small business invoice

If you’re in the market for a small business invoice generating software, then you’ll want to make sure that you carefully evaluate the options. After all, a good invoicing tool can streamline the process of billing your clients—saving you time and effort, and helping you get paid on time. What are some things to look for in such a tool and which providers do we recommend? Read on to find out.

What to Look for in a Small Business Invoice Software

When sizing up what small business invoice software to select for your business, look to the following criteria to help make the best choice.

Cloud-based vs. desktop only

Where do you prefer to issue your invoices and take care of your business’s books? If the answer is “from anywhere” then you’d be best advised to look for an invoicing platform that has cloud functionality. This means that it can be accessed from anywhere that you can log on to the internet. Some invoicing platforms, however, remain for desktop use only—or keep the vast majority of their functionalities away from their cloud offering. This is fine if you do all your invoice-issuing in the office (or have to for compliance reasons). But most users are going to be happiest with a cloud-based tool.

Good security and encryption

Your invoicing software will contain a treasure trove of information about your business: who your customers are, what you’re working on for them, and other details that might both be sensitive and subject to data governance laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For that reason, it’s important to make sure that any invoicing platform you’re thinking about using has strong cybersecurity. At a minimum, make sure that the platform is hosted on a domain with SSL security and that any documentation stored on the server will be encrypted with AES-256-bit encryption.

How many documents do you need issued?

Many invoicing platforms set limits around how many documents—such as invoices and receipts—can be issued through them per calendar month. How many invoices does your business typically issue per month? Make sure you find a provider that will be able to handle your average monthly business activity from the outset—ideally with room for expansion.

What payment gateways does the tool integrate with?

If you like to get paid quickly, then integrating your business invoicing software with a payments gateway, such as Paypal, is a great way to speed up your average payment time. Does the tool support Paypal? Stripe? Do you need another card processor? These are all questions that should be part of your evaluation criteria.

What systems do they integrate with?

Besides payment processors and gateways, you’ll also want to check out what other business systems the invoice tool you are considering integrates with. Do you use FreshBooks for your bookkeeping, for instance? If so, it will save a lot of manual work to find a tool that supports that integration.

3 Tools You Can Count on to Get the Job Done

Here are 3 of the best tools on the market that we recommend for anyone that needs to generate invoices for small business—and to do so using a top-of-the-line tool!

  1. FreshBooks
  2. Square
  3. Sage

Get Invoicing Today

Sending invoices through a cloud-hosted platform is a must for any small business that wants to streamline operations and minimize the time staff-members spend on bookkeeping and other administrative tasks. Choose from one of our recommended options above and you’ll be sure that you’re making a great decision.

Scott Hirsch is currently part of the team of top10.com and has worked as a writer, editor, and researcher for top tech companies, including Groupon . Over the last decade he has covered stories in emerging tech, consumer trends, medical and wellness technology, media, science, and culture, and has contributed articles to non-profit and social awareness organizations. Scott was born and raised in Chicago and has a deep love for its people, culture, and architecture.

Top10.com team

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Invoice software stock photo by Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock