Invoice more to earn more: automate your invoicing

Easy invoicing- an impossible dream for a small business? How can you avoid waiting months for payment from your customers, and free up time to continue developing your business?

This article looks at the difficulties faced by small businesses when it comes to simple invoicing, and gives you advice on how to do it with complete peace of mind. Would you like to continue invoicing using Excel? You can download our free invoice templates with and without VAT. But make sure your invoices are correct!

To avoid errors and fines if your invoices are not compliant, appvizer explains the challenges of invoicing software. Opt for easy, free or low-cost invoicing software that's 100% online and available as a mobile application. Managing your quotes and invoices becomes child's play: you send personalised documents, get paid on time and centralise all your customer information in one secure tool.

Read on to find out more about the benefits of automated invoicing:

See all software Billing and Invoicing

Easy invoicing: is it possible to manage your invoicing quickly and simply?

All businesses need to invoice their customers for the products or services they sell. More specifically, invoicing is mandatory in the following two cases:

• for all commercial transactions between two professionals
• for commercial transactions between a professional and a private individual, as soon as the amount of the invoice exceeds €25 including VAT, or at the simple request of the customer.

So what can you do to reduce the time spent on invoicing, without reducing your company's turnover?

Mandatory information to be included on an invoice

As mentioned above, the law stipulates a certain number of items that must appear on all invoices issued by a company:

• the invoice issue date,
• the invoice number, i.e. a unique number based on a continuous, unbroken chronological sequence (source: official French public administration website),
• the date of the sale or provision of the service,
• the identity of the purchaser: name or company name, address (home address for an individual and registered office for a company),
• the identity of the seller or service provider: surname and first name in the case of a sole trader, company name, SIREN or SIRET number, RCS number in the case of a trader and the town concerned, registered office address, legal form of the company, trade register number in the case of a craftsman,
• the individual VAT identification number of the seller and of the customer if the latter is a professional - this information is optional for invoices worth €150 or less excluding VAT,
• the description of the product or service and its breakdown (quantity and unit price),
• the list price, i.e. the unit price excluding VAT for products or the hourly rate excluding VAT for services,
• the applicable VAT rate and the total amount of VAT,
• a discount, if applicable,
• the total amount payable excluding VAT and including VAT.

If you do not include these details on your invoices, you may be liable to :

• a tax fine of €15 per missing or inaccurate statement for each invoice, capped at 1/4 of the invoice amount;
• a criminal penalty of up to €75,000.

Mandatory information for invoices sent to professionals:

• the date or deadline for payment,
• the rate of late payment penalties,
• mention of the €40 fixed penalty for late payment.

Download your free Excel invoice template

appvizer provides you with two free invoice templates in Excel format, one without VAT and one with VAT.

Invoice template without VAT

Are you a self-employed entrepreneur starting up your business with VAT-free invoicing ? Then this template is for you:

Invoice template with VAT

For all businesses that have to charge VAT, this VAT invoice template is for you:

The best free invoicing software

Would you like to professionalise and automate your invoicing, but don't have the budget to invest in a paid solution? There are a number of free online invoicing software packages that can provide all the functions needed by a self-employed entrepreneur or a very small business:

Henrri

Henrri is an online solution for very small businesses that takes care of all your invoicing management needs: creating quotes and invoices, personalising sales documents, chasing up unpaid invoices, and so on. The tool also includes a mobile application so you can monitor your invoicing and sales management from anywhere.

Benefits of Henrri :

• neat, intuitive ergonomics,
• NF 525-certified software that complies with anti-fraud legislation,
• a high level of data security.

Zervant

Zervant is a free solution for very small businesses. Create and send an unlimited number of invoices by email or in PDF format.

Benefits of Zervant :

• create invoices in 60 seconds,
• get paid faster,
• centralise your customer and product database.

The limits of free billing

Before committing yourself to a free solution, take the time to identify your needs and the scope required. Free solutions have their limitations in certain cases:

• the need to purchase additional modules or subscribe to a premium pack to benefit from advanced functionalities ;
• no support, or low-priority support - this can be a blocking factor in the event of an urgent problem, and if you don't invoice, you jeopardise your monthly turnover;
• a limited number of invoices;
• no interoperability with your accounting software, customer relationship management, stock management, etc.

Our selection of invoicing software

appvizer has selected six professional invoicing software packages for you at affordable prices and with no obligation subscriptions. All these tools are certified as compliant with anti-fraud legislation.

Axonaut

Axonaut is an invoicing module combined with a CRM for complete, centralised sales management. It supports small businesses as they grow, with a range of functions including :

• production of quotes, invoices, pro formas, credit notes, etc,
• online signature and payment by direct debit or credit card,
• automated reminders.

Advantages of Axonaut :

• a customer portal where customers can access their documents and receive notifications,
• synchronisation with your bank account and connection with your accountant,
• pay-per-use pricing, giving very small businesses the same services as large companies.

Evoliz

Evoliz is an online software package made in France that makes it easier for you to manage invoicing, as well as accounting and sales management. It simplifies the collection of invoices, whatever the source.

In just a few clicks, you can create your commercial documents :

• estimates
• invoices
• order forms
• delivery notes.

Advantages of Evoliz :

• real-time synchronisation with your bank account and correspondence with the lines in your bank statements,
• interfaces with e-commerce software such as Prestashop,
• dashboards to measure your performance.

Factomos

Factomos is a simple, reliable and secure solution for creating estimates and invoices with and without VAT. Send your business documents by email or save them in PDF format. Your accountant also has direct access to Factomos. Interconnection with Prestashop, Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce makes invoicing easier for e-commerce sites.

Advantages of Factomos :

• data import in Excel format,
• a notification system for invoices paid online, for example,
• an online directory of chartered accountants if you haven't yet found the right expert to work with.

ISAFACT - AGIRIS entreprises

ISAFACT is the invoicing solution published by AGIRIS entreprises. In addition to its invoicing functions (editing commercial documents, converting a quote into an invoice quickly, sending dematerialised invoices, etc.), ISAFACT can be used in your sales management to improve your customer relationship management and sales efficiency.

Benefits of ISAFACT :

• clear, regular monitoring of sales and cash flow, including customisable statistics,
• marketing and communication functionalities (emailing, qualification of your customer and prospect base, for example),
• a team of 47 trainers available to you, near you.

Sellsy Invoicing

Sellsy Invoicing, available as a complement to Sellsy CRM, enables you to create commercial documents automatically and quickly. You can speed up your sales thanks to customisable documents and secure electronic signatures.

Advantages of Sellsy invoicing :

• product catalogue management,
• tracking of opening and reading times,
• online payment with PayPal, Atos, Stripe or Gocardless,
• recurring billing management.

See all software Billing and Invoicing

Invoice easily with customised invoicing software

Invoicing is no longer a problem for entrepreneurs and small businesses. There is now a wide choice of tools to help you forget about Excel and professionalise your invoicing. Not only will you ensure that your invoices comply with legal requirements, but you'll also benefit from other functions to help you manage your business more effectively (CRM, stock management, etc.).

Whichever solution you choose for producing your quotes and invoices, the important thing is that it is tailored to your business, in terms of functionality, interconnections with other tools and price. Whatever the case, the return on investment of this software makes it a wise choice.

How do you manage your invoicing? Do you have any feedback to share?