Invoicing

For some small businesses and freelancers, getting paid means sending email attachments and mailing A4 pieces of paper. It sounds simple, but it can end up being a big admin job without the right help.

These four invoicing tools do loads of clever stuff. They create invoices, make sure they’re HMRC-compliant, get them paid faster, and even chase them up when they’re late.

This is more than just an invoicing tool, though the branded invoices themselves are pretty snazzy. Solna can track your income, help you get paid faster, and even reduce risk. It’s an invoicing tool with brains!

Who’s it for?

Freelancers and small businesses that want to make invoicing as reliable as possible.

Good bits

• Making an invoice couldn’t really be much easier, it only takes a few seconds. Your clients can pay straight from the invoice too.
• Automatic reminders mean you can chase clients without having to type out another ‘Did you get my invoice?’ email.
• Find out client risk with Solna’s credit check facility.

Not so good bits

• Multi-currency invoicing is coming soon, but there’s no date yet!

Free-o-meter

4/5

Prices: £0 – £29.99 a month.

The free version includes 2 customers, access to 2 invoice templates, and your customers’ credit scores. The 3 paid packages give you invoice tracking, recurring invoices, advanced reporting, and more customers and templates.

Made by skills sharing platform Fiverr, AND CO helps you create invoices, proposals, contracts, and more. 200,000 businesses and agencies are already using it.

Who’s it for?

Small businesses and freelancers who want all their payment stuff in one place.

Good bits

• It’s a one-stop shop – invoicing, proposals, expenses, contracts, time tracking and more.
• Your clients can pay straight from the invoice.
• AND CO integrates with Slack, MailChimp, Shopify, PayPal and more.

Not so good bits

• If you already have an accounting tool with time tracking and expenses, this is quite expensive just for invoicing.

Free-o-meter

3/5

Prices: Full access costs $24 a month.

The free version doesn’t include very much – just the one client – but it does give you a chance to try out the features. The pro account gives you access to everything.

An automated invoicing and expensing app, Albert was built by people who’ve created apps for Natwest and RBS. It’s all mobile-based and designed purely for freelancers and sole traders.

Who’s it for?

Freelancers who want to fire off invoices quickly.

Good bits

• All the essential invoicing features – beautiful customisation, read receipts, and auto-invoicing.
• Even the free account gives you unlimited invoices and expenses.
• The expenses and mileage tracking features are smart and straightforward.

Not so good bits

• It’s all on your phone. That’s great for some businesses, but restrictive for others.
• Some features are missing. You’ve got fewer reporting tools and you can’t automate reminders.

Free-o-meter

4/5

Prices: The pro account costs £2.29 a month.

The free version gives you unlimited invoices and customers. The pro account doesn’t include much more, it just removes the Albert logo and lets you change the colour scheme.

This intuitive invoice tool promises to help you spend less time on invoices and more time being productive. It takes 60 seconds to create an invoice with Zervant, and you can send as many as you like for free.

Who’s it for?

Small businesses and freelancers that need to invoice online and offline.

Good bits

• Simple and quick. It’s nothing fancy, but it definitely gets the job done.
• Turn the invoice and payment data into reports you can track and understand.
• Send digital and paper invoices.

Not so good bits

• There are cheaper options out there for small businesses with similar needs.

Free-o-meter

3/5

Prices: Paid accounts cost £6 – £60.

The free account includes unlimited invoices, which is quite a lot to get started with. You can try premium out for free for 14-days.