Best Billing and Invoicing Software

Improving your billing and invoice workflow is easier than you think. We’ve found in our research that Bill.com is the best software for most users. It’s a platform that makes it as simple to automated your processes as it is to send invoices or payment to anyone your organization works with.

The Best Billing and Invoicing Software For Most

Making the jump to billing and invoicing software shouldn’t make you feel like you have to completely reappraise your tech stack. Not only do you get a simple-to-set-up way to bill, invoice, and pay clients, vendors, and contractors with Bill.com, but you get software that plays very nicely with the accounting software you already have in place.

And Bill.com doesn’t skimp on features. Get automation features, deep customization, and tracking on every plan they offer. There’s no forcing you to choose a package that fits your needs from a wide array of plans. You get exactly what you need from Bill.com with no worry that you’ll outgrow the platform or be forced into an eventual upgrade.

The Best Billing and Invoicing Software Options to Consider:

1. Bill.com – Best for most
2. FreshBooks – Best for unlimited invoicing and estimates
3. Wave – Best for small businesses
4. Hiveage – Best online payment gateways
5. BQE Core – Best all-in-one accounting and invoicing software
6. AND.CO – Best billing software for freelancers
7. Invoice2go – Best for mobile invoicing

When it Makes Sense to Invest Into Billing and Invoicing Software

If you send customers billing for products or services you need invoicing software.

This solution is extremely popular in the B2B space. 

Take a moment to assess your current billing and receivables collection process.

How efficient is it?

Are you printing and mailing invoices to customers?

Does your business fax bills to clients? If yes, we need to be forward here.

These methods are extremely outdated.

Some of you might be using spreadsheets to manually generate invoices to send via email.

Even though email is more modern, this process still isn’t as effective as using billing and invoicing software.

In addition to B2Bs, we strongly recommend billing and invoicing software to medical professionals, service businesses, and freelancers.

Billing and invoicing software is also ideal for businesses with recurring billing cycles. 

Certain organizations in the B2C space might not need billing and invoicing software just yet.

It’s not at all common for retailers to bill customers at a later date for product purchases.

But B2C service businesses, like cleaning companies or plumbers, could definitely benefit from an updated billing solution. 

#1 – Bill.com — The Best Billing & Invoicing Software for Most

When you want to get started with software that helps your billing and invoicing, it’s important that the platform is easy to set up yet powerful enough to add reliable convenience.

That’s exactly what you get with Bill.com.

On the simplest level, you can send invoices in three easy steps. Just pick a template that suits your brand, set the form up with the custom fields you need, and then send them either by email or traditional mail.

It’s that straightforward. And you can choose to send with a click of your mouse or schedule the invoice to send at a date and time of your choosing.

When the client pays by credit card or ACH, you’ll get the funds in your bank account within two to five business days. With ACH, you’ll pay a flat rate of 49 cents per payment, so there’s no worries about larger payments costing you more.  And there’s even a flat-rate option for your clients to send payments that will arrive the same or next business day.

But you can take the Bill.com platform a level deeper with ease, too.

Options for automated sending and recurring sends, client reminders, and even autopay make your accounts receivable practically run on autopilot. And Bill.com easily syncs with your bookkeeping software of choice, keeping everything about your financials up to date.

Bill.com even makes it easy to pick out a package that’s right for you. If you only need to pay or get paid via the platform, you can pay as low as $39 per user per month. If you want it to sync with QuickBooks, Xero, or other accounting software or need more control over user roles, just pay $10 more per user per month for Bill.com’s Team plan.

Need to cover both accounts payable and receivable? Get it all in one package for $69 per user per month. If you’re a larger operation with need to integrate with large-scale accounting software, opt for the custom-priced Enterprise plan.

Any way you slice it, Bill.com will create better billing and invoicing processes for your company or organization.

Get started with Bill.com on a 30-day free trial today.

#2 – FreshBooks — The Best Price for Unlimited Invoicing & Estimates

FreshBooks is an all-in-one accounting solution with built-in billing and invoicing functionality.

It’s a popular choice for businesses across all sizes. Plus the versatility available to increase your accounts receivable prowess is at your fingertips.

What we love about this software is self-employed individuals to small businesses, agencies, and larger businesses, can use FreshBooks. With FreshBooks you don’t have to fit your business inside their platform—their platform transforms your billing and invoicing requirements into exactly what you need.

The software makes it easy for anyone to create a professional-looking invoice, fast and efficiently. You can also use FreshBooks for online payment acceptance via credit cards, ACH, Apple Pay, and more.

FreshBooks lets you track billable hours, collect deposits, track expenses, and send estimates. It also comes with project management and team collaboration tools, all in a single solution. 

Here’s a quick overview of the FreshBooks plans and pricing:

• Lite — $6 per month
• Plus — $10 per month
• Premium — $20 per month
• Select — Custom pricing

The Lite plan only supports five billable clients, but that number jumps up to 50 at Plus, and 500 at Premium. Adding team members to your plan will cost an extra $10 per month.

All plans come with unlimited invoices, unlimited estimates, unlimited time tracking, and unlimited expense tracking.

That’s a huge benefit. So, if you have a regular stable of only five clients, you can settle for the Lite plan and never have to worry about outgrowing it.

Or, if you’ve got a larger client base, know that you can send as many invoices and estimates as you’ll ever need on the higher FreshBooks packages.

For a limited time, FreshBooks is offering 50% off your first three months as a new customer. You can try FreshBooks risk-free today, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

#2 – Wave — Best Billing and Invoicing Software For Small Businesses

Wave makes financial software for small businesses and entrepreneurs super easy to use. 

As a complete accounting solution, Wave does much more than just billing and invoicing. The software makes it easy for you to track income, expenses, receipts, and manage payment acceptance from a single platform. 

Best of all, Wave accounting tools are 100% free. 

You’ll only pay for payment acceptance on a per-use basis. The software accommodates credit card processing for Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex, as well as bank payments via ACH transfer. 

Here’s a look at all of the free features you’ll get when you sign up for Wave:

• Unlimited invoicing
• Recurring billing
• Automated reminders
• Manage invoices on the go with Wave mobile app
• Invoice notifications
• Unlimited income and expense tracking
• Track sales tax
• Accounting reports
• Unlimited bank and credit card connections
• Unlimited receipt scanning

With Wave, there are no monthly fees, setup fees, or hidden costs. It’s easy to create professional invoices and get paid online with this software, even if you don’t have technical skills. 

Get a demo of Wave today —it’s free. 

#3 – Hiveage — The Best Online Payment Gateways

Hiveage is an online invoicing software trusted by 65,000+ businesses across the globe. The platform makes it easy to manage your customers, money, and get paid quickly with professional invoices.

You can use Hiveage to manage subscription billing, recurring invoices, quotes, estimates, time tracking, mileage expenses, detailed financial reports, and more.

What really makes Hiveage stand out from the crowd is its payment gateway integrations. Most billing and invoicing solutions have some form of online payment acceptance, but Hiveage supports more than a dozen different gateways, including:

• Stripe
• PayPal
• Braintree
• Authorize.net
• 2Checkout
• Pin Payments
• WePay
• Coinbase
• Razorpay
• Paymentwall

All Hiveage plans come with unlimited invoices, unlimited estimates, unlimited time tracking, and unlimited expense tracking. 

The software is 100% free for businesses with up to 5 clients. If you’re billing more than five clients, paid plans start at $16 per month for up to 50 clients. Hiveage has other plans to support up to 250 and 1,000 clients as well. These cost $25 and $42 per month, respectively. 

Try Hiveage free for 14 days. 

#4 – BQE Core — Best All-in-One Accounting and Invoicing Software

BQE Core is more than just a billing and invoicing solution. It’s a complete platform for managing your entire business in a single place.

The software has features for accounting, time and expense tracking, project management, reporting, human resources, and more.

I like BQE because they offer industry-specific solutions as well. They provide billing and invoicing tools for businesses like architects, engineers, consultants, accountants, legal professionals, and government contractors.

The online invoicing tools come with features and benefits like:

• Automated billing
• Custom invoice templates
• Multiple contract types (hourly, fixed, cost plus, unit cost, percentage, etc.)
• Recurring invoices
• Billing schedules
• Split billing
• Workflow approvals
• ePayments

All of your billing and accounting features can be managed from the simple BQE mobile app. 

Contact the BQE sales team to request a free quote within 30 minutes. Since BQE Core is priced per module, you’ll only pay for the features that you actually need. Sign up today to start your free trial; no credit card required.

#5 – AND.CO — Best Billing Software For Freelancers

AND.CO is a bit unique compared to the other platforms on our list. This solution is built specifically for freelancers.

It’s trusted by 400,000+ freelancers and businesses worldwide.

AND.CO is more than just an online invoicing tool; it’s a complete bookkeeping system and product suite for freelancers. In addition to the invoicing features, the software supports proposals, contracts, time tracking, payments, expenses, task lists, and reporting.

You can easily automate your workflows with a smart invoicing system to ensure timely payments. 

Use AND.CO to get paid with Stripe, all major credit cards, ACH transfers, and more. 

Customizing your invoices with AND.CO is easy. You can add custom branding, attach files, apply custom discounts, and charge for billable hours with integrated time tracking. AND.CO also supports recurring invoices, so you can set it and forget it.

AND.CO’s pricing is simple and straightforward. The software costs $18 per month, which gives you access to all of its features and supports unlimited clients. Your subscription is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

There’s a free plan for one client, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Consider this version an extended free trial.

#6 – Invoice2go — The Best For Mobile Invoicing

Invoice2go is a billing and invoicing app built for independent contractors and small businesses that work on the road. If you’re rarely in your office but still want to manage your invoices remotely, this app is perfect for you.

You can use Invoice2go to generate invoices on the spot, as soon as you complete a job. This makes it a popular choice for electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, skilled laborers, and other contractors.

You can also use Invoice2go to send estimates, track billable hours, track expenses, and accept online payments.

The software goes above and beyond by providing you with valuable business performance insights as well. You can easily understand how your business is doing at a glance with graphs and visual reports. 

Invoice2go has plans to accommodate businesses of all sizes. 

• Lite — 1 user and 50 invoices
• Standard — 1 user, 200 invoices, and 200 estimates
• Advanced — 2 users, 400 invoices, and 400 estimates
• Unlimited — 5 users, and unlimited invoices and estimates

All plans support payment acceptance from debit cards, credit cards, and PayPal. Pricing is not available online, but your subscription is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Methodology For Choosing The Best Billing and Invoicing Software

With so many billing and invoicing solutions on the market today, finding the best option for your business can feel a bit overwhelming. To ease the buying process, we’ve narrowed down the top features and considerations that must be evaluated as you’re shopping around.

I’ll explain them in greater detail below, so you can weigh these factors according to your personal needs.

Integrated Payment Acceptance

Sending digital invoices is just one component of billing and invoicing software. You also want to make sure that those invoices turn into fast payments. 

The best billing and invoicing solutions support payment acceptance as well. Some have these tools built-in out of the box, others integrate with third-party payment gateways. 

Not only will online payment acceptance help you get paid faster, but it also makes things easier for your customers. 

Accounting Features

It’s rare to see a platform that’s strictly built for billing and invoicing without additional features. In fact, most of the software in our guide are all-in-one accounting solutions.

These tools will have features for things like expense management, time tracking, reporting, and more.

In addition to traditional accounting benefits, look for other features like the ability to send estimates, contracts, or collect deposits for your invoices. Mobile invoicing is another top feature to look for, especially if you’re always working on the go.

Some platforms will even have extra features for team communication and project management, although this isn’t a must-have for every business.

Client List

It’s common for billing and invoicing software subscriptions to be based on the number of clients you have. So make sure you understand these restrictions as you’re shopping around and comparing plans.

For example, you could find a cheap plan that only allows you to bill five clients per month. That might be fine for you now, but what happens when you expand and have ten clients later this year? Is it easy to upgrade and change accordingly?

For scaling businesses, there are plenty of unlimited options to consider, some of which are free.

Customization and Automation

Creating a professional invoice with your company’s branding is extremely important. Customization is especially crucial for businesses providing a wide range of products and services to their customers. There’s not necessarily a “one-size-fits-all” invoice in those scenarios. 

Take advantage of the free trials and demos to see how you can make adjustments to your invoices.

Once you have those set up, the best billing and invoicing solutions will make your life easier with automation. This is great for things like recurring invoices, payment reminders, or turning approved estimates into invoices. 

Summary

What’s the best billing and invoicing software?

It’s tough to name just one as the best overall. With that said, our research and testing process narrowed our top picks down to the six options listed above.

Use the methodology and recommended use cases in this guide to find the best billing and invoicing software for your business. I made sure to include something for everyone on our list.