How to send an invoice: simple steps for invoicing clients
Imagine if invoices came with a ‘Please Pay Me’ button… Spoiler alert: they practically can! Whenever many people think about how to invoice, they simply consider it as a regularly performed, useful function. However, the purpose of sending an invoice is not only in requesting the payment; it is also about making the processes of receiving the money as quick and efficient as possible. There is, in fact, a payment button featured directly on certain invoices sent with Enty. If you have such thoughts, it is time to change your view regarding sending the invoice altogether. In this guide, we will describe how to create invoices in such a manner so that they will not only request payment but will also receive it as well. So, don’t wait any longer - improve your effectiveness, eliminate strain, accomplish tangible results. Ready to send your invoices, save time, reduce stress, and boost cash flow?
Preparing the invoice
In order to effectively issue an invoice, you have got to produce a powerful and practicable document that incorporates all the necessary requirements. Creating such a document is essential not only because it will improve chances of timely receipt of payment, but more importantly, it will help maintain professionalism. So this is how you go about preparing such a document.
Include all necessary information
Your collection procedure during the invoicing stage should take maximum time minimization potential. To begin sending an invoice or seeking payments, all necessary information must be provided upfront. Such as providing the signed business letterhead at the top of the page that contains your name and contact, a logo, the address, phone and email. This information will help clients to recognize you fast and follow up with questions if there are any.
Then, proceed to give the client’s detail that is the client’s company name and contact person dealing with your account, as well as the billing address. Make sure you create an invoice number and savvy give the date when you sent an invoice.
Make a comprehensive list of services rendered or product or service sold in a better way. Avoid please, and make statements as to what you are issuing a charge for, whether it is for a specific project or for time spent working on the project. For instance, rather than say ‘design’ say ‘design of three pages static website for sporting goods department’.
Use a clear, organized layout
An invoice that is not complicated and has all the information in one area makes it easier for the clients. Create a chart with a service description, quantity or hours worked, rate and subtotal for costs incurred. Adoption of this clear structure avoids confusion and caters for reduced chances of delay in processing of payments.
Deduct all taxes where necessary and state the amount of balance and the date when payment is supposed to be made. Make details on your payment instructions in regard to paying methods used and whether there are payment delays or banks charges. Such information helps in clarifying things in regard to expectations and promotes being paid up to date.
Add your branding elements
The invoice must be eye-catching and blend in with the other materials used by the business, as it constitutes part of its branding. Use your company’s logo, brand colors, and selected fonts to strengthen your branding. Such attention to detail exhibits your concern for professionalism in all business areas.
Choose the right invoicing method
Was the relevance of this determinant in the invoicing process apparent? You may have one or several goals when invoicing your client. For instance, you may wish to get paid for your product or service in a timely manner, or to minimize the time needed to bill customers.
Online invoicing software
Opting for an online invoicing software helps in simplifying your invoicing in a significant manner. Some of the automated functions include track payments, reminder service by the platform, and use of already done templates. Other programs offer assistance in accounting, which makes it easier to oversee operations. In addition, online invoice to someone through Enty allows customers to pay immediately, reducing the interval before completion.
Clear information is essential to get paid promptly. Enty’s invoicing system enables you to customize fields and include relevant details for each client. With personalized invoice templates, your brand identity is reinforced while ensuring each invoice is clear, complete, and professional.
Email invoices
Invoicing through email should be straightforward in principle. Many companies have adopted this method. It all saves time. Company employees may prepare professional invoices, save them as PDFs, and send your invoices as attachments to emails, which they then enter. This makes tracking incredibly easy. However, occasionally an invoice email may fall into spam boxes, so be careful and DO NOT turn a blind eye if you do not receive a response. Follow up.
Traditional mail
Such invoicing has less usage currently however other businesses still choose to send paper invoices through the postal service. This approach has its benefits and is suited for clients who require physical copies of the documents or where there is a bandwidth problem. Conversely, greater consideration has to be given to the fact that there are extra inputs in terms of cost and time used in printing, postage and delivery.
E-invoices
Electronic invoices or e-invoices are formatted electronic files that are able to be automatically processed by specialized invoicing software. Such a billing option is quite favorable nowadays, especially in B2B relations. Sending the invoice that way helps, for instance, to cut down the chances of errors, shorter time to processes invoices, and generally optimize the entire billing cycle.
Key information to include in the invoice
It is advisable to send an invoice together with supporting documents justifying payment. Initiate by clearly marking that particular document as an “Invoice”. This enables your client to understand the document at a glance.
Your business information such as the name and contact of the company, address, phone and invoice number, and email should be easy to find. If you have a logo, attach it so that your brand can be recognized. Following that, provide your client's details that include the name of the company, address to send the bill, and the contact person.
Develop a system to assign a correct invoice number, each featuring a unique sequence of numbers so that each document might be signed by a different person. This allows you and your client to cross reference the particular transaction at a time in future and get paid easier. Other details that are necessary to provide include the date of the invoice. Such is necessary for issuing invoices and predicting shat their tends to occur concerning money management.
Sit down and write your payment terms, the invoice due date, bonuses for paying early, penalties for being late and what methods can be used to pay. This reduces confusion and increases the likelihood of receiving payments on time.
State those product or service being billed on. Also give their description, amount or hours spent on each item, price per each item and the total cost for every item. This reduces misunderstandings and possibly different conflicts.
Vicount the subtotal without any taxes or other incidental charges first. Follow with any amount of taxes by sales, value added, any shipping expenses or discount if any. At last include the amount to get paid together with all the particulars which is the gross amount owing to you by your client.
A notes section can also be provided which could include say thank you’s, reminders or additional information. By adding all those significant aspects you will make a convincing invoice which will make the working process easy and get your payments in time.
How to send an invoice via email
For those wondering why or how to send an invoice via email - this is often done to make it easier to get payments for the goods and services were rendered. Follow these guidelines to avoid delays in receipt and processing of your invoice via email.
Write a concise subject line
Your email subject line should clearly state that it's an invoice and include relevant details. For example, "Invoice #1234 for [Your Business Name]" or "Invoice #1234 Due [Date]." Having a clear subject line helps your client quickly identify the purpose of the invoice email and prioritize it accordingly.
Write a polite and clear invoice email message
When crafting your invoice email, start with a friendly greeting and express gratitude for the client's business. For example, if you are sending the invoice email about billing, explain how much is owed, and the due date for payment, and be brief and professional. Keep the language simple and specifically answer the questions asked. Be polite but don’t allow room for unnecessary topics in the conversation.
Use a business email address
However, things do not end with having a catchy subject line. If you want to keep a professional outlook and earn your clients’ trust, it is advisable to use a business email address when issuing invoices. Do not issue invoice via email accounts like ‘[email protected]’ but open an email address related to your domain e.g. [email protected]’’. With this approach, it increases credibility to your messages and it limits clients from having concerns about the authenticity of your company.
Ensure the invoice is easily accessible
When sending invoices, do not forget that one of the most appropriate way to send an invoice is as a PDF document. This format is suitable across all devices and email clients and helps maintain the original format of your invoice. Also, for convenience purposes, it could be helpful for clients to provide total outstanding balances and other pertinent details in emails. This will eliminate the need to go through emails and attachments to get the key figures which are not hard to recall.
Adhering to all the guidelines help in making the invoicing procedures efficient and ensuring that the payments are received on time. Make sure that your interactions are professional in nature and that your clients have no issues paying you.
Using invoicing software or platforms
The billing processes in business have been dramatically changed due to the invoicing software. It is a helpful feature that will also help to reduce the amount of time required to complete your invoicing processes and even the errors. With the correct invoicing software, billing is seamless, recurring invoices are easy to set up, and payment collections can be tracked easily.
Billing management, which is one of the main processes in any business enterprises, is made more organized and structured through invoicing software. Instead of spending hours on tedious manual data entry, you can effortlessly prepare and distribute invoices in a matter of minutes. Most platforms have a range of templates that allow users to upload their company’s logo and branding strategies for enhanced professional outlook.
A good invoicing software provides supplementary reporting and analytics features as well. Through these features, you are able to understand your small businesses finances more deeply. Revenue earned, payments received, and the most and least profitable clients and services rendered for your business can all be tracked. That information will help in strategizing the growth of your business.
One of such platforms is Enty - a comprehensive suite of tools starting with finances or invoicing and ending with contract creation - everything you need to stay on top of your back-office. With Enty, invoicing becomes a seamless part of your business operations. It allows you to create and send branded invoices in minutes, set up automatic payment reminders, and track payments all from one place. Enty’s platform goes beyond the basics, offering multiple ways to send an invoice, intuitive customization options that let you add your company’s logo, choose payment methods to get paid, and even schedule recurring invoices for regular clients. For any small businesses looking to save time and boost cash flow, Enty’s invoicing tools provide a simple, efficient solution to get paid and enhance both professionalism and profitability.
Best practices for timely payments
It’s not just enough for you to issue an invoice; you must follow up with the right measures designed to guarantee you are paid on time. The following are some of the practices best suited for getting clients to pay their invoices in a timely manner.
Offer multiple payment options
Having different methods of payments makes it simpler for clients to settle their invoices quickly. This can include credit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, and other digital wallets. By being flexible, you remove any reason that may cause a delay in payments being made. This not only helps in advancing cash flow but also improves customer satisfaction.
Consider early payment incentives
When discounts for early payments are offered, prompt payments will be made as well. For instance, prompt payments can be encouraged through offering a 2% discount if the payment is made within ten days time. This strategy can boost your cash flow and further decrease chase time across all clients. Ensure however that the discount offered doesn’t compromise the profit margin by an invoice large numbers of margin.
Set up automated payment reminders
This idea would work very well with regards to the problem that has been outlined - there is greater chance of payments being entirely received on time, through automated reminders. These should be sent a few days before the date the payment is due, on that day as well as a couple more if the payment has not already been made. These periodic payment reminders assist in ensuring that the clients remember the invoice and don’t have to inconvenience with a manual reminder.
Number invoices sequentially
Your invoices must be equipped with independent and constant invoice number. This easy work makes it possible to track payments and come up with order in the reports. Moreover, it makes you more professional and credible which could be an advantage in case of any audits. Use any invoice number to start but all the rest must logically be considered to be in the same chronological order.
Pro tip: Want to learn more about how to deal with a complicated invoice number? Check out this guide!
Follow-up after sending the invoice
Once you send out a receipt for an invoice, the responsibility is not on the client alone. The most significant aspect is that follow up with the customers in relation to invoices is essential to make sure payments are made on time and that cash flow in small businesses remains within healthy limits. This is how you re-invigorate your follow up procedure.
Set reminders for unpaid invoices
To maintain shelves of unwritten invoices, develop a unified format of recording those which have yet to be written. Scheduling a series of checks to circle dates regarding invoice due date would be sufficient as well. Utilize a payment column to wait to see if a payment has been made against a set date. Finally, send yourself an alert to see where things are on a payment. This is a better way that can allow for early resolution of potential threats and enable the business to get paid before the invoices are long overdue.
Plan in advance how to follow up on unpaid invoices. A couple of days prior to the expiration of the due date, send a gentle reminder of the upcoming invoice due date. After the due date has expired and the invoice has not been paid, do not hesitate to reach out polite through email or call. Remember to mention all the important facts such as invoice details regarding its number and the payment amount. Gradually, you may need to increase the frequency of the reminders and the aggressiveness of the tone as time progresses.
When an invoice is issued, be sure to always check its status whether the invoice is still issued, part payment has been made, or no payment has been made and it is overdue. It helps you focus on the next payment collector and how best to deal with him. The payment status flabbergasted your time as invoicing software updates the payment status automatically.
Utilization of these strategies can go a long way in ensuring that payments are made on time without alienating clients. The most crucial aspect of getting payments is the follow up and great timing of sending the invoice. Follow up is more about consistency and professionalism. And patience too.
Final thoughts
From the branding on your invoice to the payment methods you offer, every aspect of invoicing contributes to a smoother, more reliable payment experience. If you are able to successfully absorb these specifics of the business and master the art of sending an invoice, your organizational structure is likely to be advanced and receive steady cash flows as well as robust customer relationships. In either case, the recommendations contained in this brief guide will help you move in the right direction. It’s not just about getting the job of sending the invoice done, these recommendations will also serve to strengthen your standing and enhance your profitability. Don’t let your invoices languish anymore, act now with Enty invoicing software and you’ll see a big difference in your profitability.
