Virtual Assistant Forums | Work from Home

zippy1 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-02-2010

I want to change the look of my invoices and expedite the billing process, so some opinions will be helpful -- is there a template you use that quickly creates a professional-looking invoice? Some of my services are taxable by my state and some are not, so I need a sales tax option on the invoice for each line. Some of my invoices will be sent by email, some will be on paper.

Thanks!

adavant · #2 (**permalink**) 07-03-2010

I use Freshbooks so I'm not sure about creating these type things from scratch.

zippy1 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-03-2010

Just a few minutes ago I discovered free templates from Microsoft Office (office.microsoft.com) ... I searched in there for invoices with partial tax calculation and found a really good one. I just customized it with graphics and changed a little and it looks great and is sooo easy to use. Perfect for hard copy printing or to make a PDF to send by email.

Freshbooks looks interesting as an online option, thanks adavant.

zippy

reneeshupe · #4 (**permalink**) 07-04-2010

You could also look at Zoho Invoice, it's part of the Zoho Suite of Apps. It's free and allows you to manage everything online.

I use Freshbooks myself and I'm a big fan of it. I use the pay service because of the number of clients, but since I can track all of my time through Freshbooks getting my invoices done at the end of the month is a breeze and usually only takes me 10 to 15 minutes to pull all of my clients invoices together and have them sent out via email.

I also have Freshbooks set up to accept payments online so it's even faster to receive my payments now as well.

Both Freshbooks and Zoho Invoice allow for PDF creation of the invoices so you can print or email. The extra nice feature with Freshbooks is if I do need to send an invoice by traditional mail it can be done all with their system and I don't have to do anything other than click the button that says send by mail! Love it!

vrsi-office · #5 (**permalink**) 07-04-2010

I personally use Paypal. It is not free, but it is reasonably priced. I love the automation of the billing service, and I do not have to worry about collecting and depositing money. I create an invoice on Paypal, that invoice is emailed to my clients, the clients click a link in the email to pay their bill. Paypal collects the money (accepts many forms of payment) and credits my business account. All very simple.

Julie

vrsi-office · #6 (**permalink**) 07-04-2010

Another good free invoice program is Express Invoice.

Julie

dognose · #7 (**permalink**) 07-04-2010

Am I the only one who created my invoice template in Excel?

amylynn · #8 (**permalink**) 07-05-2010

I use Freshbooks. It works well and is easy to use. I also like that I can add a link to paypal to make it easier for the client to pay.

bridiej · #9 (**permalink**) 08-21-2010

Originally Posted by vrsi-office

Another good free invoice program is Express Invoice.

Julie

It's not entirely free though, you have to pay after the trial period but it's not expensive and I've found it a great program to use. I used to just have a Word template for my invoices by EI makes them look much more professional.