Best Tools for Invoicing, Accepting Payments, Sending Receipts
-
Hey All!
I recently started my business about 1.5 years ago and am loving it, doing well, and learning new things every day! I am very curious what others in the industry use for proposals, invoicing, accepting payments and sending receipts. What we are doing now seems like a lot of trouble and we are using different platforms for almost all of it.
Since starting, my goal has been to use as little paper as possible, so I do almost everything over the computer.
- We send out proposals using Quoteroller and that has been very useful because clients can click to the proposal from their email and they can also accept proposals through that link.
- We invoice clients from Quickbooks Online (QBO) and can have those sent directly to clients' email inbox.
- We have to manually create a payment link through one of Bluefin's payment platforms. We can send this link through email or add it to the proposal email sent from Quoteroller.
- After they accept proposals (hopefully!), and make payment, we have to go back into QBO and "receive payment" and this does not send out a receipt to the client. Maybe someone knows a way to fix it to where it does send an automatic receipt when we "receive payment?"
- If client requests a receipt, we must go into QBO and generate a "sales receipt."
So, now that you know our process, are we making ourself work too much? Is there a more simple approach?
-
We have been using http://www.getharvest.com/ for the last few years.
It's decent, but I think we'll move away from it shortly as we no longer really use time tracking.
I'll be looking at something that integrates into Xero, or if Xero does recurring invoices, I'll just use that.
-
If client requests a receipt, we must go into QBO and generate a "sales receipt."
Not sure why you would need to create a sales receipt since you have already created an invoice. Once you "receive payment" the invoice will be marked as "Paid" by QB and you can simply email that to the client.
Intuit does have a payment link for online payments as well. Not sure if it works with QBO but does with premiere. When you send the invoice the link is included. You might want to check out the QB support forums for more info.
Good luck!
-
I have since moved to Freshbooks, because I wanted a light weight billing system, but I did use a pretty powerful one once. What I used was WHMCS, it is what web hosts use. It has a ton of features and it is all hosted on your server. You can set it up with say a Namecheap api and offer domain registrations through your billing too. Since I am a developer more than an SEO guy, I recommended and developed a site for a client that shudders sells alexa ranking increases. I talked them into using that and they love it. It has a very large payment gateway support, it can suspend accounts, charge late fees, and a whole host of other things. It might be something to look into.
One I would not recommend is box billing. I tried it for like a week, it double charged every single client.
-
Hi Ben,
Based on the volume of transactions, you might want to consider FreshBooks. Although not as comprehensive an accounting solution as QBO, it is very focused on invoicing and payment and is an ideal solution for small agencies/businesses providing services. I've provided a link to their features list below:
Cheers,
SEO5
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Best Way to Promote Other Authors SEO?
Wanted to get the communities feedback on this. WDAC is designing a new section of our site. This new section is aimed at helping small businesses that want to get SEO help, but are not in a position financially/do not want to pay an agency for help. The page can be viewed here: http://www.webdesignandcompany.com/expert-seo-tips The page is called "Expert SEO Tips" and we are going to promote other authors content that focuses on high quality articles around SEO tactics, methods, tips, tricks, etc. There are a few articles listed on the page based around what we have shared in the past, but you can see that the page/section is still in its infancy and may change to a new layout/design in the near future. The section will summarize the article we are linking to , and provide a link to the authors Twitter/G+ profile, depending upon what they have setup. We have reached out to a few places in the Google+ communities asking for articles and submissions, but have had little success. Strange due to the fact that we are providing outgoing links without requesting one back...hmmm. Anyway, what do any of you think would be the best way to get people to respond? Also, does anyone see any issues with adding this type of content to our site using followed links, specifically since we are linking out to relevant articles related to our own services? Does anyone see any potential pitfalls? Does anyone have any articles they think would be a great addition or provide help to business owners? All input and insight is appreciated! Looking forward to hearing your input.
Industry News | | David-Kley1 -
Best SEO agency
What are peoples thoughts and ratings on SEO agencies in London. There are so many of them it is hard to understand which are the best.
Industry News | | S_Curtis1 -
Best ranking Magento sites?
What would be your top 10 Magento sites in terms of SEO and ranking? I'm looking for examples of Magneto sites that have been set up correctly and are ranking well. Especially recently launched sites that have managed to get themselves ranking well in competitive markets! Cheers
Industry News | | OnlineAssetPartners0 -
Infographic stolen Whats my best course of action?
We designed this infographic http://www.brilliance.com/diamond-buying-tips-infograph a year ago and now i see this http://visual.ly/us-2013-diamond-jewelry-trend chop up cut and paste job around. It is clear it is stolen visullay shows its published by inboudvisibility and designed by webds a seo company. My question to all my fellow mozzers is what can i do about this? Any one have similar issues?
Industry News | | DavidKonigsberg1 -
What is the best Press Release website?
What is the best press release website for getting a press release in front of writers and news sources? We have used a couple with OK success, but I would like to hear and learn from the experiences of others. Thanks *I am not concerned with the page rank of the press release site or any SEO benefit coming from the PR website itself.
Industry News | | VentaMarketing0 -
Best way to recruit quality SEO staff?
We are in a nice position in that we are growing everyday. As the result, we need more staff, but do not have the time to bring along someone without any real SEO background. I have used just about every source over the years to hire people with good and bad result.
Industry News | | RobertFisher
For an SEO, with experience in some or all of the process: Link building, Keyword Analysis Site evaluation, eCommerce, Analytics... where do you go to find someone good? What about to find them yesterday? 😉 Obviously, they do not have to be expert at all, but they need to be familiar with all and have experience in at least two or three.1 -
What is the best place to learn reputation management, with regards to SEO
I have a new client that needs help with a bad review. Of course it may not be able to be deleted, but I have started to scratch the surface on how to help 'push it down' using SEO. Can any offer advice on a definitive source of learning reputation management? Many thanks!
Industry News | | adell500