As a small business owner, you need to get paid, and you need to get paid on time. But unless you’re an accountant or bookkeeper, you can benefit from spending less time managing the invoicing process and more time growing your business.
I was inspired by Emily’s recent post on deadbeat clients (and the excellent comments provided!), so I created a list of online invoicing services that make it easy to submit invoices. Being able to invoice online and, in some cases, receive payment online not only streamlines the billing process, but it can also help you get paid.
There are hundreds of online invoicing services that will help you send and track invoices; we compiled 81 to give you a start. Our list is split into two: ready-to-go online invoicing services (no installation required), and open source online invoicing software (for online invoicing that gives you 100% control over installation, access and data). We included a mix of free and paid, and a wide variety of features.
If you’re looking for a new online billing system for your business, you are likely to find one on this list that meets all of your needs.
Have you used any of these services? Do you know of one not listed? Please share your favorite service for sending online invoices in the comments!
Online Invoicing Services
AcceptPay – An online tool from American Express for accepting payments online. It allows you to accept all major credit cards, debit cards and ACH payments/eChecks, as well as direct deposits to your bank account.
Ballpark – Online invoicing for teams. It allows you to send project estimates and bids to clients, keep track of projects, and receive online payments using PayPal.
Bill.com – Touted as “financial office in the Cloud,” Bill.com provides a complete web-based financial office to control your day-to-day finances, accounting and cash flow.
Bill4Time – A web-based time tracking, billing software and mobile app that handles time and expense tracking, project management, email invoicing, online payments and reporting.
Billfaster – Helps you create and email invoices, manage cash and cash-registers, keep track of items and stay on top of your taxes. It also works on your iPhone and other mobile devices, so you have access to your information from anywhere and at anytime.
Billfor.it – Create and send invoices in a variety of currencies, which is great if you work with international clients. The service is free with no limits on the number of clients, quotes or invoices.
BillGrid – Create customized invoices and track your payments, expenses and clients. BillGrid works with all major web browsers, and they offer full daily backups of your data.
BillingOrchard – A web-based invoicing service that features customized invoicing, automated recurring billing, and automated credit card and ACH payment processing.
Billings – A professional, multi-user time tracking and invoicing solution for the Mac and iPhone, with a simple web interface for timekeepers. It offers one-click invoicing, a menu-bar timer, and 30 built-in business reports to help you analyze your financial data.
BillMyClients.com – Features both a do-it-yourself program and a full service program where they create and send your invoices for you for a small monthly fee.
Blinksale – If you already use the popular Basecamp project management software from 37signals, Blinksale makes it easy to import and invoice your clients and customers without having to re-enter their data into Blinksale.
BusinessOnClick – Business management software that allows you to manage leads, clients, communication, billing and projects.
CannyBill – A complete online ordering and invoicing service making transactions and sales simple. It’s also designed for selling products and services directly and plays nicely with many popular third-party applications.
Cashboard – Send PDF invoices, estimates, and receipts, accept online payments, and track time and expenses. Cashboard also integrates smoothly with 37signals’ Basecamp.
Cobalt – Described as “the Basecamp for numbers,” this is a new project-based accountancy tool for the creative industry and non-profits.
CurdBee – A simple web application that allows freelancers and small businesses to send invoices and estimates, set up recurring billing and track their time and expenses.
EasyBilling Systems – A complete online billing and patient records system designed to serve primarily the medical profession.
eBillity – Simplifies the process of creating, tracking, sending and editing invoices, and enables your clients to pay you with one click by credit card or PayPal online. And the system is completely integrated with QuickBooks.
Endeve – Enables you to create and manage your estimates and invoices, track expenses and manage your client contacts. It also allows for multiple users, which is great for teams.
Enliven Software – Offers solutions for both accounts receivable and accounts payable. The electronic invoicing and payments software integrates with Dynamics GP, and can be customized to fit your needs.
FastDue – In addition to the invoicing features that FastDue offers, it also contains a library of business document templates, such as contracts, non-disclosure agreements, etc. that are available for it’s users.
FreeAgent – Includes a dashboard that brings together all financial info in one place, available at a glance. It also allows you to export your key tax payment and invoice dates to your Outlook or Google calendar to help you stay on track.
FreeInvoiceCreator.com – A streamlined invoice-only tool from FreshBooks (see below) that allows users to create professional invoices (with company logos), and send them directly to recipients.
FreshBooks – A complete accounting system that provides simple invoicing, tracking and reporting. Integrates well with PayPal and eleven other payment gateways, so electronic payments are just as easy.
Greenbill – Offers automated invoicing, collection and reminder delivery features. Online account payment portal simplifies customer payments, and it Integrates seamlessly with Quickbooks, SAP and others.
Harvest – Online software for freelancers, small businesses, and professional teams that lets you track time and send invoices from one integrated application. You can also create visual reports to see the distribution of your company’s resources at a glance.
Intervals – A web-based project management software that marries time tracking and task management in a collaborative online space. It’s ideal for small businesses, and is fully hosted online.
Invoice Journal – Offers complete control over your client information and your invoicing process. Also has an auto-fill feature, so once the product or service info is entered once, you never have to re-type it again.
Invoice My Work – Online software that allows you to create professional-looking invoices and send them directly to your clients. The company offers three invoices per 28-day period for free.
Invoice2Go – Estimate, invoice, collect and report without having to learn complex accounting software. It offers over 300 templates to choose from to customize your invoices.
InvoiceMore – A web-based service that is instantly accessible from anywhere. You can create and email invoices, generate automatic invoices for recurring products and services, and track payment history.
InvoiceOn – A new invoicing app for your iPhone. You can send estimates and invoices, print to your default printer, and generate reports right from your iPhone!
Invoiceplace – Create invoices, quotes/estimates and receipts in a variety of international currencies and email them to your clients. Invoiceplace also allows for recording partial payments, which works well for contractors.
Invoicera – Online billing software that allows you to create and send invoices to your clients in their respective currency and language. You can generate invoices in as many as 11 languages for your individual clients worldwide.
Invoices Made Easy – An online invoicing service designed for small service-oriented businesses such as freelancers, landscaping/lawn care, pest control and cleaning services. You can do it all yourself, or have Invoices Made Easy print and mail your invoices for you for a fee.
Invoicesontherun.com – Simple software that lets you create and send invoices, and keep track of your work performed. Might be a good fit for companies just starting out.
Invotrak – A full-featured online invoicing and timesheet tracking application. It offers a number of time-saving features to help speed up your billing tasks, such as allowing others to log into Invotrak and enter details about their work.
Juffler – An easy to use, online project management and billing system for small businesses. With Juffler, you can create and send invoices, keep track of your contacts and easily manage projects, all from a user-friendly dashboard.
KashFlow – An easy-to-understand accounting system for UK small businesses. The company prides itself in having developed the system features based completely on requests from its customers.
Kashoo – Another simple, yet complete online accounting software for small businesses. You can send invoices in multiple currencies, track expenses and create reports. And, Kashoo is easily integrated with FreshBooks.
Kiwili – Bill for your time, convert your time into invoices, and then get paid online through PayPal. You can send detailed statements or create financial reports, and then export it all to Excel or convert to PDF.
LessAccounting – Includes standard invoicing features, plus the ability to create proposals using templates, and then turn those proposals into projects and invoices. You can track your business expenses by project, income type or category, and even log your trips and mileage.
LiteAccounting – Send professional invoices as PDFs to your clients directly from LiteAccounting. Invoices can be customized with your company logo, and clients can view their statements and invoices online and pay directly through Paypal.
Moobiz– Manage billing with a clean and simply-designed dashboard. The system features are user-friendly, customer-focused, and easily configurable to meet your needs.
Momenteo – An invoicing software made especially for freelancers and self-employed workers. With their calendar, your accounting is now broken down to one question: what have you done today? Add your work, work time, travels, and expenses, and let Momenteo create invoices and quotes for you.
OneClick Statements – Allows you to create billing statements with one click from your customer spreadsheet, billing spreadsheet or order spreadsheet. You can email or print a batch of billing statements all at once, and even store statements for future use by you, your customers, or partners.
Outright – A total accounting system for small businesses. Features include not only invoicing and accepting customer payments, but categorizing data for IRS report and preparing tax forms as well.
Paper Free Billing – Offers customers the option of preparing and sending invoices themselves, having Paper Free Billing do the printing and mailing for them once the invoices are prepared. They also offer payment reminders, “Thank You” messages and custom layouts.
PayPal – We all know PayPal, but do you know about their invoicing feature? You can create and email your invoices right from PayPal, and include a Pay Now button that customers can click to pay you instantly.
PaySimple – A very simple online tool that offers unlimited invoicing, user licenses, customer management and reporting at a reasonable monthly rate.
Pocket Business Tools – Use for estimating, invoicing and tracking, as well as setting up automatic subscription billing for ongoing, subscription-driven products and services.
PostalMethods – A web-to-post gateway that lets you prepare your invoices or other documents for mailing, then send them electronically to PostalMethods. They will print, fold, and mail to the recipient for a monthly fee.
QuickBooks Online – Created from QuickBooks, the benchmark in business accounting software, the online version works whether you’re on a Mac or a PC, and since it’s completely web-based, you never have to install or download traditional software. Setup is easy, and the system allows you to import contacts and financial data from your desktop applications.
Rhino Accounting – A free Google app accounting service that is a perfect companion for small businesses that utilize Google apps. You simply enter your domain name, and you can use the same login as your email, and you’re ready to set up your Rhino account.
Ronin – A multi-functional program built for teams. You can track time and collaborate on projects, customize invoices, and set up recurring invoices. The system is integrated with PayPal or Authorize.Net, and you can even add a convenience cost to cover fees.
Saasu – Promoted as being as simple or sophisticated as their customer needs it to be, you can create, send and track invoices, orders and quotes. One highlighted feature is the ability to create transactions at each stage of the sales cycle.
Sage Billing Boss – A free online invoicing tool designed for small businesses and freelancers. It allows for an unlimited number of clients, invoices and payments, and it gives you the ability to collaborate directly with your accountant or bookkeeper.
SantexQ – An invoicing system with a dashboard feature, which makes it easy to view invoicing and other accounting stats at a glance. It allows you to generate invoices for your clients based 100% on your preference, and you pay as you go, so there are no contracts or long-term commitments.
Side Job Track – Free web-based job tracking, invoicing, reporting and project management software for the designed for the part-time independent contractor.
Simplifythis – Allows you to create and send customizable invoices via email and take online payments using Paypal or credit cards. One unique feature they offer is the ability to package your services and sell them as flat fee products.
Simply Invoices – An invoicing tool that supports time tracking software such as Basecamp, Less Time Spent, Tick and Harvest. You can create invoices from the time you’ve logged on your projects in the supported softwares, convert the invoices to PDF and email them to your clients.
Simplybill – Includes a variety of built-in invoice styles to choose from when creating invoices, and offers the option of sending invoices by email or in hard copy, and saving as PDF files. It also allows for easy export to Excel, and has an app for the iPhone so you can invoice on the go.
Smart Invoice – Offers built-in payment gateways to payment services like PayPal, Authorize.net and Google Checkout, which makes it easy to accept online credit card payments.
SmartPay – Customizable software to manage your billing process. It integrates with Authorize.net, Quickbooks, and other systems, and also offers a feature for marketing and promotion of your company’s products or services.
SnapBill – An automated billing system that allows you to sell your services online. It is designed for businesses that require a customizable subscription or recurring billing system with payment collection facilities.
Solo – Lets you know when invoices are due to be paid, are overdue or need to be sent. The Solo company is currently developing the ability to offer branded invoices, plus Sage and Quickbooks integration.
Tallyzip – Lets property managers as well as designers, developers, and other pros handle
Time59 – Web-based time and billing software for solo lawyers. It features eTrust accounting and LEDES (Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard) invoicing, and has a free mobile app.
Trade Invoice – An online software system designed for tradespeople and small business operators. It has invoicing, project tracking and tax-related features that are specific to the trade industries.
Tradeshift – A free service that allows you to send and receive invoices online, and automatically validate invoices before issuing them in order to eliminate incorrect or missing business data.
Winkbill – A simple online invoicing and billing service. It allows you manage your billings, contacts and payments online, and it can be used for any products and services sold.
WORKetc – A collection of integrated software tools that provides users with a web-based system to improve workflow and management. It’s typically used by small service based businesses of 1-50 employees, such as marketing firms, web designers, IT support providers, and freelancers of all types.
WorkForceTrack – A complete tool for managing your trade- or service-related business. It includes features for basic accounting (including invoicing), project management, Human Resources,
WorkingPoint – Offers online invoicing, bill and expense management, bookkeeping and small business management solutions. One convenient feature of WorkingPoint are the ability to automatically calculate and charge for sales and other taxes.
Xero – An invoicing tool that allows you to schedule your accounts receivables, accept payments online, and track payments, returns and credits automatically. You can also manage inventory using one of their inventory management systems add-ons.
Yendo – Financial accounting software for small businesses. With Yendo, you can manage invoicing, purchases, expenses and payments. Yendo is available in the Google Apps Marketplace.
Zoho Invoice – An online invoicing software with time tracking that helps you send invoices for your projects and customer expenses, receive payments and track the overall health of your business.
Open Source Invoicing
There are also a few open source invoicing services that are worth considering. These applications are listed separately because they are not readily available online and will require installation either locally or on a third-party host.
ArgentumInvoice – Free, open source system for creating, emailing and tracking invoices for clients.
BambooInvoice – Open source invoicing software intended for small businesses and independent contractors. The website promotes ease of use as their number one priority.
Ofuz – An open source online invoicing service that makes it easy to create contacts, invoice for goods and services, and receive payment online.
SimpleInvoices – Free, open source, web-based invoicing system that you can install on yourself or have hosted by a third party.
Siwapp – A free, open source web application designed to help businesses create and manage invoices. The website states: “Our goal is to get just one thing right: Invoices. A basic need for every business.”
Image credit: AtnoYdur