Payments and Invoicing Software
Payments and invoicing is a crucial part of business operations. When invoices are not processed on time, it can negatively impact your supplies and raw materials. Additionally, it can affect supplier relationships as well as your overall business performance. Thanks to technological advancements, digital tools are designed to make this process more efficient. Payment and invoicing software is designed specifically for this.
What is Payments and Invoicing Software?
Payments and invoicing software are digital tools designed to automate billing activities and payment collections. These tools simplify these processes and make complex tasks manageable for HR and the accounting department. Through these digital platforms, experts can automate billing, process invoices, accept payments, and create billing cycle reports. They can also help with storing customer data and sending payment reminders.
Payments and invoicing software also come with incredible customization tools. For example, you can customize your invoice reminders and create different schedules for each customer. These tools are important for any business size. However, they’re specifically designed for organizations in specialized industries such as telecommunication and manufacturing industries.
There are several payments and invoicing tools on the market, each with incredible features. These tools can be integrated with different applications, especially those used for accounting purposes.
Common Features of Payments and Invoicing Software
As mentioned, payments and invoicing software has several incredible features, in addition to being easy to use and powerful. The following are the common features of payments and invoicing software.
1. Accounts Receivable
The accounts receivable feature allows you to track pending invoices and add to what you are owed by your customers and debtors.
2. Balance Sheet
The balance sheet is a financial statement that serves as a snapshot of an organization's resources (assets, liabilities, and capital).
3. Billing/Invoicing
The billing/invoicing feature allows you to process bills and invoices. This can be combined with tracking abilities for outstanding payments.
4. Budgeting
This functionality allows you to plan and track budgets. This further helps in managing funds in different departments.
5. Calendar Management
Calendar management helps in managing personal or organizational contacts in a streamlined system.
6. Customer Management
Customer management functionality simplifies customer database management while tracking pending shipments and payments.
7. Expense Tracking
The functionality helps you monitor employee-related expenses including training, travel, and other costs. This helps you stay within the budget requirements.
8. Data Visualization
Data visualization functionality interprets datasets through charts and infographics.
9.Inventory Tracking
Inventory tracking helps manage the storing of business items and helps you stay on the desired inventory level.
10. Payment Processor
The platform can be integrated with external payment alternatives such as PayPal, Master, visa, etc.
Types of Payments and Invoicing Software
Payment and invoicing software are categorized based on the features they deliver. We have created 5 major categories of payments and invoicing software:
1. Cloud-based
This type of payment and invoicing software is often SaaS-based. The tool is designed for a small business needing more infrastructure and resources to deploy on-premise. Everything is done online, and the tool needs less maintenance.
2. On-premise
This payments and invoicing solution is designed for businesses with server infrastructure. The server infrastructure has the ability to host regionally.
3. Free Invoicing Software
Free invoicing software is another category of payments and invoicing software. This software category allows you to process billing, accept payment and send payment reminders for free.
4. Invoicing Software for Contractors and Freelancers
This category includes payments and invoicing software designed specifically for contractors and freelancers. The tool allows bank or debit payments without incurring any cost. It also allows ACH and credit card payments.
5. Invoicing Software for Small Businesses
This software category is designed specifically for small businesses looking to build their names in their industries. Like any other payment and invoicing tool, invoicing software for small business automates billing and payment processes. However, unlike free invoicing and software and invoicing software for freelancers and contractors, invoicing software for small businesses comes with subscription plans.
The Best Payments and Invoicing Software
Braintree has literally saved me hours of time every day since I started using it. As a freelancer, it’s nice not to have to worry about collecting payments, sending reminders for payments due, and building reports. Braintree takes care of all of this for me.
Lewis Kyota, Marble Solutions
Chargebee was a godsend for our SaaS business that juggles multiple clients. In our case, it’s proven especially useful for  managing recurring billing, subscriptions, and revenue analytics. We will forever be grateful to Chargebee for this
Destinee Moore, Dance 411
 I have used lots of billing tools that claim to do what Zuora does, but Zuora has proven to be the best. It’s just easier when I can manage everything in one place. This software has saved me lots of time and headaches over the last year and a half.
Dominic Pietrantonio, TechSuite
Benefits of Payments and Invoicing Software
Payments and invoicing software is known to automate and simplify complexities in payment and invoicing activities. The following are some of the benefits they deliver:
1. Accuracy
Payments and invoicing tools streamline accounting activities by minimizing mistakes and errors. The tool features templates to maintain accuracy across all accounting stages. The software also ensures that correct payments are made both inside and outside the organization.
2. Saves Time
Payment and invoicing software eliminates time-consuming manual process of processing payments and invoicing. This eases the accounting processes and ensures that resources are allocated appropriately.
3. Integration
Payments and invoicing software allows you to integrate with other CRM tools and websites, meaning you can run your activities without interruptions.
4. Professionalism
Payment and invoicing software helps in building the professional image of your business. These digital tools streamline and automate invoicing to ensure clients are paid on time.
5. User-friendly Dashboard
Payments and invoicing tools often have a user-friendly dashboard that lets users access important features at a glance.
How to Select the Best Payments and Invoicing Tools
Before deciding on payments and invoicing software, there are several factors you need to consider. A consideration of these factors helps you choose the right tool for your business.
1. Know Your Organization's Requirements
First, you must list your organization's requirements when choosing payment and invoicing software. Reviewing your current organization framework and payment alternatives is the first step.
2. Identify Your Integration Requirements?
After determining your organization's needs, the next step is identifying your integration requirements. Are you using separate billing and invoicing systems? If so, there must be communication between these systems.
3. Evaluate Your Budget
It’s worth knowing the costs you'll likely incur upfront. The tool should be transparent regarding the pricing to help you plan your budget accurately.
4. Compare the Features
Different software has different features. Therefore, compare the feature across different packages and determine your business needs.
5. Compare the Invoicing Solutions of Other Organizations
Before choosing a particular payment and invoicing tool, compare what other organizations use. If possible, contact accountants from other organizations about their invoicing tools and determine if what they're using suits your business.
The Bottom Line
Payments and invoicing software solutions are designed to automate your billing, invoicing, and accounting activities, saving you time and promoting accuracy.