CONTRIBUTED FEATURE: It’s critical for businesses of all sizes – from multinational corporations to freelancers working from home – to have an invoicing system that’s properly set up and functional. It’s the only way for you to remain stable and ensure your business keeps moving forward.
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The best way to do this is to create a centralised record of all your invoices and payments. You need a system that includes a professional invoice template, a record of all income expected and paid, and a schedule to ensure you stick to a standardised process.
When you have a proper centralised system for monitoring client payments with a professional invoice template, your business will flourish. Having the ability to easily create, send, and track invoices makes running a business so much simpler, and allows you to focus on other tasks that can facilitate growth.
Benefits Of a Centralised Record
There are a number of great benefits to getting your business organised with invoicing. These include:
- Better Cash Flow Management
With a proper system and schedule for invoicing and chasing payments, you’ll see that the cash flow in your business is consistent and fruitful. This is because you’ll be able to send out your invoices in a timely manner, and have the payment terms clearly stated on them.
You’ll also be more aware of when payments are due, allowing you to send out reminders and notices of payments that are past due. Your entire operation will become more efficient.
- The Ability To Spot Trends With Clients
When you’re tracking payments from your clients, you can see who regularly pays early or on time, and who the late payers are. With this information, you can stay on top of those clients who regularly need chasing and potentially implement penalty fees for late payments. If a client is consistently causing issues with payment, you may want to consider ending your business relationship.
There are other trends that you can identify too, such as when clients have busy periods. With this information, you can plan ahead to accommodate them in your schedule.
- Data To Help You Forecast
On the topic of planning ahead, when you have a centralised list of all your invoices and payments, you can start to track the peaks and troughs of your income over time. For example, if your business is seasonal, you can see which clients disappear as the weather changes and then come back again later in the year.
If you want to keep your business going strong or growing, you need to have access to past data. Your centralised invoicing system will provide all the data you need to help you forecast your financial year.
- A Professional Look For Your Company
Finally, a good billing system is crucial for any business that wants to be taken seriously and create a solid brand identity. Well-designed, consistent invoices sent out timeously will immediately make your business look far more professional. They will also make clients more likely to pay you on time as they’ll have greater respect for your business.
Steps For Getting Organised
A centralised and organised invoicing system doesn’t mean that you need to pay for accounting software or hire a bookkeeper. There are plenty of free options available online, and you may even find that the software you already have on your computer is all that you require. The key is to get organised and create a system and process that ticks the right boxes.
- Choose A Numbering System
Any invoicing system needs to start with a way to track invoices. A numbering system is the best way to do this. Each invoice you create must have a unique code or number assigned to it. You can start with Invoice 1 and go up from there. If you want a more in-depth numbering system, you can assign clients a code and include the numbering after that.
- Create A Central Spreadsheet
The next step is to set up a system that collates all your invoices in one place and lets you view the relevant information per invoice at a glance. One of the best ways to do this is with a simple Excel spreadsheet or a Google Sheet. You can have a tab per client, per year, per month, or whatever makes the most sense for your business.
The key information to include here is the unique code for the invoice, the client the invoice is for, the amount of the invoice, the date the invoice was created and sent, as well as the date the invoice was paid. Now, you can immediately see if there are outstanding payments and if any clients are running late.
Using a spreadsheet also makes adding up the totals of your invoices easy. The built-in calculation functions remove the chance of errors creeping and are quick to implement.
- Set Up Your Invoice Template
Using a free invoice template PDF is the key to creating a professional-looking document that streamlines your payment system. You can use a spreadsheet or a document to build your invoice, and one of the many free templates available online. All you need to do is find a template that suits your business needs and then customise it for your company.
Once you have your invoice template set up, you’ll create a feeling of consistency for your billing system and you won’t omit any important details as they’re pre-saved.
- Build A Schedule For Invoicing
To truly stay on top of your invoicing, you need a schedule for when you create invoices and send them out to clients. It’s much easier to have a set day of the week or month that you dedicate to invoicing. This ensures that you don’t miss projects or sales. It also creates a routine for you and your clients to follow and ensures they can plan ahead for payments, too.
- Set A Reminder To Check On Payments
After you’ve sent out your invoices, you need to stay on top of the payments. With each invoice you send out, you need to stipulate when the payment is due. It’s much easier if these dates are set to regular intervals like the middle of the month and the end of the month. Then you can set aside time just before these dates to check which payments have come in and which clients you need to send personal reminders to.
Stay On Top Of Your Payments
When you have a proper centralised system for monitoring client payments with a professional invoice template, your business will flourish. Having the ability to easily create, send, and track invoices makes running a business so much simpler, and allows you to focus on other tasks that can facilitate growth.
