People around the globe are either quitting or refraining from the typical 9 to 5 work, in favor of freelancing as it gives them a great opportunity to pursue their dream job. However, freelancing is not plain sailing as it seems, people can lose their sight of what they love since they get entangled with all the business related chores. “Jack of all trades, master of one”, yes as a freelancer, you should be competent with many skills but when it comes to invoicing you have to be crackerjack. So if you have decided to take the leap in the world of freelancing, you have to know, how to quote and invoice your clients, appropriately.
Most of freelancers are creative professionals or amateur entrepreneurs, thus they blunder with the financial side of business. In the quest to fulfill their dream, freelancers stumble upon invoicing which appears as a nightmare. Only good work is not going to get you paid, your fundamental source of income is invoice. You will be rewarded for your tough grind, only when you follow a perfect billing process.
Through this article, you can learn to invoice in just 5 minutes:
Be clear with your policies:
Clients hate surprises especially, when it comes across as shock. Any business would aim for timely payment and for that appropriate invoices are a must. You should be clear with your policies and mention it properly in you invoices, so that clients don’t get puzzled and pay you on time.
Things to consider in your invoice:-
- How much will your charge as your down (advance) payment?
- Within how many days the payment has to be made?
- How much late fees (optional) will your charge, in case of late payment?
- What are your modes of payment?
- How much discount (optional) you offer in case of payment before deadline?
How much to quote?
‘Never undercharge’, this is the golden rule of pricing.
- Never ever quote lower price to your client just to catch their attention, this can be a bad strategy
- Overpricing is also not a good idea, especially when you are a new to freelancing
- First examine the market, what is the pricing trend and accordingly charge your customers
- Determine whether you will be charging on hourly basis
Break down your services:
Whether you are following manual process or automated, divide the services and include details related to each service or products for customer’s clear understanding.
- Create different columns next to services to include the details associated with the products/services
- The column will include description of the work or product offered
- The date on which you worked on services
- Quantity of the products
- Cost of individual product/service
- Total hours worked on the services
- Subtotal
When to send the invoice?
As a freelancer, you can decide for yourself the best time to send invoice to your client.
- You can send invoice on monthly basis
- You can also send biweekly that is in every two weeks
- Sending invoice to your client on first of every month is wise and increase your chances of timely payment
- Whatever time you chose to send the invoices, make sure you send the invoices consistently, so that you get paid on time
Last but not the least- Use simple invoicing software:
If billing seems to be a tough grind for you then don’t worry, there is an effective alternative that will simplify your process, online invoicing software. If you are taking up multiple projects or finding it difficult to deal with numbers, you can make use of any convenient billing software that ease you job.
- Online softwares will automatically calculate and determine the cost of the project
- You can customize the bills and make it more creative to attract the customers
- Price of the apps will vary according the number of facilities it offers
- You can create accurate invoice in less time which is a great advantage for freelancers
Sending flawless invoice on time to your client reflects professionalism and results in prompt payment. Freelancers often struggle with payment process, however if they learn to invoice properly, billing can be a matter of just few minutes.
