Small Business.
3. Accept Multiple Payment Options.
You need to be able to accept payment from your customers in different ways; credit card, check, or wire transfer. Maintaining expiration dates and payment method data is critical to automating collections. Automation can quickly kick off email reminders (and upsell offers) weeks or months before cards expire.
Having multiple payment options for your invoices can increase your chances of getting paid before the due date by 3x. One of the most convenient payment options that you can not neglect is the online payment option. This makes it easy for clients to make invoice payment in less than 5 minutes via credit cards on their computers or mobile phones.
Want to learn more? Check out the features of our billing solution.