I need help finding solutions for "very" small business recurring invoicing. I currently have 5 clients and need to invoice monthly. I would
Answers
It may be too early for you to look at an automated solution. Traditionally most small companies start with shrink-wrapped
There are benefits to systems – greater visibility into your information, greater consistency in your approach to business needs, better audit compliance, scalability for your organization, and productivity when manual systems become unwieldy. There are some business changes that go along with these benefits you need to understand and embrace as part of this change. These changes include more structure to your business transactions and your business process as well as a focus on consistency and repeatability.
One reason it may be too early to consider a software solution with five customer recurring invoices is the greater structure required with such a system. With five customers you can review and update your spreadsheet easily. At one hundred customers even simple renewals become complex to manage well.
Reasons to look at a system now would include potential for rapidly scaling your organization, significant complexity in your monthly renewals (usage based combined with subscriptions or milestones), or outside investors in your company who want the assurance that comes with a systematic approach to managing your billing processes.
I agree with the comment above. If the invoiced amount is the same each month you can se up a recurring journal entry which automatically posts at the same time each montyh (each customer can have a different date if need be).
For ~$25/month you can use Freshbooks or similar types of on-line accounting (full or partial) systems. Many of them have recurring invoice sub-systems.
But, in reality, if you are producing 5 invoices per month, why spend the money, use a spreadsheet or word processor to create the invoice and e-mail it.
I too agree with the comments above. I would suggest looking at www.bill.com. This is a paperless AP and AR system that syncs with
If you're billing your customers by credit card, you should take a look at Recurly.com. I'm biased, but I think it's a pretty good solution, especially once you start developing a significant customer base.