• Products
    • Overview

      All Features

      Freelancer? Small business?
      Features to get you paid, fast.

      Expenses, Vendors, PO's

      Manage & re-invoice expenses, track vendors & purchase orders.

      Invoicing, Quotes, Payments

      Tools to run your business, invoice clients & get paid.

      Projects, Tasks, Time-Tracking

      Create projects, tasks, track billable work-hours.

      Connect Bank & Financial Accounts, Sync Transactions

      Automatically import bank, credit card and PayPal transactions.

      Product Demo

      Need an awesome solution for invoicing clients? Test Drive!

      Workflow

      OS Tools

      Web, Desktop, iOS, Google Play, Linux, Windows Apps

      Online Payments

      Accept credit cards, ACH, PayPal & more

      Automations

      Integrate with hundreds apps via Zapier, Make, Integrately & more

      Invoice Designs

      Beautifully designed invoice templates

      Overview
      • Product Overview
      • Expense tracking & Vendor Management
      • Invoices, Quotations & Payments
      • Time tracking & Project Management
      Workflow
      • OS Tools
      • Payment Gateways
      • Automations
      • Invoice Templates
  • Why Invoice Ninja?
    • Overview

      Competition Comparison

      How does Invoice Ninja stack up against the competition?

      Who is it for?

      Freelancers, service professionals, business owners

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid online

      Our Story

      Building business tools since 2014!

      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Invoice2Go
      • vs. Freshbooks
      Overview
      • Who is it for
      • Our Story
      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Invoice 2Go
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Freshbooks
  • Resources
    • Learn

      Contact Support

      We're here to help!

      Self-hosting

      Install & self-host Invoice Ninja on your own server

      Legacy v4 Login

      Legacy App Login

      Freelancer Blog

      Solopreneur & Business Blog

      User Guide

      App Documentation

      API Documentation

      Invoice Ninja REST based API

      Product Roadmap

      The future is bright...

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid

      Learn
      • Contact Support
      • User Guide
      • Self-hosting
      • API Documentation
      • Legacy v4 Login
      • Product Roadmap
      • Blog
  • Pricing
  • Products
    • Overview

      All Features

      Freelancer? Small business?
      Features to get you paid, fast.

      Expenses, Vendors, PO's

      Manage & re-invoice expenses, track vendors & purchase orders.

      Invoicing, Quotes, Payments

      Tools to run your business, invoice clients & get paid.

      Projects, Tasks, Time-Tracking

      Create projects, tasks, track billable work-hours.

      Connect Bank & Financial Accounts, Sync Transactions

      Automatically import bank, credit card and PayPal transactions.

      Product Demo

      Need an awesome solution for invoicing clients? Test Drive!

      Workflow

      OS Tools

      Web, Desktop, iOS, Google Play, Linux, Windows Apps

      Online Payments

      Accept credit cards, ACH, PayPal & more

      Automations

      Integrate with hundreds apps via Zapier, Make, Integrately & more

      Invoice Designs

      Beautifully designed invoice templates

      Overview
      • Product Overview
      • Expense tracking & Vendor Management
      • Invoices, Quotations & Payments
      • Time tracking & Project Management
      Workflow
      • OS Tools
      • Payment Gateways
      • Automations
      • Invoice Templates
  • Why Invoice Ninja?
    • Overview

      Competition Comparison

      How does Invoice Ninja stack up against the competition?

      Who is it for?

      Freelancers, service professionals, business owners

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid online

      Our Story

      Building business tools since 2014!

      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Invoice2Go
      • vs. Freshbooks
      Overview
      • Who is it for
      • Our Story
      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Invoice 2Go
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Freshbooks
  • Resources
    • Learn

      Contact Support

      We're here to help!

      Self-hosting

      Install & self-host Invoice Ninja on your own server

      Legacy v4 Login

      Legacy App Login

      Freelancer Blog

      Solopreneur & Business Blog

      User Guide

      App Documentation

      API Documentation

      Invoice Ninja REST based API

      Product Roadmap

      The future is bright...

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid

      Learn
      • Contact Support
      • User Guide
      • Self-hosting
      • API Documentation
      • Legacy v4 Login
      • Product Roadmap
      • Blog
  • Pricing

|

Login

Sign up
  • Products
    • Overview

      All Features

      Freelancer? Small business?
      Features to get you paid, fast.

      Expenses, Vendors, PO's

      Manage & re-invoice expenses, track vendors & purchase orders.

      Invoicing, Quotes, Payments

      Tools to run your business, invoice clients & get paid.

      Projects, Tasks, Time-Tracking

      Create projects, tasks, track billable work-hours.

      Connect Bank & Financial Accounts, Sync Transactions

      Automatically import bank, credit card and PayPal transactions.

      Product Demo

      Need an awesome solution for invoicing clients? Test Drive!

      Workflow

      OS Tools

      Web, Desktop, iOS, Google Play, Linux, Windows Apps

      Online Payments

      Accept credit cards, ACH, PayPal & more

      Automations

      Integrate with hundreds apps via Zapier, Make, Integrately & more

      Invoice Designs

      Beautifully designed invoice templates

      Overview
      • Product Overview
      • Expense tracking & Vendor Management
      • Invoices, Quotations & Payments
      • Time tracking & Project Management
      Workflow
      • OS Tools
      • Payment Gateways
      • Automations
      • Invoice Templates
  • Why Invoice Ninja?
    • Overview

      Competition Comparison

      How does Invoice Ninja stack up against the competition?

      Who is it for?

      Freelancers, service professionals, business owners

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid online

      Our Story

      Building business tools since 2014!

      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Invoice2Go
      • vs. Freshbooks
      Overview
      • Who is it for
      • Our Story
      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Invoice 2Go
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Freshbooks
  • Resources
    • Learn

      Contact Support

      We're here to help!

      Self-hosting

      Install & self-host Invoice Ninja on your own server

      Legacy v4 Login

      Legacy App Login

      Freelancer Blog

      Solopreneur & Business Blog

      User Guide

      App Documentation

      API Documentation

      Invoice Ninja REST based API

      Product Roadmap

      The future is bright...

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid

      Learn
      • Contact Support
      • User Guide
      • Self-hosting
      • API Documentation
      • Legacy v4 Login
      • Product Roadmap
      • Blog
  • Pricing
  • Products
    • Overview

      All Features

      Freelancer? Small business?
      Features to get you paid, fast.

      Expenses, Vendors, PO's

      Manage & re-invoice expenses, track vendors & purchase orders.

      Invoicing, Quotes, Payments

      Tools to run your business, invoice clients & get paid.

      Projects, Tasks, Time-Tracking

      Create projects, tasks, track billable work-hours.

      Connect Bank & Financial Accounts, Sync Transactions

      Automatically import bank, credit card and PayPal transactions.

      Product Demo

      Need an awesome solution for invoicing clients? Test Drive!

      Workflow

      OS Tools

      Web, Desktop, iOS, Google Play, Linux, Windows Apps

      Online Payments

      Accept credit cards, ACH, PayPal & more

      Automations

      Integrate with hundreds apps via Zapier, Make, Integrately & more

      Invoice Designs

      Beautifully designed invoice templates

      Overview
      • Product Overview
      • Expense tracking & Vendor Management
      • Invoices, Quotations & Payments
      • Time tracking & Project Management
      Workflow
      • OS Tools
      • Payment Gateways
      • Automations
      • Invoice Templates
  • Why Invoice Ninja?
    • Overview

      Competition Comparison

      How does Invoice Ninja stack up against the competition?

      Who is it for?

      Freelancers, service professionals, business owners

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid online

      Our Story

      Building business tools since 2014!

      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Invoice2Go
      • vs. Freshbooks
      Overview
      • Who is it for
      • Our Story
      Compare
      • Overview
      • vs. Invoice 2Go
      • vs. Zoho
      • vs. Freshbooks
  • Resources
    • Learn

      Contact Support

      We're here to help!

      Self-hosting

      Install & self-host Invoice Ninja on your own server

      Legacy v4 Login

      Legacy App Login

      Freelancer Blog

      Solopreneur & Business Blog

      User Guide

      App Documentation

      API Documentation

      Invoice Ninja REST based API

      Product Roadmap

      The future is bright...

      How it works?

      4 steps to get paid

      Learn
      • Contact Support
      • User Guide
      • Self-hosting
      • API Documentation
      • Legacy v4 Login
      • Product Roadmap
      • Blog
  • Pricing
  • Back to blog

Indisputable benefits of cloud-based invoicing and billing for freelancers

  • April 30, 2014

Share

Tags

Remember the gold old days, back when the internet was just a dream among science fiction aficionados and clouds were nothing more than fluffy white things in the sky? Those were the days when freelancers issued hand-written or word processor-generated invoices.

So why can’t you keep invoicing the old-fashioned way, creating invoices on your desktop and sending them by snail mail or email? Well, you can, of course. But then you’d be missing out on some game-changing benefits that awesome cloud-based invoicing apps like Invoice Ninja open up for your business!

Rejoining in the Cloud

Most of the benefits are based on time savings, whether it’s the time you take to issue an invoice, to reconcile your books or to receive payment. And when you’re running your own business, there’s always an endless list of things you should be working on, so your time is tremendously valuable. An efficiency expert from Canon Business Processes recently estimated that the average overall organizational cost of manually processing an invoice is around $20, whereas automated ones have a cost of just $4 each.

But time savings are just the beginning. The advantages of e-invoices are numerous and major. It’s time to take the plunge.

Issue invoices faster

Each time you send an invoice via snail mail, you have to fill out all of the information, put it in an envelope, attach a stamp and remember to put it in the mailbox. Electronic invoicing systems remember the information for each client/customer, so once a client is in the system, you only really have to input the amount owed to invoice them a second time. The system will also remember who to send the invoice to, so with a click of a button, your invoice is on its way to the appropriate person’s inbox.

Reduce errors

The more you do manually, the more likely you are to commit a human error. Typos can end up costing you time and money, so the more automated the process, is the lower the risk.

Automate your recurring invoices

Many freelancers bill their customers on a monthly service retainer subscription basis. If you charge a client the same amount on a weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis, you can set your digital invoicing system to automatically send out a payment request at the end of each period. This is totally hassle-free and saves you even more time.

Benefit from easy calculations

If you charge tax, want to apply a discount, or need to add other surcharges, electronic invoice systems will do the calculations for you, saving time and maximizing accuracy.

Get paid faster

When an invoice is sent via email, it’s less likely to get lost during delivery, take weeks to arrive, or end up at the bottom on someone’s “in” tray at work. Invoices that you send to larger organizations can even be set to go directly into corporate finance systems so you get paid quickly (one recent study even found that enterprises are burdened with digitizing hard copy invoices, which amount to over half of all invoices they receive).

Getting paid

Many e-invoicing platforms allow online payments, which speeds things up as well. Fast payment increases cash flow into your business, which is especially important for a freelancer whose income is dependent on accounts receivable actually being received.

Do your part for the environment

Fewer printed pages, envelopes and printer cartridges are all good for Mother Earth. What’s more, snail mail contributes to the carbon footprint of physical transportation. Sending your invoices via email is a key component to the paperless office. It’s the green thing to do.

Impress with minimal effort

Cloud-based invoicing tools create aesthetic invoices that you don’t have spend time designing yourself. The better apps out there offer pdf versions of invoices (ours even has a best-in-class real time pdf editing feature), so you can be sure that your client is seeing the exact invoice as you intended to send it, regardless of what email client, browser or operating system he or she is using.

Impressed with invoices

Some platforms even allow you to choose between a number of different templates and let you include your logo on invoices, for a more personalized and professional look.

Improve your record keeping

Never fiddle around hunting down an invoice that you’re sure you put in one cumbersome pile of papers or another, only to wonder if it’s been paid or try to figure out what exactly you billed for. All of this information is entered into your e-invoicing system, and you can easily trace the history of services rendered or a sale closed simply by signing into your invoicing tool.

Be ready for the future

So why not get your foot in the door already? Some countries are already requiring freelancers to use e-invoices in specific government-approved formats. Cloud-based invoicing tools make it easier for freelancers to handle any needs for tax authority audits, insurance claims, banking disputes and more. The United States and many countries in Europe and Latin America have already implemented or are talking about implementing e-invoices in the public sector.

Access it all from anywhere

Our desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablets, mobile phones and wearables enable us to virtually work from virtually anywhere, but the downside is that for things to progress smoothly, you need to use systems that can be accessed wherever you may find yourself. Want to send an invoice immediately while you are sitting on-location with a client? Need to check the payment status of a bill from the diner? Keeping records in the cloud means they are accessible to you from anywhere.

Remote access

Go ahead and try e-invoicing, and we promise you will find it difficult to remember why you ever invoiced your client any other way. Invoice Ninja is completely free and always will be, so it’s a great option for anyone who’s curious and wants to get their feet wet with minimal risk. You can even use some of our app’s features without registering as a free user or logging in at all.

We think you’ll quickly get used to the convenience and cost-effectiveness of cloud-based invoicing. Your customers and clients will enjoy the new system as well, and hopefully this love-fest will even spread to your bank account.

Share

Share

Tags

Business Tools, Freelancing, Productivity
You may also like
group of people

How to Successfully Manage Client Expectations as a Freelancer

Learn more

5 Tasks to Automate as a Freelancer to Free Up Your Time (And Beat Admin Overwhelm)

Learn more

Migrate to the new Invoice Ninja!

Learn more

Start Invoicing Today!

Create. Send. Get Paid.

Test Drive!
Products
  • Product Overview
  • Invoicing, Quotes, Payments
  • Time Tracker and Projects
  • Expenses, Vendors, PO’s
  • Integrate Financial Accounts
  • Online Payment Integrations
  • Automations & Integrations
  • Languages & Currencies
  • Mobile Apps, OS tools
  • Product Overview
  • Invoicing, Quotes, Payments
  • Time Tracker and Projects
  • Expenses, Vendors, PO’s
  • Integrate Financial Accounts
  • Online Payment Integrations
  • Automations & Integrations
  • Languages & Currencies
  • Mobile Apps, OS tools
Why Invoice Ninja?
  • Our Story
  • Who’s it for?
  • How It Works
  • How We Compare
  • Slack
  • Discord
  • Our Story
  • Who’s it for?
  • How It Works
  • How We Compare
  • Slack
  • Discord
Resources
  • Contact & Support
  • Product Documentation
  • API Documenation
  • Suggestions & Requests
  • Self-Hosting Invoice Ninja
  • Business Blog
  • Technical Blog
  • Server Status
  • Branding Kit
  • Contact & Support
  • Product Documentation
  • API Documenation
  • Suggestions & Requests
  • Self-Hosting Invoice Ninja
  • Business Blog
  • Technical Blog
  • Server Status
  • Branding Kit
Pricing
v4 Legacy Login
New Account Login

© Invoice Ninja

Terms of Service

Data Privacy

PCI Compliance

GDPR

Self-Hosting Data

Self-Hosting Terms

Additional Users Activity Notification Settings

Enterprise Ninja

As part of the Invoice Ninja Enterprise plan you can create additional account users, set permissions of what additional account users can view/create/edit, and receive notifications for actions taken by users!

​Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Client-Portal & Vendor Document Upload

Enterprise Ninja

Allow your clients & vendors to upload documents in their client/vendor-side portal to keep all agreements organized and accessible!​

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Additional Users & Set Permissions

Enterprise Ninja

As part of the Invoice Ninja Enterprise plan you can create additional account users, set permissions of what additional account users can view/create/edit, and receive notifications for actions taken by users!

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love. We’ll help with the invoicing:)

Create a Free Account!

Banking Integration

Enterprise Ninja

We understands that automating transaction imports are a huge asset when it comes to getting paid and staying organized.

Invoice Ninja has partnered with Yodlee, a specialist provider of secure bank data connections, to offer bank, credit cards, and PayPal transaction data syncing.

  • Import Bank & Card Transactions
  • Match Deposits to [Multiple] Invoices
  • Match Withdrawals/Expenses to Vendors
  • Enable “Autosync” download transactions

 

​Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Custom Domain "Billing.YourCompany.com"

Enterprise Ninja

Looking for a fully branded experience?

The Invoice Ninja Enterprise Plan allows you to create a custom URL “Invoicing.YourCompany.com” for your clients portal to view & pay invoices online!

​Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Attach 3rd Party Files to Invoices & Expenses

Enterprise Ninja

The Invoice Ninja Enterprise Plan allows you to attach proposal files, agreements, design work files, all types of documents to your invoices & client-side portal!

Upload & attach .doc, .ppt, xls, .jpg, .png, .pdf files, and more, all together with your client’s invoices & client-side portal!

Files can be attached to your company for all clients to see, attached individually per client, or attached individually per invoice &/or expense!

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love. We’ll help with the invoicing:)

Create a Free Account!

Custom Client-Portal Subdomain

Ninja Pro Features

Customize your client portal URL to match your branding YourBrand.Invoicing.co

Build trust by showing your branding when clients click to view their invoices & client-side portal online!​

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Storefront Functionality

Ninja Pro Features

Enable third-party apps to create invoices within your account.

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Automated Workflow

Ninja Pro Features

Use the power of Zapier, Make, Pabbly, Integrately to integrate with Invoice Ninja with hundreds of apps to automate workflow!

With Zapier you can integrate your Invoice Ninja with thousands of other apps. and streamline your cross-app workflow with smooth automated functions.

With Make you can connect Invoice Ninja to your favorite apps & services. Just create a scenario that will watch for new data being created in a specified app and it will automatically trigger actions in Invoice Ninja, or vice-versa!

See all automations here!

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!

Custom Reminder Emails

Ninja Pro Features

The Invoice Ninja Pro Plan allows you to create custom email reminders based on the invoice date or invoice due date. Define date parameters to remind your clients before or after invoices are due to ensure you GET PAID!

Set “First, Second, Third” or “Endless” reminders to ensure invoices are not overlooked and you get paid faster!

Free Invoicing Software for Small Business.
Focus on doing what you love.​ We’ll help with the invoicing​:)

Create a Free Account!