Invoicing may not be the most exciting task in your business, but it is one of the most important.
Sending out invoices promptly and receiving payments on time keeps your cash flowing and helps everything in your business run smoothly.
But just because invoicing is such an important task doesn’t mean it needs to be a time-consuming one! There are plenty of ways to streamline the process of creating and sending invoices, as well as hacks to help you get paid on time.
Ready to save precious time and keep the cash flowing?
Read on for our most valuable invoicing tips to get started.
Invoicing Tips To Make Your Business Run Smoothly
Utilise Invoice Templates
Creating a custom invoice from scratch every time you need to bill someone is an impressive waste of time! With invoice templates, you can still customise the details and personalise each invoice, but the basic outline and key information remains the same.
Instead of spending half an hour formatting and preparing your invoice, it will only take you a few minutes to bring up the template, enter the correct information, and send it off to your client.
Any decent accounting software will include free customisable templates, so make use of this time-saving hack.
Embrace Automation
Automation is a business owner’s best friend. If you are not already utilising it in your processes, it’s time to jump on board, because the benefits are massive.
And automated invoicing is the perfect place to start.
It cuts down on errors and saves time for you and your team. Recurring invoices can be set up for regular clients, so you have one less thing on your to-do list. Set the frequency and the invoices can be sent out like clockwork without you having to lift a finger.
Even if you don’t want the invoices to go out automatically, you can create a recurring invoice that saves as a draft until you edit or tweak before manually sending. Time saving all round!
Send Reminders
In a perfect world, everyone would pay their bills on time, but unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen! Late payments can have a significant impact on your cash flow, so it’s vital to be proactive about getting paid on time.
One of the most time-consuming aspects of invoicing is checking on and following up on late payments. This is where automation comes into play. Set up invoice reminders that will automatically be sent when an invoice is overdue.
Programs like Xero have default options to send these reminders at 7, 14 and 28 days, but you can customise these to suit your needs.
Accept A Range Of Payment Methods
Make it easy for your clients to pay you quickly by having the appropriate payment methods in place. At the bare minimum, include your bank account number on all of your invoices, so transfer of payment can be quick and simple.
Then, take it one step further by offering other payment options. Credit card payments are simple, secure and fast. If you want the option to accept payments in person, opt for a portable payment solution like PayClip.
Online payment methods ensure the money is in your account within days instead of weeks. It’s also more convenient for your customers and makes it easier to track and reconcile your financial data.
Ditch The Manual Invoice Book
Still painstakingly writing everything down by hand? We get it; familiarity is comforting, but it’s not always the smartest business move!
Not only is manual invoicing slower, but there’s also a higher chance of human error. It’s time to bring your business into the digital age and embrace a paper-free business. The time you’ll save is worth it, we promise!
Send Invoices On The Go With The Xero App
The faster you get your invoices into your customer’s inbox, the quicker you can get paid! And with cloud accounting, you can invoice anytime or anywhere.
Don’t wait until you’re back at your computer to get your invoicing done. Install your accounting software as an app on your mobile device. That allows you to send an invoice and collect payment on the spot. Simply log into your Xero app and do it wherever you happen to be.
Action Our Invoicing Tips Today!
Did you know that, on average, employees in NZ and Australia waste around three hours every week on unnecessary administrative tasks!? That equates to a bucketload of paid hours down the tube.
We know you’ve got much better things to do with those precious hours, so start reclaiming them by actioning our top invoicing tips today.
Or you can take it one step further and get our expert team of bookkeepers and administrators to help you with invoicing, processing reconciling, cash flow and admin. Reach out to us today to see how we can save you hours of work every week.