4 Best Mobile Invoicing Apps

Why are mobile invoicing apps so popular now? What makes companies switch to mobile invoicing? Which mobile invoicing apps are the best? Read on to find out.

Times change. What once worked perfectly no longer suffices in today’s rapidly evolving digital age. Even if time and technological advances have not yet convinced a company to upgrade its processes, in many cases, the unwillingness to modernize can erode competitive advantage.

Invoicing apps represent one such digital age development that helps business administrators streamline processes and create efficiencies. This enables staff to concentrate more on core functions, especially in a small to medium-sized business where time is one of the most critical resources.

Read on to find out about the features of mobile invoicing apps, top reasons for their use and the review of best invoicing apps for small businesses.

What a Mobile Invoicing App Does

Mobile invoicing represents one of the simplest and most efficient ways for a business to get payment from its customers and/or clients. The business owner or accounts receivable staff use a mobile app to send out invoices. When the client or customer receives the invoice, they click ‘pay’ and settle the bill online using the payment solution.

Why Businesses Should Use the Best Invoicing Apps

Mobile invoicing apps provide a number of significant benefits to those who use them. Since so many small and medium-sized business owners already use mobile apps for some aspect of their business, they will be familiar with the technology.

Businesses report that mobile apps provide several significant advantages that make processing invoices easier and faster with much less invested staff time. These include, but are not limited to:

1. Save time over traditional processing. Owners or staff can create invoices anywhere, 24 hours a day, seven days per week, and even during holidays. Apps can store an invoice and automatically send it later if the phone is out of a service area. This saves time over catching up on invoicing only once per week or month
2. Clients will also appreciate the added convenience of making payments anytime, anyplace, and without having to mail a check
3. Added convenience for both company staff and clients mean that fewer obstacles and distractions lay in the way of getting paid more quickly
4. Options include professional invoicing templates and programs to allow users to craft their own invoices. Mobile invoicing apps also provide management services above and beyond templates found on popular word processing and spreadsheet programs
5. Using a mobile app connected to company email also simplifies reminders. They can be set as often or sparingly as needed.
6. Artificial intelligence functions embedded in mobile invoicing apps help staff to keep track of invoicing more efficiently. The app will automatically sort paid and unpaid invoices, among many other helpful features
7. The app automatically files and categorizes information, then allows for easy access with a simple search. No more rummaging through file cabinets or waiting to return to the office desktop for vital invoicing information.
8. When remote customers and clients use the app, they no longer have to share credit or debit card information with any staff. They will feel much more secure working with a mobile device since most will likely have a higher comfort level with online shopping
9. Using a mobile app also helps to ensure that your online payments comply with PCI guidelines governing personal financial data information
10. The most popular mobile invoicing apps also include features that help staff invoice the company for personal expenses on the road. They should include functions to capture receipts and other information while automatically categorizing information for user convenience
11. Can automatically calculate sales or VAT from percentages entered into the fields
12. Another feature of the more sophisticated apps lies in the ability of it to generate professional charts and graphs of company revenue and profit performance
13. Finally, many of the top mobile invoicing apps also include a free trial

These represent only a relative handful of ways that mobile invoicing apps can improve efficiency and productivity in accounts receivable and a number of other areas.

How to Select a Mobile Invoicing App

Choosing the right mobile invoicing app involves insight into company operations and research into which products best meet staff needs.

Gaining insight will come from owners and staff going over important questions about the company, how it does business, and the methods by which they process invoices.

Some questions that should come up include:

1. How often will the owner or staff conduct business in the field?
2. Do field and remote business often involve concluding sales?
3. What is the volume of invoices in a given week or month?
4. Could competitors who adopt mobile invoicing app use gain a substantial advantage in reduced costs and heightened efficiencies over this company?
5. Does the company already invest too many limited resources into the invoicing process?
6. Could a mobile invoicing app and all of its features save significant time and money over current processes?

These and other questions will help the leadership team to determine if they need a mobile invoicing app. Getting down to specifics can also narrow the field of possibilities when it comes to selecting the best app.

Each has its own list of features designed to support its clients’ invoicing and other operations.

Different apps will work best with different companies. The key question is, which app will best suit the widest variety of operations and will also grow along with the business.

Best Invoicing Apps According to Experts

Experts at PC Mag recently evaluated several of the most popular mobile invoicing apps available. These included different services from around the world that offer a variety of feature lists. Their evaluation included stand-alone invoicing apps along with more comprehensive business software packages that include invoicing as part of their larger slate of services.

Evaluators found that FreshBooks served as one of the top invoicing systems in terms of convenience and also fewer drawbacks. While the product does not yet compute quarterly tax estimates and still needs some dashboard deficits cleaned up, it does offer substantial features, especially for small LLCs and sole proprietorships with limited resources. It also offers a convenient double-booking accounting feature.

PC Mag also rated Zoho’s invoicing apps highly. Although the software, for some reason, cannot interface with the same company’s inventory management system, it provides high levels of features and services for small businesses. Despite that issue, the program works seamlessly with Zoho’s other business software products. Evaluators appreciated Zoho’s versatility.

Invoice2Go did not rate as highly as many other products considered. It offers very limited features at its lowest price point to provide an incentive for moving up the scale. One of the least popular features of Invoice2Go is its limits. At its starter level, companies can only send 50 receipts per year and even then, only to five different companies. Evaluators also found the billing structure confusing.

Why Billdu Is the No.1 Invoicing App For Many Small Businesses

While a number of mobile invoicing apps rated highly with PC Mag, Billdu received a top rating from the influential site ToolOwl.

Called a “highly modern invoicing tool for freelancers and small companies,” Billdu met a number of important benchmarks for performance excellence.

First, Billdu offers excellent versatility in terms of device types through which users can operate it. This includes both Android and Apple mobile devices, allowing users to operate the app anywhere.

Capabilities and supporting features include an easy to use dashboard that clearly displays features and options. Billdu also has a document management feature that keeps track of purchase orders, delivery notes, estimates, and the entire range of standard invoice types.

The “Pay Now” option offers significant convenience for both users and customers alike. It automatically will take a credit or debit card as payment. This eliminates the need to set up an ACH withdrawal or for the customer to execute a wire transfer. Paying the bill is as easy as a click of a button.

According to Business News Daily, one of Billdu’s best features lies in its offline mode. Rare among its competitors, Billdu respects rural-based businesses or staff who often encounter mobile device signal issues. Users can access important information, even when offline. They can also enter invoice information, which the app will queue until service returns and the device can send.

Information can be sent in a variety of file formats, including PDF, CSV, XLF, and many other types.

Other features set Billdu completely apart from the competition. Its ability to effortlessly use 16 different languages makes it optimal for international business applications. Additionally, it provides a means by which to set up a personalized business page within the system.

Billdu even offers all who visit their site an invoice-generating app for no cost. It works like spreadsheet and word processing program templates, but with more features and enhanced sophistication.

Billdu’s versatility, reasonable price, and ease of use have vaulted to the top of mobile invoicing app systems.