What’s more, it’s all automated – when a customer issues a payment via a cloud-based invoice, the money will appear in your bank account, and the payment will appear in your books already associated with the relevant invoice, and all you had to do was click “send”. It allows you to easily collect from clients with shorter lag times. The ability to accept payments online is crucial for most freelancers. It’s only when you dig deeper that you find out which features are missing from the free version. When you visit the Nutcache homepage, you are greeted by a full-width background video featuring a smiling young woman and animated text proclaiming that Nutcache is free. Nutcache, for instance, offers recurring payments only for “Pro” users who pay $14 per month. If taking on a new client means chasing after more payments manually every single month, then you won’t be able to have such a high volume of business. If your business model involves maintaining customers on a subscription-based service retainer, then this is for sure something to look out for, as automating your billing is going to make or break your ability to scale. Some apps catch you by excluding recurring payments from their free plans. Harvest is more transparent on its Pricing page, but the site’s homepage sports a large call to action button encouraging people to sign up for the free plan.īoth apps are counting on the fact that you will be seduced by the word “Free,” and you won’t look too deeply into the added costs of invoicing more clients. You can only find out about the details of their fees, starting at $20 per month for the cheapest option, once you are logged in. The FreshBooks website, for example, has a tab labeled “Pricing,” but if you click on it, you will be taken to an offer to sign up for a free trial. These leading invoicing apps are counting on you growing dependent on their systems for your ongoing cash flow and reporting needs and therefore being unwilling to switch to a cheaper option once your customer base grows. But most freelancers will quickly outgrow these “free” plans. This is fine for freelancers who are just starting out, or who have a small volume of customers monopolizing their time. Some of our invoicing competitors only allow you to invoice three or four clients using their free plans – Due, on the other hand, is free for up to five clients, but you can have an unlimited amount of clients beginning at $10 per month. Here are three hidden costs that invoicing apps commonly charge extra for. By gaining an understanding of the most popular ways that invoicing tools get their users to spend more, you’ll know what to look for when picking the best one for you. As a result, trying to compare apples to apples can be tricky.īefore you make your selection, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the various lock-ins, limitations and hidden fees that commonly come up with these apps. Moreover, every invoicing app wants to gain as many customers as possible, so they all try to attract users by claiming to provide better value than every other invoicing app. Perhaps more importantly, no waiting until your invoice is received so your payment can be processed.īut with so many cloud-based invoicing tools available, how is a small business owner or freelancer to know which one’s best for their needs? A number of factors come into play, including price, ease of use, payment processor gateway integrations, and design capabilities and each one of these criteria is fraught with complexities – but especially pricing.Įach tool has its own licensing fee structure with its own system of quotas. No more stamps, envelopes, and paper invoices. Dozens of invoicing apps are available for cheap or even free. Invoicing clients online has never been easier.
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