Congratulations! You got the job, worked hard to produce a great outcome, and the client is thrilled with the results. Now, it’s time to get paid. While invoicing may not seem to be the most exciting task for many business owners, it’s without a doubt one of the most crucial areas of every business has to take very seriously.
Your invoice is a reflection of your brand and professionalism. Is an extra point of sale to win more work, and most importantly gets you paid. Do it wrong, and you won’t be in business for long. In this post, we shared the basic tips on how to invoice clients the right and get paid faster.
1. CHOOSE A GOOD INVOICING SOFTWARE.
When it comes to online invoicing, nothing does a better job than a professional online invoicing software. This is the first step to creating professional online invoices that get paid on-time. There are plenty of invoicing software in the market today hence in it is important to know the criteria and factors to consider when choosing a good online invoicing software for your business.
Having a good online invoicing software has more benefits and advantages than creating your invoices your spreadsheets or pen and paper. With a beautiful invoicing solution like Invoice, you can easily send online invoices to your customers, track the invoice, send reminders and accept payment online.
2. INCLUDE ALL NECESSARY INFORMATION.
On many occasions, I have received invoices from business partners with a bad layout and information scattered all around? A professional invoice should be neat, well structured and straight to the point. At a single glance, the client should be able to figure out who is sending the invoice and what they are been billed for.
If the client cannot instantly identify what they are being charged for, it is very likely your invoice to end-up into the ‘deal-with-later’ pile. Always include important information like your business name or logo, client or customer name, list of services rendered and cost of each, the total amount to be paid, the date you want the invoice to be paid and how you want the invoice to be paid. You can use a free online invoice generator to get things right.
3. DEFINE HOW AND WHEN YOU WANT TO GET PAID
For most businesses, nothing is as important as getting paid for the services rendered and how you create and send your invoices plays a critical role in this aspect. A well designed and professional invoice can make getting paid easier and faster.
Defining how you want to get paid is very crucial for all sent invoices. While some clients may want to pay using direct deposits, bank transfer, cheques, or via online credit card payments. It is important that you are more flexible with the payment options you provide for your clients to ensure it is easy and secure for them to make payment to you whenever they want to.
4. REVIEW YOUR INVOICE WEEKLY AND MAKE FOLLOW-UPS.
Let’s face it while receiving money can be very addictive, invoicing is a total nightmare for small business owners and freelancers. Not all of your clients will respond to your invoices on time and some may even forget to make payment as at when due.
This is why it is very important to always review all your invoices and make proper follow-up until those invoices get paid. As the due date approaches, politely send an invoice reminder for all pending invoice payments to remind them that they are yet to make payment. A recent study shows that adding a simple “please” or “thank you” can increase your chances of getting paid faster by 15%.
Also Read: Advantages Of Using An Online Invoicing Software.
CONCLUSION
Invoicing clients and getting paid on time doesn’t have to be a hassle. Choose your clients carefully, deliver great service experience and use these techniques to keep the cash coming in.
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