It's finally the end of the working day; you've finished your work for the week, and your customers are happy with the results. However, instead of closing your laptop and heading home to enjoy the weekend, you start the most tedious part of the work: invoicing everyone.
You have to look up their name and billing address, add all the invoice details, and try to find the payment terms you agreed on with each of them ages ago.
Unfortunately, this is the part of the job freelancers and contractors forget to plan for, and it can take up a lot of your time.
Luckily, we now have invoice automation to take this off our plate. So what is invoice automation, how does it work, and what parts can be automated?
Let's take a look below!
You can automate your invoicing with invoicing software such as Invoicer.ai, which will reduce the manual work you have to do.
You'll no longer have to create, send, and track every invoice by yourself. All you have to do is set up the schedule and rules and let the invoicing software handle the rest.
Invoice automation was created not to remove a person from the billing process entirely, but to save them time and allow them to focus on other important parts of their business.
You'll still need to decide how much you want to charge your clients, when to bill, and what payment terms you want to use.
The exact steps may vary, but most invoicing software follows the same general process.
You enter the customer details into the system, including the prices, services, payment terms, billing schedule, and other relevant info.
The invoicing software then processes this information and creates or sends the invoice based on the rules and settings you've selected.
Imagine you're a marketing freelancer who charges a client $1,500 at the end of every month. With invoice automation, you won't have to create and send the same invoice with the same amount yourself every month.
You'll just have to enter the client information, services provided, the total of $1,500, payment terms, and billing schedule once. The recurring invoice is then created and sent according to the schedule without you having to do anything every month.
You can also see if the client received, viewed, or paid your invoice, which is convenient. If the client doesn't pay your invoice on time, an automatic payment reminder can be created and sent without your intervention.
The main benefit is that you don't have to repeat these invoicing tasks every month, saving you time. Learn more about how recurring invoices can make repeat billing easier.
Below are some additional examples of how invoice automation works:
If your invoicing software supports estimate-to-invoice creation, it will create an invoice for you using the approved estimate details. This way, you won't have to spend extra time creating an invoice from scratch.
Invoicer.ai can create invoices from approved estimates and send them to customers.
You created an invoice today but don't want to send it to the customer immediately. Instead, you want to send it at the end of the month. Invoice automation comes in handy here, too.
Instead of saving the invoice and setting a reminder to send it, all you need to do is pick a date and time for it to go out. The invoicing software will take care of the rest.
You can schedule invoices for:
Instead of remembering to send an invoice at a specific time, you can add the information and select the schedule. The invoicing software will then send it to the customer at the time you selected.
If you need to send the same type of invoice to a customer regularly, you can set up recurring invoices instead of creating a new one each time.
This can be useful for monthly retainers, subscriptions, maintenance agreements, and other ongoing services where customers are billed on a regular schedule.
Nobody likes following up with clients on unpaid invoices. It's also awkward when you have a long-term relationship with them and don't want to seem pushy.
Invoicing software can send late-payment reminders to clients once they miss the deadline. You won't need to follow up manually, which saves you time and energy.
You can do much more than send out documents with invoicing software. Below is everything that can be done with invoicing software like Invoicer.ai:
Once you add the customer and service information for the first time, invoicing software can save these details for you.
So, the next time you need to create and send an invoice, you'll just need to pick the customer and item instead of entering everything from the beginning again.
Adding everything to your estimate or invoice yourself, such as taxes, line items, amounts, etc., can take up a lot of your time and leave room for typos and mistakes.
Automated calculations will update the subtotal and final balance of an estimate or invoice. If you later update the line items or cost, the total will change automatically.
Invoice software can create invoices and estimates from the information you entered into the system, or you can use an AI Assistant to create them faster just by writing a short prompt.
You can also build line items, add client info, and edit estimate and invoice templates with the help of an AI Assistant, and then check the final document and edit anything if needed.
Invoicing software also lets you send invoices and estimates directly from the platform, instead of downloading a file to your computer and attaching it to an email.
After the invoice or estimate has been sent, businesses usually want to know the following:
With real-time invoice tracking, you can instantly find out if the document has been received, viewed, and approved or paid by the customer.
Invoicer.ai integrates with Stripe, allowing customers to pay by credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or bank transfer.
Creating invoices from scratch repeatedly can take up a lot of time for a business. Invoice automation helps you create and send them faster.
A customer can't pay an invoice that hasn't been sent. Using the scheduling option or recurring invoices helps make sure you don't forget to bill your customers, especially when you have several projects and clients.
Copying everything from an estimate to create an invoice can result in errors or incorrect totals, especially when you're dealing with a high volume of estimates and invoices. Invoicing software takes this off your plate, too.
Invoice tracking shows you if your invoices or estimates have been delivered, opened, and paid. Invoicing software can also send late-payment reminders, removing the need to follow up on every unpaid invoice yourself.
Even though invoice automation won't force customers to pay on time, it can reduce delays caused by vague payment information or forgotten invoices. Cash flow is also a major concern for many businesses. A Federal Reserve survey of U.S. businesses found that nearly 75% of microbusinesses surveyed listed managing cash flow and working capital among their top concerns.
Invoice automation can be especially useful when businesses need to take care of repetitive billing tasks, such as when:
Invoicer.ai offers all of the features mentioned above. Depending on the plan you select, you can:
Want to see how the AI Assistant works? Watch this video to learn how to create invoices and estimates even faster with Invoicer.ai:
For more info and help deciding which plan is right for you, take a look at the pricing plans.
