Why Use A Bookkeeping and Invoicing Program?

Well…if you don’t think it’s vital to have something for your records and for your taxes, maybe you’re not freelancer material. You don’t have to spend much time on this each week, but it’s important to keep records and be able to invoice professionally if you want to be treated as a professional. There’s nothing wrong with going simple though, in fact, that’s exactly my next point is, so read on.

by Jared Latigo

Simplify with Freshbooks

Ok so it took me quite awhile to migrate over to Freshbooks, but it was the best decision ever. I started off with Quickbooks because I had been around businesses my whole life and they all used it. But what I didn’t realize was that those businesses had lots of billing, payroll, expenses, etc to keep up with whereas I just had me, pretty much. I do have expenses and invoicing to do, but simple is better and that’s exactly what systems like Freshbooks provide. They are made for people like us who only bill out a few times a month, have minimal expenses, and need things to just work. The big struggle I had with Quickbooks was that it was highly difficult and I just didn’t have the time to learn it. To me, a program should not be that complicated, or ugly for that matter. Here’s some things Freshbooks allows me to do.

• Send invoices online immediately
• Link to PayPal or other merchant so I can get paid immediately
• Integrates with my proposal software
• Makes bookkeeping very simple
• Limited options keep me sane
• Easy branding and color scheming

And here’s a few things that you should look for in any system.

• Simple
• Reasonable cost
• Ability to easily send clients invoices online
• Ability to create invoices in just a few minutes
• Can easily track payments
• Recurring invoices
• Branding and personalizing
• Easily accessible
• Small learning curve

And lastly, below are some downfalls to using Quickbooks in particular

• High up front cost
• Very large learning curve
• Not user-friendly
• Extra fees for things like sending invoices online
• Only accessible on one computer (unless you pay extra, again)
• UI is terrible (as a designer, had to throw this one in)

I realize that Quickbooks has a lot of the same features as Freshbook and many more, but they aren’t setup out of the box and many require extra fees to use them. The best-selling point for me on Freshbooks was the fact that it’s easy. There’s really no room for error and it doesn’t overload me with options. There’s plenty of other invoicing systems out there, just be sure to check this one out but most importantly, get something that works on a professional level.

Make it Professional

We briefly touched on this in the last section but I wanted to give it its own section so you realize how important it is. First off, make sure you’re using something that’s simple as we discussed. Then you need to customize it a bit by changing your colors and/or adding your logo. The latter is really important. It’s amazing how many people will take notice that you’re serious about your business if you just add your logo. Also, be sure that everything is correct and on time when invoicing. It says a lot about you.

by Mat Honan

Be Sure to Take Out Taxes

When freelancing you have to remember that you’re taxed on everything you make. True, you have write-offs, but you will still owe money on what you’re bringing in. There’s no way for me to go into detail on how much for you to take out since every state and country is different. Be sure to check the laws on self-employment taxes and maybe meet with an accountant that can help you understand a good amount to take out. Personally, I take some out of every check so that it accumulates over the year and I have the money to pay them when tax time comes. I believe this is the best way so you’re not caught with a huge bill and no money to pay it. Many people pay their taxes quarterly as well, but as long as you’re taking money out of each payment you get, you won’t have to worry about whether it’s paid quarterly or in full.

In closing this section, I really can’t stress how important it is for you to do this. Being stuck with a several thousand dollar bill owed to the government is not a fun thing. Make it a priority, it’s in your best interest.

by graymalkn

Be on Time

This last section really goes for any part of your freelance career. If you want people to take you seriously, be on time with everything. Even be early, but never be late. Being late shows you don’t care enough about their project to make it a priority and get it finished on time. This goes back to the “hot potato” method we talked about in the previous post. Get it done. Get it back to the client. And keep that ball in their court.

Aside from the above, being on time also adds credibility to your brand and will help you down the road when you’re getting referrals. If you’re a trustworthy, reliable person, you’ll always get more business.

Well that’s all for today. Hope this helps you in your daily freelance life and is a good reminder for those of you who are just starting out or thinking about it. Feel free to leave comments below and add to the article if you see fit!

1. Billing Boss

Billing Boss is a totally free invoicing application with pretty features. The user can easily keep track of billings and payments. Account at Billing Boss can be integrated with Sage Payment Services, Beanstream, or PayPal. In result, customers can pay your invoice online immediately. User interface of Billing Boss has been adapted in different languages. Further, the mobile version of web interface is also available to interact with application on iPhone or G1.

Billing Boss

During the Sign Up, the user fills up the required information like Name, Address, Logo, and Tax Information of business. The account can also be linked with some merchant services if required.

In next step, you need to create customers, which is simple enough. Then you can make a quote or invoice. I am creating here an invoice which is billing 1stwebdesigner for a guest article. Once you fill the invoice and save it, a preview of invoice will appear. In this preview, you can apply available styles, send or print it, or save as pdf. Below are the screenshots for the above mentioned two steps.

Creating a new client with Billing Boss

A preview of Billing Boss Invoice

2. Intuit Billing Manager

Intuit Billing Manager is also a free and intuitive online invoicing application. You can easily create and send invoices. The application gives you a review of what is overdue and what has been paid. The user can send reminders to customers if there is an outstanding payment.

Intuit Billing Manager

After filling login details, the user can create invoice immediately. I would recommend going on settings tab and modifying your details accordingly. You can alter business information like address and logo, default messages attached in outgoing email, payment methods and some other default invoicing parameters.

Intuit Billing Manager Settings

In the left side bar of the application, you can see “My Address Book” which is used to manage your customers. You can add manually or import CSV file of your business contacts at once. Also, there is a section in the sidebar titled as “Products & Services”. In this section, you can add what you are offering to avoid manual entry whenever you create an invoice.

If you create invoices infrequently, above mentioned steps can be skipped. The invoice creation process is straight. You can apply one of the invoice templates available. After filling the information, the invoice can be saved, previewed, printed, or sent by email. In print mode, the invoice can also be saved as pdf.

Intuit Billing Manager Invoice

3. Invoice Journal

Another Great and Free invoicing application is invoice journal which lets you create invoices for your clients. After signup, invoice journal give you a unique sub domain which can be used for login to your account. The process is very simple. You can create clients and after that start sending invoices for no fee. The application has a nice and very simple user interface which makes it great to use.

Creating a new client in Invoice Journal

Creating an invoice with Invoice Journal

4. BambooInvoice

BambooInvoice is a free and open source application to send and manage professional invoices. One has to install it on its own servers before using it. It is one of my favorite invoicing application as my point of view is that invoicing and your personal finances are sensitive case and you should not leave them to some one else.

Bamboo Invoice: Free and Open Source Invoicing Application

The open source software needs php5 and mysql 4.1 databases to work efficiently. It is build using code igniter and really have great user interface. BabmooInvoice is a very active project and you can also get support if you run into any trouble by accessing its forums here. Give it a try and you will love it.

Bamboo Invoice User Interface

5. Simple Invoices

Simple invoices is another free and open source invoicing system which you can use to get money from different clients. Like BambooInvoice, you have to install in on your own server to use. The open source application has been translated in to many languages and some developers have also built extensions for it. You can also email your prepared invoice as pdf. Simple invoices has comprehensive documentation so you can install it easily.

Free Simple invoicing

Have a look at the user interface of simple invoices. It has been enhanced with Ajax and java script.

Simple invioces User interface

We have covered some awesome free web apps that are best alternatives of expensive invoicing apps. Feel free to share your invoicing systems and let us know if we have missed something important.

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