For every business out there, invoices have a big role. They help improve cash flow and make it easier to understand what the business is spending. For a very long time, businesses have relied on manual invoicing. But the boost in technology has produced invoice software that makes this task simpler.
Learning to use billing software is not effortless, however. In this post we discuss manual invoicing and invoicing software in detail, to make the choice clearer. Let’s get started.
What is manual invoicing?
Manual invoicing refers to the process where a spreadsheet or word processor template is used to organise the data. Each invoice is created from scratch.
All the details have to be entered into the template, including the name of the business sending the invoice and the customer who is going to receive it.
Manual invoices can still be sent by digital means, so this is not strictly a paper process. But payment reminders cannot be configured, reports cannot be produced in real time, and it takes a lot of time to create a correct invoice this way.
What is invoicing software?
Invoice software is a tool that helps you handle the accounts receivable process. It generates an invoice containing the details of the products sold or services rendered. Even the small details of where payment has been sent or received are recorded, which is what keeps your view of cash flow accurate.
Invoice software comes with pre-built templates that do most of the layout work for you, and if you want to share an invoice with someone, you can do it with a click.
Learn how to create an invoice with invoicing software in a few steps.
Manual invoicing vs invoicing software: know the difference
These are the major differences in features between the two.
Automation
With manual invoicing, it falls to an accountant or another person to create the invoice and enter every detail carefully. With invoicing software, most of that effort disappears: the details are already stored, and the invoice is generated from them.
Manual follow-up
Manual follow-up is an inherent part of the manual method — you have to chase your customers for payment yourself. With invoicing software, payment reminders can be configured and sent to customers automatically, so they hear about upcoming payments at the intervals you set.
Real-time reports
With manual invoicing, reporting waits until the invoicing is done, and it can take days for the figures to be pulled together. With invoicing software the process is immediate: the details are entered once and the reporting follows from them.
Online payment
With manual invoicing there is no integration with third-party payment applications. With invoicing software it is straightforward to integrate them for receiving payments — see payment links — which makes it far easier for a business to be paid on time.
In closing
There is a lot more to explore about the invoice software available. Invoice Office helps you do all of this in one place, and you can create an invoice in a few minutes rather than an afternoon.