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- 95+ years of combined experience covering small-business and personal finance.
- 75+ categories of best business software selections.
- Objective and comprehensive business accounting software ratings rubric. (Learn more about our star ratings.)
Our Nerdy picks for
Best Invoicing and Billing Software for Small Businesses
Product | Promotion | Learn more | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
FreshBooks Learn more on FreshBooks' secure website | 4.5/5 Best for All-in-one invoicing and accounting software | $19/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $33, $60, custom. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on FreshBooks' secure website |
QuickBooks Online Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for All-in-one invoicing and accounting software | $30/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200. | 50% off for first three months or free 30-day trial. | Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website |
Xero Learn more on Xero's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for All-in-one invoicing and accounting software | $15/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on Xero's secure website |
Square Invoices Learn more on Square Invoices' secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Sending digital contracts | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20. | 30-day free trial of the Plus plan. | Learn more on Square Invoices' secure website |
Zoho Invoice Learn more on Zoho Invoice's secure website | 4.5/5 Best for Free invoicing software | $0 Free. | N/A | Learn more on Zoho Invoice's secure website |
Wave Invoicing | 4.5/5 Best for Free invoicing software | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16. | N/A | |
Invoice Ninja | 4.0/5 Best for Payment flexibility | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $12, $16. | N/A | |
Hiveage | 4.5/5 Best for Simple billing software | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $19, $29, $49. | 14-day free trial of the Pro plan. | |
Harvest | 5.0/5 Best for Project invoicing | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $12 per user. | 30-day free trial of the Harvest Pro plan. | |
Hopscotch | 3.5/5 Best for Cashing unpaid invoices | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $45. | 45-day free trial of the Pro plan. | |
Invoice Home | 4.0/5 Best for Free online invoice templates | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $9. | N/A |
Our picks for
All-in-one invoicing and accounting software
These selections are some of NerdWallet’s top-rated accounting software solutions that also include strong invoicing tools. They’re an excellent choice for businesses that want to streamline bookkeeping tasks and the invoicing process from one place.
FreshBooks
on FreshBooks' secure website
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $33, $60, custom.
or monthly discount (terms vary).
Pros
- Built-in, direct integrations with dozens of other software programs, including payroll and e-commerce software. Payment integrations include FreshBooks Payments, Stripe and PayPal.
- Bookkeeping and accounting features.
- Client portal lets customers pay invoices and communicate with business owners.
- Mobile app recognizes when you’re driving and tracks miles for you.
- Snap and upload photos of billable expense receipts on the go.
Cons
- No free option, and adding users costs extra.
- Lower-tier plans have billable client limits.
QuickBooks Online
on QuickBooks Online's secure website
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200.
for first three months or free 30-day trial.
Pros
- Bookkeeping and accounting features, including a robust suite of reports.
- Photograph receipts and automatically match them to existing expenses.
- Mobile app automatically tracks miles for you and can categorize trips as business or personal.
- Integrates with hundreds of apps, including POS systems, e-commerce products and payroll software. With QuickBooks Payments, you can accept debit and credit cards, PayPal, Venmo and Apple Pay.
Cons
- No free option, and plans can be expensive.
- Must subscribe to the Essentials plan to enter billable hours and the Plus plan for billable expenses.
- Automatic time-tracking software costs extra.
Xero
on Xero's secure website
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78.
or monthly discount (terms vary).
Pros
- Bookkeeping and accounting features, plus unlimited users in all plans.
- Use Hubdoc to capture bills and receipts.
- Integrates with dozens of apps, including POS systems, payroll software and e-commerce products. Payment integrations include Stripe, PayPal and Square.
Cons
- No free option.
- Early plan limits bills and invoices to five and 20 per month, respectively.
- Must subscribe to highest-tier Established plan to access mileage and time tracking.
Our pick for
Sending digital contracts
Square stands out among many of its invoicing competitors with its built-in contracts feature. In addition to creating and sending estimates, which you can auto-convert to invoices, Square Invoices allows you to create custom contracts, send the contracts to clients as part of your estimate and invoice workflow, and collect digital signatures.
Square Invoices
on Square Invoices' secure website
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20.
of the Plus plan.
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited invoicing, estimates and contracts.
- Create digital contracts for clients to e-sign.
- Send invoices via SMS.
- Integrates with various third-party products, including QuickBooks Online and Xero.
- Customer payment options include card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, ACH transfer and others.
Cons
- Must subscribe to paid plan to auto-convert estimates to invoices.
- No in-house time tracking or expense receipt scanning.
Our picks for
Free invoicing software
Free invoicing software doesn’t have to be light on features and functionality. Zoho Invoice delivers quality invoicing software with the option to send hundreds of invoices a year at no cost. Unlike competitors that offer free and paid plans, all of its features are available at no cost.
Zoho Invoice
on Zoho Invoice's secure website
Free.
Pros
- Send up to 500 invoices per year for free.
- Portal lets clients pay invoices and view their transaction history.
- Payment gateway integrations include Stripe, PayPal, Square and more.
- Photograph receipts and attach them to expense reports.
Cons
- Limited third-party integrations outside of other Zoho products and QuickBooks Online.
Wave Invoicing
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16.
Pros
- Options to customize invoices.
- Invoicing and payment data flows into Wave’s free accounting software.
- Accept card and Apple Pay payments online with Wave’s in-house payments software (transaction fees apply).
Cons
- Integrations are limited to Wave’s in-house products.
- No time-tracking features.
Our pick for
Payment flexibility
Invoice Ninja integrates with more than a dozen payment gateways. Some are strong on accepting foreign currencies, some let customers use a variety of payment methods and some have highly competitive processing fees. Invoice Ninja gives you the freedom and variety to choose the right option for your business and your customers.
Invoice Ninja
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $12, $16.
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited invoices for up to 20 clients.
- Allow customers to tip on invoices or pay incrementally over time.
- Integrates with more than a dozen payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square and Apple Pay.
- Built-in inventory tool tracks items as they’re invoiced.
- Portal lets clients view their invoices and payment history.
Cons
- No direct integrations with bookkeeping or accounting software.
- Enterprise plan pricing increases as you add users.
- No receipt upload tool for billable expenses.
Our pick for
Simple billing software
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of the features other software programs offer and all you need to do is send professional invoices and receive payments, Hiveage stands out for its simplicity.
Hiveage
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $19, $29, $49.
of the Pro plan.
Pros
- Free plan supports unlimited invoicing for up to five clients.
- Integrates with a dozen payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Square and more.
- Assign different billable rates to each type of task.
- Direct clients to your own custom domain with the Plus plan.
Cons
- No built-in, direct integrations with bookkeeping or accounting software.
- All plans have client limits (highest-tier Plus plan caps at 1,000).
- No receipt capture tool for billable expenses.
Our pick for
Project invoicing
Harvest’s invoicing and time tracking software is particularly strong on features for project tracking and management. The software contains an easy start-stop timer for tracking time spent by client, task and project.
Harvest
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $12 per user.
of the Harvest Pro plan.
Pros
- Offers a free plan (limited to two projects).
- Advanced time-tracking features, including integrations with Google Calendar, Slack, Asana, Trello and other project management tools.
- Display billable hours by task, person or project on invoices.
- Snap and upload photos of billable expense receipts with the mobile app.
- Integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero for accounting.
Cons
- Invoice customization options are limited. Free users can’t add company logos to invoices, and Harvest offers only two templates (one PDF and one GDoc).
- Payment integrations are limited to Stripe and PayPal.
Our pick for
Cashing unpaid invoices
Hopscotch’s Flow feature is comparable to invoicing financing, in that it lets you access invoice funds before your client pays them. Since this service comes with a fee, it’s not something you’ll want to use for every invoice. However, if you trust that your customers will promptly pay their outstanding invoices, it can be a helpful short-term solution to cash flow issues.
Hopscotch
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $45.
of the Pro plan.
Pros
- Offers a free plan.
- Flow feature allows you to access funds from unpaid invoices (comes with a service fee).
- Pro plan subscribers can integrate with QuickBooks.
- Offers option to pass credit card processing fees to client.
Cons
- Invoice customization options are limited, with just two main templates available.
- Business software integrations are limited; third-party payment integrations are not available.
- No time-tracking features.
Our pick for
Free online invoice templates
Many invoicing products offer at least a few invoice templates, often that allow you to customize with your business logo and other details. Invoice Home, however, offers one of the largest libraries of free invoice templates. They’re customizable and enable you to collect online payment from your customers.
Invoice Home
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $9.
Pros
- Large library of customizable invoice templates.
- Invoice up to $1,000 a month for free.
- Payment gateway integrations include PayPal, Authorize.net and Stripe.
- No contract and no cancellation penalty.
Cons
- Lacks additional features such as time and expense tracking.
- No direct integrations with accounting software.
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Cost
- Immediate customer receipt. Customers receive online invoices instantly, cutting out the delivery time of nondigital methods.
- Faster payments. Adding a link in an invoice to pay it online is not only convenient for customers but also good for your business’s cash flow. And if you’ve connected your bank account to the invoicing software, the funds should get directly transferred.
- Streamlined accounting records. Invoicing software options usually integrate with accounting programs and consolidate record-keeping in one location. For example, lots of accounting software products let you view unpaid invoices right from your dashboard.
- Saved time. You’ll spend less time tracking which invoices are paid, prepping new ones by hand and mailing them to customers.
- Processing fees. Offering your customers the option to pay online is convenient, but it often comes with a payment processing fee, unlike receiving payment by check.
- Spam filters can hide invoices. Sending invoices by email means a customer’s inbox could tag them as spam, so you might still have to call a few customers who are unaware they have an invoice waiting.
- Email can be hacked. Privacy might be compromised if a customer’s email is hacked, which is much less likely if an invoice is mailed.