As a freelancer, the way you manage your business impacts your career. Success is not only about providing phenomenal results to your clients but also making sure they are satisfied—from the moment they interact with your business up until the service or product has been delivered. And when they’re totally happy with your service and all is said and done, you get the payment you well deserve.
But there’s one important step just before that… invoicing.
While it may not be the most exciting part of your freelance life, it has to be done. And when you do it, you want the process to be professional and smooth. Invoices must be well-structured, neat, received on time, and easy to understand. Your client must be able to see the important details in your invoice—the taxes charged, the list of items or services rendered, the prices, and the amount payable.
Invoicing is tedious and time-consuming for many freelancers. Just think of the time wasted formatting an invoice in a word processor or Excel. Not all freelancers are tech-savvy and can craft professional invoices within minutes.
The good news is that invoicing apps make the pain out of this process. This guide will discuss the best invoice app for freelancers and some tips to get paid faster!
The Best Invoice App for Freelancers
Spark Invoice Maker is the best invoice app for freelancers—for several reasons.
What is Spark Invoice Maker?
Spark Invoice Maker is an invoice-generating mobile app designed for freelancers, contractors, sole traders, and entrepreneurs. You can download Spark Invoice on your iOS or Android device. It is developed by Mafooly, a company that excels in creating productivity tools, along with other photography and educational apps for kids.
What can Spark Invoice do?
Spark Invoice Maker can do a lot of things that can streamline your billing processes. Mainly, this app lets you create invoices quickly and efficiently. We believe that time is gold, especially for freelancers like you. Every minute wasted can know you off your rhythm. We developed Spark Invoice Maker to make invoicing extremely fast and easy, so you can focus on your growth and on building your relationship with clients.
Invoicing
You don’t need to boot your computer, open a word processing program, and create tables to make an invoice. Spark Invoice Maker takes care of everything. All you need to do is enter your business information, client details, a list of the services or products you rendered and their prices, and add taxes, fees, or discounts.
If you offer services, you can charge your client for your billable hours, then add a short description of the service you have provided.
After entering these details, Spark Invoice Maker will generate a well-formatted, professional invoice. You can mark your invoice with your brand by adding your company logo.
Our guide, How to Create An Invoice with Spark covers everything you need to know how to make an invoice using Spark Invoice Maker.
Estimates
Clients typically ask for estimates to compare prices from different service providers. If a client asks you for a quotation, you can quickly create one using Spark Invoice Maker. And because Spark is a mobile app, that means you can instantly generate an estimate right on the spot.
Making quotations is just as easy as generating invoices—add your business details, your client’s information, the prices of the services or products being asked, and you’re good to go.
And if a potential client takes your service, you can then convert your quotation into an invoice, so you don’t have to create a new one and enter the same details. Isn’t it efficient? Absolutely!
You can create as many estimates as you wish and convert them into invoices as you need. Spark Invoice really proves it is the best invoice app for freelancers.
Manage your clients
If you’re a freelancer with multiple clients, you’d be glad to know that Spark Invoice Maker has a feature that lets you save a list of your clients. This is particularly ideal because you won’t have to enter your client’s details repeatedly. Once their information is saved on the app, you can simply select them from your list, and then Spark will instantly import the information and complete the necessary fields.
To add a client, you can add their information manually or import it from your contacts list. You may add a client by going to Homepage > Clients > Manage. Whenever you create a new invoice for a new client, Spark will automatically save the client information, making it easier and faster to invoice repeat clients.
Create a product list
Freelancers who offer various services will love this feature. Spark Invoice Maker lets you create a product list—a list of the goods and services you offer with their prices or rate. You can also add short descriptions to each item.
Whenever you create an invoice, you can manually add the items or services sold. Or, to save time, you can just select from your product list.
Many Spark Invoice Maker users utilize the product list feature as their inventory. They use it to assess their stock and determine which items sell faster.
Tips to Get Paid Faster
Maintaining cash flow is crucial for freelancers. Long waits can hurt your business, and chasing payments can eat your time. So, what can you do to avoid these problems?
Offer multiple payment options.
One of the reasons why your client may fail to pay you on time because you only offer one payment option, which, on their end, is impractical. That being said, try offering multiple payment options—this way, your client will have fewer excuses to delay payment.
Use our Additional Notes feature to state the payment options you accept. Some clients prefer payments via PayPal, wire transfer, credit card, and other digital wallets. Ensure that you have these options available.
Add an invoice number
An invoice number serves as your invoice’s unique identifier. As a freelancer, they can help your record and keep track of invoices—unsettled or paid. As for your clients, the invoice number can help to identify your invoice. This is particularly helpful if your client deals with several freelancers.
When making a follow-up, use the invoice number to identify your invoice. Instead of saying, “I’d like to follow up with the invoice I sent 3 days ago,” you can say, “I’d like to request the payment of our invoice INV023.”
To learn more about invoice numbers, read our comprehensive guide, Can You Customize Your Invoice Number With An Invoice App?
Offer rewards or incentives for quick payments
Many freelancers give clients discounts for payments made within 10 days of receiving the invoice. This kind of incentive is a great way to encourage your clients to pay you on time. However, when offering this incentive, make sure to factor its cost into your pricing.
Impose fees for late-payments
Rewarding your clients for early payments with exclusive discounts will encourage them not to delay payments. Charging fees for late-payments also do the same thing—your clients are likely to pay you early or on time to avoid the fees.
While implementing a penalty system is not a bad idea, you should still be considerate with your clients regarding payment. Huge companies typically use this strategy, so make sure to check your competitive position and importance before imposing this system.
You can, of course, give your clients a grace period. Then, set a reasonable deadline. If your client fails to pay within the given grace period, only then should you implement the late fee.
If you want to impose late fees, it’s best to make a written agreement with your client beforehand to avoid disputes in the future. Make sure your client understands the consequences of delayed payments.
Make a friendly reminder.
If your client fails to pay on time or within the given period, you don’t necessarily have to go berserk and rage about it. Sometimes, a quick friendly reminder is all it takes.
Your client may have forgotten about your invoice or they may be having emergencies. Chasing payments can really waste your time, but showing consideration to your clients can build stronger relationships with them. And when it comes to business, a solid customer relationship can scale your business.
Again, you may use the invoice number when making a follow-up request. If you want to implement weekly reminders, ensure your client agrees with such an arrangement. You don’t want to annoy them by constantly reminding them of the money they need to pay you.
To learn more about how you can stop chasing payments, check out our guide, What Is An Invoice Maker App.
Try Spark Invoice Maker Now!
Spark Invoice Maker is a free-to-download mobile app that you can download from Google PlayStore and Apple Appstore. Download Spark Invoice Maker now and start streamlining your invoicing processes. With Spark Invoice Maker, you can generate and send invoices within seconds. This feature-rich productivity tool is the best invoice app for freelancers.
