When you need to send invoices and bills to your clients, you may wonder: should I be using invoicing templates or online invoicing software?

Of course, invoice templates are fine. You download the Word or Excel document, you fill it in, and then email it. Or you print it out and then mail or hand it off to your client or their accounting department.

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And every time you do it, you’ll have to go through the same process. Sometimes you mess up the alignment, sometimes you delete a few things accidentally and have to load the document again and fill it out again.

And all the time, you may be wondering: isn’t there a better way?

Well of course there is!

Online invoicing software is not just easier than invoicing templates, it’s also much simpler. InvoiceBerry’s invoicing and billing software, for example, was made for small business owners and freelancers who don’t want to spend a lot of their day working on invoices.

So let’s look at some common reasons why people prefer invoice templates over online invoicing software—and why they’re dead wrong.

Reason #1: It’s fast and simple

Sure, it’s fast. Let’s take a quick look at the steps:

1. You go to your favorite template downloading site, enter your email address, wait for them to send you the link, and then you download it.
2. Of course, then you’ll have to find it in your Downloads folder and fill it in with your client’s information.
3. But before that, you’ll have to find your client’s information in your email or other documents (if you’re even on your computer), and then transfer that over bit by bit.
4. And then you’ll have to fine-tune the document, manually enter the date, invoice number (so you’ll need to go check the previous invoice you sent), the payment terms, the client address, and everything else.
5. Then, finally, you can email it to them.
6. But of course, you’ll have to find their email address and then write the text for the email.
7. And finally you can click send.

Every time.

How long did that take you exactly? 10 minutes if you’re fast.

Here’s the alternative: with online invoicing software, all your client’s information is saved on the cloud. That means that you don’t have to find or look for anything at all.

So here’s the truly fast version:

1. You log in to your InvoiceBerry account from anywhere and click on “New Invoice.”
2. Your client’s information is already saved, as well as the specific job you’ve just completed. All you need to do is enter the quantity (the amount of hours or products) and choose the date. Your payment terms are already there, as well as the applicable taxes.
3. Then you just click on “Create invoice” and that’s it.
4. Now just click on “Email Invoice” to email it to your client (whose email address is already in the system).

All in less than 60 seconds.

Reason #2: It’s free

Yes, invoicing templates are free.

Except for the fact that you’ll have to enter your email address each time you want to download the template.

And then they’ll send you an email once a day, once a week, once whenever with deals and offerings, which you’ll have to sift through in your emails.

Did you know that InvoiceBerry’s online invoicing software is completely free?

That’s right—we have a plan called “Forever Free” for one very good reason. It’s free. Forever. Plain and simple. No credit card required, no other commitment needed. If you never want to upgrade, that’s fine.

And just because it’s free, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do any real work.

You’ll still be able to use the full functionality of the software—creating & sending invoices with different invoice templates, customizing invoices with your logo, adding payment terms, sending invoices with or without expenses, sending payment reminders, creating estimates, setting up recurring invoices, tracking expenses, creating reports, and so much more.

And it’s all free.

Click here to get your Forever Free plan started today and see how you can send invoices in under 60 seconds.

Reason #3: More options

So the last argument is that you’ll be able to download as many different invoices styles as possible.

That’s true; but just take a look at your last few invoice templates: they’re pretty similar. Black, gray, and navy blue, with very little variety. In order to find more variety, you’d have to scour the internet and use more complicated software like Photoshop, InDesign or GIMP.

Or, you can use online invoicing software.

You’ll not only be able to choose from 15 different invoice templates to match your business, personality or mood. You’ll also be able to customize it as you wish.

You can add your own logo and look much more professional, rather than sending another generic invoice. You can change the payment terms, the text for the email when sending your invoice. You can change the late payment reminder and even add a thank you note, a discount or special message on your invoices.

And, remember, that’ll still only take you a minute or two, and then you can focus on the business of increasing your business.

Why online invoicing software really wins

It’s all simple, really. Yes, online invoicing and billing software is fast, simple, feature-filled and even free. But the most important part is that you’ll be saving your time.

When you’re a business owner or freelancer, you’ll probably be wearing many hats and trying to do as much as possible. Invoicing and billing is crucial for running your business, but there’s no reason to spend even more time on it than necessary.

InvoiceBerry allows you to do it all, from anywhere, within a minute so that you can get back to running your business, sending out great invoices and increasing your business.