Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices
Your invoice should be prim and proper, so that you can get paid by your clients efficiently. While invoicing is not a fun task, it’s a necessary one: by keeping clients informed of your expectations, you will get paid punctually and reinforce your professionalism. After going over some best practices for creating invoices, we’ll review some great (and not so great) online invoicing tools, so that you can spend less time creating invoices and more time doing the things you love!
So here are some general guidelines, best practices and examples that will help you make sure your invoices are up to spec.
1. Their Details and Yours
This is Mickey Mouse stuff, but you can’t afford to forget it. In addition to the client’s address, make sure to include the name of the client’s contact person who handles your account! A company with three employees can figure out what you’re doing; but in big companies, invoices get misplaced, especially if there’s confusion over who belongs to which project.
You’ll also need your company name, your name, address, telephone number and email address. If they have any questions about the charges, contacting you should be as easy as possible.
Design by Nancy Roy Creative | Full view
2. Itemized List of Services
People want to know what they’ve paid for. Most people will not pay for something described merely as “Design.” Tell them exactly what they have received: e.g. “Design of three-page static website for Sporting Goods Department.” Be as specific as possible. In five years, would both you and the client know what you meant by your description? Also, specify whether the charge is project-based or hourly.
Design by Hicks Design | Full view
3. Include Your Terms
When do you expect the client to pay you? What happens if they miss the deadline? To be able to send follow-up or overdue notices or to charge interest, you need a rock-solid paper trail that no one can argue with.
Design by Francisco Inchauste | Full view
4. Let Them Know How to Pay You
Do you want a cheque mailed to you, a money transfer, flowers? Be explicitly clear about what you expect and in what form. It is usually best to discuss with the client beforehand their preferred method or to come to an agreement about a method you both like.
If you want a money transfer, provide all the necessary information. Foreign transfers need more than your account number: in some countries, you need your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) or a Bank Identifier Code (BIC). International transfers also double-charge you: the client’s bank might charge you $20, and your own bank might charge you another $15 to accept the payment. Make it clear which of you will absorb these charges, and talk it it out with them. PayPal is another option, but you still get charged a percentage of the transaction.
Design by Epic Web Agency | Full view
5. Numbers and Numbers and Records and Books
Referring to “invoice #9048,” rather than “That invoice I sent you last month, I think on a Tuesday,” is much easier to track for both you and your client.
Assign numbers to your invoices systematically, consistently and chronologically. Some people number their invoices by year (for example, 2009043 would be the 43rd invoice of 2009). You could also specify a code for the project. For example, BRAINEOS06 would be the 6th invoice for the braineos project that you’re currently working on. Having an invoice and project numbering system keeps everything in line.
Design by Graeme Duckett | Full view
6. Thank Them, and Ask Them to Thank You
Money is often a touchy subject, so politeness about it is a good idea. Your clients are paying you money that they’ve earned with blood, sweat and tears, so let them know you appreciate it. You should also invite them to contact you if they have any questions and, more importantly, make it clear that you appreciate their present (and future) business.
Some people also welcome testimonials; for example, by adding, “Let us know how we did. Write a testimonial: info@example.com.” If you’re building your website’s testimonials page or want to complete the feedback loop, this is a great way to get clients to give feedback on your work. If they have suggestions for making the process smoother, it’s also a great opportunity for you to improve.
Design by BGG Design Studio | Full view
7. Don’t Forget: You’re a Designer
Imagine this, you’re at an expensive restaurant. Every detail is perfect: the food was fantastic, the service excellent and the atmosphere rich and plush. Then, you receive the bill, which is printed on cheap paper with low-quality ink. What would you remember about this experience?
Most people spend hours on their website design, business cards and resumes but then use a template for their invoice. The invoice is your last contact with your client, and it should share the attention to detail, branding and style of your other elements. By creating a beautiful, clear invoice, you are saying that you care about the little details.
Most importantly, make sure you have all the necessary information. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes and that your spacing is consistent. Customize your invoice as much as you can. Your logo is a must, but colors and a style that match your other branding items will make it a joy to pay (well, as much as is possible).
A vintage UK design from the year 1936. In some situations it may be worth considering sending a nice vintage design to your customer. Source.
The invoice is a boring document, and one often neglected. Andy Clarke from Stuff and Nonsense has had “fix up my invoice” on his to-do list for 10 years. This was a fairly typical response from many I had asked!
Jon Hicks lamented that, “The problem is that a lot of tools for invoicing make it quite hard to customize the template. I use Billings, which is a great app, but doing basic things like getting elements to line up require a pound of flesh!”
Further Invoice Design Examples
Whether you’re using invoice software or designing your invoice from scratch, creating a beautiful invoice is possible. Here are a few examples.
Design by Chase (holdsnowater) | Full view
Design by Cameron McEfee | Full view
Design by Thomas Maxson | Full view
Design by Microspective | Full view
Design by Julie Fitzgerald | Full view
Design by Stereotypes | Full view
Design by Veerle Pieters for Devia | Full view
Design by Ole Martin Buene | Full view
Design by Impulse Studios | Full view
Design by Sugar Rush Creative | Full view
Design by Yummygum | Full view
Online Invoicing Roundup
Designing and tracking invoices yourself is a lot of work. A lot of online invoicing applications would save you much time and keep you organized (especially designers like me, who would lose their head if they forgot to attach one!). Hundred of online services are out there. Here, I’ll review seven apps based on their ease of first time use, cost, customizability of the templates, usability and more.
Quickbooks Online
- Cost?
From free to $34.95 per month. - Free option?
Yes, for up to 20 customers. And a free trial is available. - Customized invoice design?
Changing the logo is a convoluted process (I ended up using Help, which detailed a six-step process to get to it), and the logo ends up only 1 square-inch. You can choose between about 13 different templates, but I didn’t like any of them. You can change the font and size of various elements (such as the title), which was nice, but the placement of some of the items left a lot to be desired. - Time to create a customized invoice?
The first time, I gave up in frustration. It wouldn’t let me set up a UK address, so I set up a hypothetical business, an option it allowed. The second time I pretended to have a business in Beverly Hills 90210 and managed to get in. It still took me about 20 minutes to get it together, having discarded my saved invoice a few times after trying to customize it. - Usability?
The landing page is okay, but the app itself is a bit crowded and disorganized. It tries to show you where quick start items are, but I felt lost. It is inconsistent too: some pages have an ugly brown header, while others had a newer design. - Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Yes. It shows a list of overdue invoices, and an automated email service has just launched. - Other accounting features?
You can track everything, I’m sure, but could I find anything? Would I even want to now?
Other pros?
It’s probably easy for people who are familiar with QuickBooks, because you can import existing books. It seems to solve every conceivable problem, so if you have very particular needs, this might be best for you.
Other cons?
This application immediately made me angry and frustrated. It also can’t be used on Firefox on the Mac (but does work with Safari) or in any country outside the US.
Simplify This
- Cost?
From $9 to $29 per month. - Free option?
Free trial. - Customized invoice design?
You can add a logo, but I couldn’t find any options for changing color or layout or even find a preview. - Time to create a customized invoice?
I gave up after 25 minutes. - Usability?
The logo is okay, but the spacing isn’t super-clean or consistent, and I was confused by which items were associated with which accounts and how to actually generate an invoice. - Recurring payments/track late payments?
Undetermined/Undetermined. - Other accounting features?
Undetermined.
Other pros?
It offers a lot of interaction: e.g. each item gives you a pull-down menu, where you can edit and set as “Contacted,” “Lost” and “Change to customer,” but I’m unsure what any of these are for.
Other cons?
Maybe I’m not very good at this, but I couldn’t figure out how to do anything. It shows a “How to” page before the interface; but, of course, I didn’t read it, and then couldn’t figure out how to get back.
Curdbee
- Cost?
Free, or upgrade for $5 per month. - Free option?
Substantial amount of features for free. - Customized invoice design?
You can add your own logo and change the header color. The design is decent but very limited. - Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes. - Usability?
Quite well designed and easy to use. A few things required extra clicks, but it never lost me. - Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Turns red, but is not actionable. - Other accounting features?
None.
Other pros?
I was pleasantly surprised by this little app. It creates a decent invoice and does it simply. It also has strong integrations with PayPal and Google Checkout to make payments even easier! And upgrading is inexpensive.
Other cons?
You get PDF functionality only with the upgrade; but at only $5 per month, it is definitely affordable!
Freshbooks
- Cost?
From free to $149 per month. - Free option?
Yes, a substantial number of features for few clients. - Customized invoice design?
Limited. You can add your logo and choose between two plain design options, which look a bit like Microsoft Word templates. - Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes. - Usability?
Nice and clean. You can also partly customize the colors and replace the logo with your own. Easy to navigate. - Recurring payments/track late payments?
Yes/Yes (can be automatically sent by email. - Other accounting features?
You can track expenses and create reports.
Other pros?
It has great, brief explanations for new users. You can customize the whole application to match your brand and specify permissions on tabs for clients and employees. Seems to scale well for big businesses. It also integrates 10 popular payment gateways.
Other cons?
I couldn’t figure out how to change my currency for individual clients. I might have missed it, but it wasn’t immediately obvious to me.
Less Accounting
- Cost?
From free to $24 per month. - Free option?
Yes, it has some invoice and reporting features for free, and a trial offer. - Customized invoice design?
You must create a template to make an invoice. You can add a logo, choose between three different layouts and change the colors. - Time to create a customized invoice?
Five to ten minutes. - Usability?
Simple and easy to use. Awkward placement of some elements, such as the permanent bar at the bottom, but you get used to it after 10 minutes. - Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Not yet. - Other accounting features?
Yes, you can track your business expenses here.
Other pros?
Getting started is easy because things behave as you would expect. It also integrates with 37 Signals’ management tools, FreshBooks and more.
Other cons?
When I wanted to create my first invoice, a template wasn’t available, so I created one, but upon returning, I found all of the information I’d entered so far for that invoice was gone! I hate re-entering data in forms (even if only for a minute).
Free Agent
- Cost?
$20 per month, with discounts for yearly subscription and referrals. - Free option?
Free trial, but won’t let you do much until you register your bank account. - Customized invoice design?
You can add your own logo and choose between seven attractive templates. You can’t change the color, but I found a template I was happy with. - Time to create a customized invoice?
Took at least 10 minutes; I couldn’t figure out how to get back into it because it required my bank details. - Usability?
Well designed and easy to use. Once I got around bank account entry problem, it was great. - Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/It shows a list of overdue invoices, and an automated email service is currently in development. - Other accounting features?
You can track all business expenses and do your business accounting.
Other pros?
Clear navigation and plenty of explanation for first-time users, with pull-down help bars in case you need them. You can also upload bank statements to track your invoices and expenses against your bank account. And you can customize the front page’s appearance.
Other cons?
Because I was just testing this app, I didn’t want to enter my bank account details. It’s a great feature, but for those who don’t need it or just want to play around, it’s annoying.
Invotrak
- Cost?
Four options, from free to $45 per month. - Free option?
Yes, but you can’t add a logo, and only 2 invoices, and two clients per month. - Customized invoice design?
They have the option to add a logo if you’re upgraded and the choice between 5 different template styles. They are very plain though, and non-customizable. I personally don’t like them at all! - Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes. - Usability?
It’s okay. Most things are easy enough to figure out, but they seem to have some weird ways of getting to where you want to go. Not a bad experience but not exactly drool worthy. - Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
No/Not that I can see. It turns the line red if it’s overdue, but there’s no actionable things here. - Other accounting features?
It has a punch-in system for tracking time.
Other pros
They make an effort to add helper text along the way, but I didn’t notice it until 15 minutes in.
Other cons
It doesn’t auto number the invoices, so you have to remember what the last invoice number you gave a project.
Blinksale
- Cost?
From $6 to $24 per month. - Free option?
A 30-day trial is available(a credit card is necessary). - Customized invoice design?
Nice templates, but you can also create your own CSS-based version! Yay! - Time to create a customized invoice?
Five minutes. - Usability?
Very nice and easy to use. - Recurring payments/actionable late payments?
Yes/Yes. It has a customizable email message for overdue notices. You can view all of your overdue invoices in one place and send each with one click. You also get history of when you sent your reminders. - Other accounting features?
You can receive Blinksale invoices from other companies you purchase from.
Other pros
A lot of explanation for new users, and the input fields show examples of data, making it easy to see what to do next. It integrates with Basecamp and PayPal. And sent invoices can be linked to your client’s own Blinksale account.
Other cons
You can’t test this application without submitting your credit card details, even for the free trial. You also can’t create PDFs on the “Bronze” plan (the ideal plan for part-time freelancers). Finally, it doesn’t automate the numbering of your invoice IDs (although it tells you your last one).
Related posts
You may be interested in the following related posts:
- Freelance Contracts: Do’s And Don’ts
- How To Respond Effectively To Design Criticism
- How To Identify and Deal With Different Types Of Clients
- How To Persuade Your Users, Boss or Clients
(al)
Vince
November 5th, 2009 12:28 pmGreat post guys. Lots of inspiration and tips to find in these invoices. Thanks for mentioning us too ;)
Charel
November 5th, 2009 12:32 pmHey folks, nice post but I’m missing Bamboo Invoice , a Invoicing System written in PHP built on CodeIgniter and developed by Derek Allard, an open Source System to manage your clients/invoices
Regards.
Akil
November 6th, 2009 9:03 amYes, Bamboo Invoice ROCKS! I’ve been using it now for about a year and I must say that mr. Derek Allard has done an excellent job!!!
Tristan
December 6th, 2009 9:44 pmI’ll give Bamboo Invoice another shout out. It’s a pretty nice piece of software.
Steveo
January 9th, 2011 3:41 amFirstly an excellent article, some real design flair gone into those designs, really impressive stuff!
And re: Charel’s comments – yeah agreed bamboo invoice isn’t a bad shout, some other excellent invoicing tools missed as well, such as:
https://www.paperfreebilling.co.uk/
http://www.cannybill.com/
http://invoicemachine.com/
Matthias
November 5th, 2009 12:33 pmI definitely love the idea of seeing the invoice as a piece of design. Great inspirations so far – I am going review my invoice design for sure quite soon.
Mélanie
November 5th, 2009 12:49 pmI was looking for create ideas like those to remake my invoice!
I’m using On The Job from Stunt Software and i recommand it to create automatically your bills..
Keep good work!
Design Informer
November 5th, 2009 12:51 pmOh, wow. Great post. We all need to be better at invoicing and this definitely helps.
Vivian
November 5th, 2009 12:57 pmGreat post and samples! Thanks for featuring my invoice! One correction though. The link to my website says BGG Design Studio. And the name is BBG Design Studio. No big deal :) Thank you so much for including my design. I’m super excited!!!!!!
theComplex
November 5th, 2009 1:37 pmCongrats on the feature!
Vivian
November 5th, 2009 2:00 pmThank you!
Vivian
November 5th, 2009 5:00 pmIs it still possible to change from BGG Design Studio to BBG Design Studio? Please? Thanks :)
Lola Lillian
December 26th, 2009 6:53 amDo you use a billing program or a set template with your invoice, or do you create and send each one individually? I love the custom look of the invoice, but I wonder about manageability with multiple clients and/or a invoicing/accounting/book keeping software.
How does that work for you/or anyone else that was featured here with these great designs?
Currently, I do a custom designed quote as a pdf and send boring paypal invoices when it is time to collect and keep records of transactions/payments in email or in writing when I meet face to face with clients.
I am not thoroughly thrilled with my system and would love tips, if anyone reading this post has any to offer, I’d be much obliged. Or you can reach me via email to offer suggestions if you feel so inclined!!
ladylola25(at)gmail(dot)com
Thanks!!
& great post. I’m so inspired but a little halted on how to go about making changes!!
:-)
Lola
Josiah Platt
November 5th, 2009 1:09 pmI use Blinksale for everything.
It’s pretty much perfect.
<3
Paul Radich
November 5th, 2009 1:14 pmOne more service to ad https://billingmanager.intuit.com/billing/free-online-invoicing.url from the makers of quickbooks but it’s free and has amazing functions and produces invoices with all the functions listed above. It’s working great for me.
John Fredrickson
November 5th, 2009 1:15 pmWe use Invotrak at work and it’s awesome (because we built it and know exactly what we need :p).
http://invotrak.com
BJMRamage
November 5th, 2009 1:15 pmNice to see this. I redesigned my stale Invoice a few months back, making it less detailed and easier to read. I created mine in INDD and then sent to PDF and created a Form, so I open one, edit any info needed and Password-Protect any changes and send the PDF to the customer. Works like a charm and now my invoice matches my brand’s colors.
Brian Oberkirch
November 5th, 2009 1:18 pmKat: this is a fantastic write up. I do want to note that you can try Blinksale without entering any CC info. So, simpler to try it out now.
Thanks again. Good stuff.
Jack Savage
November 5th, 2009 1:24 pmIt’s an interesting post, but on the roundup of invoicing systems they all appear to have a monthly fee. Go to a download site such as http://www.versiontracker.com and you can find plenty of elegant and professional invoicing systems out there for a low one-time fee. I use Busy Bee Invoicing – http://www.bee-software.net/invoice-software
Kim
November 5th, 2009 1:25 pmGreat post! I am looking for an online invoicing application that supports vector elements. The examples are very nice but I wonder if the designers set them up by hand or if they use an application to fill them.
I don’t like the blurry logo when working with non vector logos in PDF’s. There doesn’t seem to exist an online invoicing application that supports vector logos so that it still looks great on PDF. Billings looks great and does support vector elements but it is an offline application http://www.billingsapp.com.
theComplex
November 5th, 2009 1:35 pmWell rounded post full of great examples and even resources. This was super inspiring and helpful. Thanks!
Eugenio Grigolon
November 5th, 2009 1:41 pmBeautiful words Kat, just what I needed. Thanks a lot for the effort to bring this up!
Bemoi
November 5th, 2009 1:41 pmthat is a very very useful article, i always was wondering about how to make a sexy look invoice to give to the clients, and now i have much more ideas than i ever imagine :)
Tai Travis
November 5th, 2009 1:43 pmYou missed the one that I use Creative Pro Office.
Its free, has excellent project management and time tracking features.
Invoicing is basic, you can only add your logo.
I can’t justify a monthly fee for some kind of online solution to billing. I would rather go back to running everything off Excel or stumbling through Quickbooks again.
Sean
November 5th, 2009 1:45 pmi use curdbee and love it.
Snowscan
November 5th, 2009 1:51 pmI use ZOHO invoice and I love it – simple simple simple
Leon
November 5th, 2009 1:55 pmNice guys, thanks for featuring our invoice design! Also really like BBG’s invoice design! We’re using an osx app to do our invoices.
Is it still possible to change Yummy Gum into Yummygum (1 word) ? Thanks ;-)
Vivian
November 5th, 2009 2:11 pmAw so sweet! Thank you :) I really like yours too! Super cute!
Smashing Editorial
November 5th, 2009 2:57 pmSure, just updated the post ;-)
TiCe
November 6th, 2009 2:20 amHello there Vivian
I saw an error on your invoice, you have spelled the word discription wrong (discritpion)
just a tip!
Two Socks - Graphic design and print
November 5th, 2009 1:56 pmVery Surprised BallPark didn’t make the list?!?
Istvan Pusztai
November 5th, 2009 2:00 pmJust wanted to add that there is also another service which offers online invoicing and tracking of payments (Paypal) called Invoice Machine ( http://invoicemachine.com ). They also offer an API to their services, so you can build your own interface to it, if you are so inclined.
Yoosuf
December 26th, 2009 9:29 ami am agree, one of Best Invoicing application in The Invoice Machine , simple and Maximum User-friendly as same like Apple Mac OSX system ;)
Johan
November 5th, 2009 2:03 pmIt is great to see some example invoices! I know others have mentioned some alternative accounting services, but since a good invoice starts with keeping track of your billable hours you must check out Harvest (http://www.getharvest.com/). It is not only a brilliant time tracking app, but it also makes invoicing a snap. And it has a widget that you can put straight on your Windows 7 desktop to make sure keep track of your hours!
Dan
November 6th, 2009 11:34 amI totally agree – I’ve been using Harvest for a few months now and love it. The ability to track you’re time via you’re iPhone or a desktop widget is very, very handy. Well worth the $10 per month!!!!
Tyce
November 5th, 2009 2:08 pmGreat article Kat! I personally use The Invoice Machine (www.invoicemachine.com) for my invoices.
Clean, efficient and allows for some customisation. The monthly rate isn’t too bad, and it sends automatic reminders / thankyou’s if you want it.
Girish
November 6th, 2009 12:05 amHi, I didn’t knew about invoicemachine.com.
Thanks – this seems great!!
Very nice article – as usual!
Frederick Luna
November 5th, 2009 2:14 pmIf you/we are a designer, every little piece of your job needs to represent you as well. great post :D
millinet
November 5th, 2009 2:18 pmas always great post
justhere
November 6th, 2009 1:54 amI agree. As always.
Gabe Diaz
November 5th, 2009 2:21 pm“The invoice is your last contact with your client, and it should share the attention to detail, branding and style of your other elements.”
So true! I use a more traditional style of invoice but after seeing these beautiful examples I’m ready to make some changes, very inspiring.
Vance Lucas
November 5th, 2009 2:25 pmAnother good invoicing option is InvoiceMore ( http://www.invoicemore.com ), although the invoices shown in this article look much better from a design standpoint.
Helen
November 5th, 2009 2:33 pmNo! Invoices have to be as ugly as possible = Olde and still valid knowledge of a designer.
But if you like a well-designed invoice with a lot of wonderful details, the kerning of the figures of the total amount thus for instance, your client can study and enjoy, then go for it! Don’t forget to give a little space to the dollar-sign, so your client can realize it is real money.
This Guy
November 6th, 2009 2:32 amWhat? Is that meant to make sense?
Only
November 5th, 2009 2:34 pmThanks…This post is amazing… It’ll be great if you guys can have a post for proposals…cause that is actually the main core thing from which a client analysis you and get to know your actual worth…
Ronnie Morales
November 5th, 2009 2:34 pmThanks for a great post. Now I’ll have to update my invoice.
Edwin
November 5th, 2009 2:48 pmReally nice post, didn’t know people are putting so much effort in the layout of their invoices. Makes sending (and paying!) invoices a lot more fun to do!
There are a lot of nice online invoice tools, I really like the approach the vendors are taking. I’m currently using http://www.moneybird.com to create and send my invoices. Really like it!
Adam
November 5th, 2009 3:15 pmAn invoicing app that I use, and definately should be on that list: http://www.getcashboard.com. You can create whatever design for your invoices (and other sendable stuff like reminders) you want.
Pummy
November 5th, 2009 3:40 pmI use http://www.tradeinvoice.com for all my invoicing, does everything i need!
Bijan
November 5th, 2009 3:44 pmHey folks as it was mentioned before it would be nice to additionally add open source solutions. Bamboo-Invoice for example is one of these solutions. Anyone knows another nice open source solution?
KR Bijan :)
Augusto Borges
November 5th, 2009 3:49 pmHello.
Do you know “Invoy” from portuguese software company Empty Factory?
Try it at http://emptyfactory.com/invoy
It is a simple, easy-to-use and beautiful software for Mac.
As they say: Invoicing finally made easy on Mac.
Max Quattromani
November 5th, 2009 4:26 pmGot to give a mad shout-out to On The Job from Stunt Software. You will be hard pressed to find a more intuitive time-tracking software program, and the customer service I have received from them was amazing.
rene
November 5th, 2009 5:17 pmsick to see nice invoices !!!!!!!
Darenn
November 5th, 2009 6:01 pmGreat post. Thanks for introducing some more apps. I’ve been using Freshbooks todate for my simple invoicing needs, but I think I have cheaper options available, especially Curdbee (funny name too) :)
I just checked their demo (http://demo.curdbee.com/) and looks amazing to me and hard to believe how they give all that for free. Thanks for discovering these new services for SM readers.
Keep them coming.
v-render
November 5th, 2009 8:33 pmI was searching for same kind of article and once again i found it on SM ..
u rock people .. very inspiring article. I am planning to change my stationary soon ..
this will really help me !
Ads
November 5th, 2009 9:28 pmGreat post – insightful, appreciate the ‘Round Up’…
gb
November 5th, 2009 11:02 pmTip: Make sure to check your invoice for adequate language and proper spelling.
Quote (from Stereotypes sample): “Wir bedanken uns über die Zusammenarbeit mit Ihnen und freuen uns auf eine weitere erfolgreiche Geschäfte mit ihnen.”
Wuhaa!
Andre
November 5th, 2009 11:28 pmVery nice examples :) I have to create a design for my invoices, this is a good inspiration.
Ben
November 5th, 2009 11:32 pmGreat post! I am just missing some software links to offline solutions. I haven’t found anything useful so far.
You really picked up beautiful samples.
Dagonet
November 5th, 2009 11:33 pmDon’t forget to putall the legal requirements on the invoice, in Europe this is especially your VAT identification. Your accountant knows the details.
axooh
November 5th, 2009 11:38 pmVery funny: I just redesigned my invoice template two days ago. And now to come right on cue, you publish such a great article on invoicing. I’ll add or change some details again :-)
Angels
November 5th, 2009 11:59 pmgreat post! I always use paypal but this one of mine is an exception. I’ve been looking for samples but none of them are good. This post is very useful for my reference :D Thank u!
Simon [billomat]
November 6th, 2009 12:13 amGreat examples! Love them.
Just want to mention our online billing service: Billomat (http:://www.billomat.com/), wich sadly is currently only available in german (We’re working on an english version).
But most of the above examples could be created with the new Word-based template engine of Billomat 2.0
sh
November 6th, 2009 12:25 amFor the German speaking market I am missing http://www.easybill.de (English version is coming) and http://www.fastbill.de. The solution of http://invoicemachine.com looks very interesting as well.
Jon Vaughan
November 6th, 2009 12:27 amThere’s a bit more to it than just invoicing, but if you are a small business you can do your books and get pdf invoices using http://www.bionicbooks.com (and it is free)
Lukasz Bachur
November 6th, 2009 1:05 amIt’s lovely :). The most freaky invoices I’ve ever seen!
Peder
November 6th, 2009 1:20 amI use http://invoicemachine.com
Great interface, easy to use and they also offer a free account (3 invoices/month) if you want to try it out first.
Muzi Mohale
November 6th, 2009 1:23 amI’ve been exposed to FreshBooks which restricts to 3 clients for their free option, while I’ve discovered CurdBee which enables 20 clients on their free option. Their premium option is still way too cheap compared to the others. I’m hooked…thank you Kat for sharing such vital resources.
ghismo
November 6th, 2009 1:27 amFor french freeleance, there is also http://www.monae.fr/ which is very good and not that expensive (free ~ 2.5€ ~ 4€ per month). Monae also gives a lot of legal advice for french workers and can calculate your benefits, taxes, and so on… Very easy to use, yet very powerful.
Andy Butterworth
November 6th, 2009 1:27 amVery interesting. Is nice to see how other designers do their invoices. The budget/finance/marketing areas of design are an area that are not covered that much on SM and I may address this with an article shortly.
Adrian
November 6th, 2009 1:38 amAwesome, I’m a beginner in all of this and I was just looking for an invoice system and it seems that some of you put real prices, cool:D
Mirko
November 6th, 2009 1:57 amThis is a great post. Nice examples. Great inspiration. Would like to see more posts/articles like that.
Dario Solera
November 6th, 2009 2:01 amI think that invoices should look like invoices. Remember that they are handled by accountants and managers and they’re not necessarily fans of elaborate designs.
Impress the client with the quality of your work, not with the design of your invoice, which should be clear, readable and look like an invoice and not an ad flier. What if someone discards an invoice because she didn’t even figure it was an invoice in the first place?
Steffen
November 6th, 2009 2:03 amThanks for this great post. These impressive invoice designs will make me redo my own templates soon!
Roan Lavery
November 6th, 2009 2:19 amThanks for featuring FreeAgent.
Just to clarify, FreeAgent does have more invoice customisation capabilities and you can even add your own CSS . In fact one of the invoices you’ve showcased above is a modified version of one of our templates.
You don’t need to add your full bank details, but because FreeAgent is an accounting system, we do encourage you to start using that side of it also. Perhaps we need to make that process a bit clearer.
Thanks anyway!
h1brd
November 6th, 2009 2:28 amFantastic that you got to show some of the great designs and styles top designers are using, really nice open door into the area with the reviews. Great post!
Edryd
November 6th, 2009 2:36 amSome will print and post invoices to clients but a majority will favour the pace and ease of firing their invoices off electronically. I use an online system called Woosabi.com to send and track all my billing.
Essential Considerations…
When designing your invoice, consider the impact of it being printed. Does your design demand too much ink? Does you design force multiple page invoices?
Aaron Spence
November 6th, 2009 2:38 amhttp://saasu.com will not only do your invoicing it’s a full online accounting package… free to use for up to 15 invoices per month. It slaughters Quickbooks & MYOB etc. I’ve been using it for almost 2yrs and LOVE it… so does my accountant :)
Aaron.
(Satisfied user only)
Ozh
November 6th, 2009 2:42 amProbably the best article here to date. Excellent pieces of advices.
Lakshan
November 6th, 2009 3:05 amNice Post Kate, thanks for mentioning CurdBee..We are already working on fully customizable CSS based invoicing templates, which would be more attractive for our clients.
If anyone likes to try out the fully featured CurdBee, visit http://demo.curdbee.com
Muzi Mohale >> Even in CurdBee free edition, you can have unlimited clients.
Callum Chapman
November 6th, 2009 3:07 amVery nice article! I need to design an invoice – I’m currently using a stock one from Adobe.com haha! Where does all the time go?
Maicon Sobczak
November 6th, 2009 4:14 amVery useful post! Help me to make my stuff most professional. Thank you.
Asbjørn
November 6th, 2009 4:48 amI’d also like to name On The Job. Great program for time tracking and generating invoice, but I’m missing the possibility to print the invoice on your own designed invoice. At least in version 2, haven’t tried v3 though. Other than that, great support and they’re friendly too.
Kevin Airgid
November 6th, 2009 6:45 amI typically don’t like “online” services. Something about “trusting” a third party with your clients billing info I just don’t like. If you use a Mac I think “Billings” is the best software. You can find it here:
http://www.billingsapp.com/
Out of the box is has very well designed template invoices!
Rival
November 6th, 2009 6:52 amOne word… AWESOME!!! Great inspiration… thanks!!!
MoshPitPrayer
November 6th, 2009 7:04 amLove it! Thanks for sharing ur ideas!
santiag0neira
November 6th, 2009 7:37 amIts really important to take care of everthing. Specially the paying methods and never to forget the invoice, its like the last flavor the client gets fro the designer.
http://www.aditivovisual.com
Aen Tan
November 6th, 2009 7:46 amI use invoicemachine.com. Blinksale invoices look terrible in gmail.
Kelly Watson
November 6th, 2009 8:24 amGreat roundup of designs. I would also add: be sure to itemize even the items that you through in gratis, if any, and then deduct their cost. This lets clients know the exact value of things that you might not always charge for.
Richard Tape
November 6th, 2009 8:25 amMr. Hicks is too much of a gentleman to point out that his company is called hicksdesign — all one word, rather than two. I’d imagine he’d very much like you to update it, also.
There you go, Jon – I’ll do your dirty work for you ;)
Richard Tape
November 6th, 2009 8:26 amOops, meant to say also that this is an excellent article – an invoice is all part of the work you produce for your client, so is worth taking the time over – it represents you and your company, just like your work does.
Really great source of inspiration, good job Kat
Ivan
November 6th, 2009 8:28 amGoo!
Mohawk
November 6th, 2009 8:30 amwow, thanks for this!
Dan Whitmore
November 6th, 2009 8:42 amExcellent post!
Dan
Sean Hood
November 6th, 2009 9:08 am£90 for a Scotch Egg. Wow, Pricey
Great post. ;-)
Marshall
November 6th, 2009 9:14 amLooks like I’m a bit late to the game, but you should also consider doing a review of an online invoicing solution called ReceivePay at http://www.receivepay.com
ReceivePay offers secure online invoicing as a plug-in for QuickBooks and Microsoft Word – for those that don’t use an accounting package.
Invoicing Specifics at: http://www.receivepay.com/Products/ReceivePay_Secure_Invoicing.aspx
It offers a large majority of the benefits you point out in the reviews you provide.
Brij
November 6th, 2009 9:57 amSuperb and Very Useful post specially if one is looking to set up their own business.
Tom Something
November 6th, 2009 10:36 amIf someone told me, “There’s a new article on effective, beautiful invoices for Web developers,” I would immediately know that it was from Smashing Magazine.
In the short time that I’ve been a reader, I have quickly become familiar with this publication’s style. You own your brand so well, that even the subjects are a part of it. Thank you for continuing to be a consistent comfort and inspiration in my workday.
Derek Bradley
November 6th, 2009 10:53 amHarvest is also a great option for invoicing and time tracking. Worth a look: http://www.getharvest.com/
Vailancio
November 6th, 2009 11:23 amThank you very much. Very resourceful. I remember searching for such articles long ago and did not find anything. But now here is it.
When we have Smashing Magazine, why we need to go to school? Much Much better and its free. ;D
Jon
November 6th, 2009 12:01 pmYeah I’m surprised, no mention of Billings? It’s an excellent program, if only because I don’t see the purpose in paying $10, $15, $20 a month or more when you can buy a great desktop application for $40, one time cost.
Praj
November 6th, 2009 1:14 pmYou guys seem to have missed CannyBill ( http://www.cannybill.com )
Excellent site and service.. Their integration rocks!!!
Kerri
November 6th, 2009 1:20 pmWow, it had never occured to me, until viewing all of these great examples, to put “THANK YOU” on my invoices, but now I feel like an ass for not having it! I just went into my invoice template and added a “thanks stamp”. I feel better now.
Great article.
A also use the Billings app for Mac and highly recommend it. Their template designer isn’t the most user-friendly thing, but the templates are infinitely customizable.
Stephanie
November 6th, 2009 1:55 pmI’m curious to know what programs people use to design their own invoices? I am using a sleek but generic invoice through Word… I would like to design a custom one but I’m not sure how to do it while still keeping it easy to edit text!
Andreas Ostheimer
November 6th, 2009 2:48 pmNice selection of online invoicing services. In Austria and Germany we use services such as http://www.easybill.at or http://www.easybill.de
Andreas
Joshua Sortino
November 6th, 2009 3:34 pmThis is a beautiful roundup of invoices! The best part is that I’m redesigning my company’s invoices this week. The article could not have been timed better!
Ryan
November 6th, 2009 4:46 pmI once found http://www.invoicejournal.com and it is just great but never gets talked about. It is 100% free and has lots of great features. It is definately worth taking a look at for those who want a free service.
theComplex
November 6th, 2009 6:30 pmLooks like Blinksale’s website doesn’t work?
ronihind
November 6th, 2009 11:21 pmThis is yet another great artice SM! I feel the need to update my invoice design. I have been procrastanating setting up a proper invoice system (rather than manually) for some time also as I couldn’t be bothered trial and error-ing across the recommended ones. But you have done it for me. Thanks!
bob
November 7th, 2009 12:42 amxero.com
Jetson Lee
November 7th, 2009 1:39 amAnother amazing article from the Smashing team. Always finding obscure graphic design needs and bringing it back to the forefront. I will be updating my invoice design this weekend!
Othella
November 7th, 2009 3:05 amThanks for this post: it reminds me that I should work on my invoice templates!
I use Billings 3 on Mac, and I highly recommend it! http://www.billingsapp.com/
Ben
November 7th, 2009 5:58 amExcellent article, to be honest Smashing Magazine is excellent too!
Carlo Rizzante
November 7th, 2009 6:56 amEhi guys, that’s very inspiring.
Thank you, definitely I’m going to think about a deep restyling ot my invoces.
Bill Broadbent
November 7th, 2009 8:02 amNow there are also mobile invoices. Mobile Invoicer lets you create an invoice on your phone and then you can hand it to your customer to let them pay immediately or your can email or text a link so they can pay on their phone or on their computer.
http://www.MobileInvoicer.com
As mentioned in the article, making it easy to pay is important and Mobile Invoicer lets you give your customers the option of credit card, PayPal or Google Checkout.