12 Min. Read

10 Best Invoicing Software for Small Businesses

Jan 23, 2024

Small business owners must deal with invoices at some point or another. You might handle recurring billing and send invoices yourself. But that means you’re going to have to accept payments from customers to help with cash flow. So, with many options out there for professional invoices, where do you start?

There are many great invoicing software options out there. Some offer unlimited invoices and expense tracking. Others offer inventory and time tracking, plus accounting features. Then there are invoicing software options with different gateways or alternative payment options. And let’s not forget about those that accept different currencies.

So, there is a lot to consider. That’s why we put this guide together, breaking down the 10 best invoicing software for your small business. Keep reading to learn about some of the best choices and their billing and invoicing features.

Table of Contents

Frequently Asked Questions

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is one of the most complete invoicing options. You can gain access to several invoicing templates and easy payment processing solutions. They also offer many accounting tools and services to make your life easier.

FreshBooks’s invoicing and billing software provides immense value, no matter the size of your business. You can gain access to customisable invoicing services for auto payments and recurring invoices. Customers and clients can make ACH payments and credit card payments.

FreshBooks also offers flexibility. You can use their desktop, mobile, or tablet app to make your invoicing needs seamless. If you want to take your accounting needs a step further, FreshBooks has what you need. You can access reporting and payment features, task management tips, and time and expense tracking.

Still not sold? FreshBooks has a 30-day trial where you can test out the features and decide if it’s the best option. After the trial ends, you can choose between:

The Lite Plan – $15 per month, which includes up to five billable clients
The Plus Plan – $30 per month, which includes up to 50 billable clients
The Premium Plan – $55 per month, which includes an unlimited number of billable clients
The Select Plan – This plan has custom pricing and is great for larger companies

Zoho Books

Zoho provides invoicing capabilities to users for free, making it a solid choice. If you’re looking to help streamline workflow and accept payments easier, Zoho is great. You’ll save money and time.

This invoicing software offers a wide range of other business services too. These include everything from finances to marketing and sales. If you’re looking to simplify your invoicing needs, Zoho also includes several automation features.

You can schedule invoices, set up auto payments, and access other workflows easily. The best part? There is no monthly fee. Zoho’s invoice feature is offered on a completely free plan. (However, it is worth knowing that they do have a limit of 1,000 invoices each year.)

Scoro

Scoro is another great all-in-one business management and invoice software. One of the biggest benefits is being able to streamline every aspect of your invoicing process. You can create invoices and automatically send payment reminders to customers and clients.

There are options to save time on monthly billing by setting up recurring payments and automated overdue reminders. Scoro also has an intuitive interface. You can see all the important information you need directly on the dashboard.

This dashboard includes all your sent invoices and even your estimated monthly revenue. You can manage every part of your business on Scoro, from invoicing to clients and everything in between. Scoro offers a 14-day free trial to test out if their solutions fit your business needs. After the trial ends, there are a few pricing plans you can choose from. These include:

The Essential Plan – This plan starts at $26 per month and includes a minimum of 5 users. You get access to invoices and receipts, bills, projects, a summary financial report, and more.
The Standard Plan – This plan starts at $37 per month and includes everything in the Essential plan. You get access to time tracker software, project templates, and expenses. You can also benefit from using multiple currencies.
The Pro Plan – This plan starts at $63 per month. You get everything in the Standard plan, plus more. You get access to timesheets and time locking, a task matrix, a utilisation report, and a sales pipeline report.
The Ultimate Plan – You must contact Scoro for this custom plan. It includes everything in the Pro plan, plus a range of other features. It includes FTP integration, single sign-on, and unlimited custom fields. You can also access features for orders, contracts, budgets, and forecasts.

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a great invoicing and billing software option, no matter the size of your business. It offers a wide range of data collection and reporting capabilities. This makes it an especially great choice if you’re looking to have better control over your business metrics. You can customise and automate your invoices, add billable hours, and duplicate similar invoices.

QuickBooks also has several other record-keeping and bookkeeping services. They truly offer a complete package for your business. This can make a big difference if you want to gain more insights into your invoicing and financial metrics. Plus their dashboard makes accessing everything you need easy.

There are a few plans to choose from, starting with the Simple Start Plan, which starts at $30 per month. You get features like running general reports for cash flow, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements. As the subscription tier goes up, you can receive additional reporting functionality. Other plans include:

The Essentials Plan starts at $55 per month
The Plus Plan starts at $85 per month
The Advanced Plan starts at $200 per month

Xero

Xero offers a wide range of accounting software and tools. The pricing tiers make it a more affordable option for a small business if you’re looking for an effective invoicing solution. Accounting features you can leverage include bank reconciliation, inventory tracking, and several integrations. These features come in handy as a growing business.

No matter the pricing plan, Xero offers various accounting features on every plan they offer. You can even have more options when it comes to payment processor choices. Plus, your business could be an online service-based business or a business where you sell physical products. Xero’s plans look like this:

The Starter Plan starts at $22 per month. You can send up to 20 invoices, capture bills and receipts, and enter 5 bills. You can also get a snapshot of your short-term cash flow.

The Standard Plan starts at $35 per month. This plan provides the opportunity to reconcile bank account transactions, and you can bulk reconcile if you need to. It also includes the same features as the Starter Plan.

The Premium Plan starts at $47 per month. You get everything you would with the Starter and Standard plans, plus more. You can also choose to add other features. These include the ability to claim expenses, track projects, and get detailed analytics.

Sage 50c

Sage 50c offers business management software for medium and small businesses. The accounting software provides a ton of flexibility since it’s a cloud-based solution with several great features. You can easily create, edit, and send invoices directly from the dashboard.

You can also track all your cash flow, as Sage 50c provides the option to link directly to your bank account. This helps with recording sales and receipts. And you can do it in real-time. Plus you can benefit from the ability to create professional quotes.

Sage 50c also allows you to monitor project income, profit, and expenses to help you stay on track. And you can deal in multiple currencies if you conduct business in other countries.

Sage 50c offers a free trial for 60 days, and then you can choose one of three plans. They also offer a 40% discount for new customers for their first year. When they apply this discount, the plans look like this:

Pro Accounting – This plan starts at $33 per month (with a 40% discount)
Premium Accounting – This plan starts at $55 per month (with a 40% discount)
Quantum Accounting – This plan starts at $91 per month (with a 40% discount)

Wave

Wave is another great cloud-based invoicing and billing software. It includes the functionality to keep track of all your bills, expenses, and payments in a single place. This makes it easy to find exactly what you need, when you need it.

Wave is best suited for smaller businesses. One of the best features that Wave offers is the ability to create customisable invoices. On top of this, you can create customised receipts and estimates.

Their easy-to-use software also lets you schedule recurring invoices and automatic payment reminders. So, you can automate your entire billing process and provide reminders to customers when needed.

Wave also works well when you need to accept different types of credit cards. And the majority of invoices that do get paid by credit card can be completed within two days. If you need more features, Wave allows you to track all your income and expenses. The software even comes with receipt scanning tools! All-in-all, Wave is the best free invoicing software for online payments.

BillQuick Online

If you operate a small business and are on the move regularly, BillQuick Online might be the perfect solution. Whether you’re at a project site or working remotely, BillQuick Online lets you manage your projects from anywhere.

The software comes with almost 200 invoicing templates to help get you started. The templates come in a wide variety of options. These include fixed, hourly, joint, retainer, per cent complete, and recurring invoices.

While BillQuick Online is a great invoicing and billing software option, it also comes with a range of other features. You can benefit from different time tracking and project management capabilities. And when you need to, you can email or print invoices with the click of a button.

Plans start at $19.95 per user per month.

Chargebee

Chargebee is largely designed for businesses with subscription services. It has every possible solution and all the features you could need. This includes recurring payments, invoicing, managing subscriptions, and much more.

You can create custom and comprehensive invoices that help you make invoicing simple. Your customers will love it, too. There are several payment choices, from online wallets, direct debit, credit cards, and cheques.

Chargebee also provides management, reporting, and analytics capabilities. The pricing plan can be a little steep, but there are a few options for you. These include:

The Launch Plan – This plan is free until a certain amount of revenue is earned in your first year. It can be best for early-stage startups.
The Rise Plan – This plan starts at $299 per month. It’s best for agile startups that are looking to generate more revenue fast.
The Scale Plan – This plan starts at $599 per month. It can be best for fast-growth scale-ups. This is great if you’re looking to grow and also maximise your efficiency.

Harvest

Built as a time tracking and time billing software, Harvest offers the ability to convert tracked time into invoices. It makes it easy when you need to turn an employee’s work hours into an invoice.

You can find billable hours and any relevant expenses easily, then automatically create an invoice. Or you can manually create an invoice yourself. Harvest also allows you to integrate with other systems you’re using. These include Stripe and PayPal.

Harvest comes with a 30-day free trial, and then you can choose the plan that’s best for you. The Pro Plan starts at $12 per month per user and allows unlimited seats and invoices. Or you can opt for the Free Plan with free billing software, which only allows for two projects and one seat. It all depends on what will work best for your business needs.

Key Takeaways

The best invoicing and billing software options can depend on your individual business needs. If you need to accept payments traditionally or online payments, the ideal software will vary.

Some software offers unlimited invoices, recurring invoices, and project tracking capabilities. Other software sends you notifications for outstanding invoices. Then there is software that gives you the ability to accept credit cards without charging transaction fees.

At the end of the day, the best invoicing and billing software options will depend on your needs. FreshBooks is one of the best all-around options for online invoicing software.

FAQ on Invoicing Software

What Is the Best Invoicing System for Small Businesses?

There is a range of invoicing systems for your small business. It often depends on your individual needs. FreshBooks provides easy-to-use and intuitive invoicing software to make your life easier. You can also gain access to a range of free and customisable invoices, plus other accounting tools.

How Do You Keep Track of Invoices and Payments?

Most invoicing software keeps track of your invoices and payments for you. This makes it incredibly easy to send invoices and take payments when you need to.

Can FreshBooks Replace QuickBooks?

Yes, FreshBooks can replace QuickBooks as an invoicing tool. While they might be similar, FreshBooks helps take any of the stress out of invoicing and accounting in general. Plus it lets you track expenses. So, it might be the right invoicing software for you.