Invoice more to earn more: automate your invoicing

Easy invoicing- an impossible dream for a small business? How can you avoid months of waiting to receive payment from your customers, and free up time to continue developing your business?

This article looks at the difficulties faced by small businesses when it comes to simple invoicing, and advises you on how to achieve this with complete peace of mind. Would you like to continue invoicing using Excel? You can download our free invoice templates with and without VAT. However, please ensure that your invoices are correct!

To avoid errors and fines in the event of non-compliant invoices, appvizer explains the challenges of invoicing software. Choose an invoicing software that's easy and free, or at a lower cost, 100% online and available on mobile application. Your quotation and invoice management becomes child's play: you send personalized documents, get paid on time and centralize all customer information in one secure tool.

Read on to find out more about the benefits of automated invoicing:

See all software Billing and Invoicing

Invoice made easy: is it possible to manage invoicing quickly and simply?

All businesses need to invoice their customers for products or services sold. More specifically, invoicing is mandatory in the following two cases:

• for all commercial transactions between two professionals,
• for commercial transactions between a professional and a private individual, whenever the invoice amount exceeds €25 including VAT, or at the customer's request.

So how can you reduce the time spent on invoicing, without reducing your company's sales?

Mandatory information to be included on an invoice

As mentioned above, the law stipulates a certain number of items that must appear on all invoices issued by a company:

• the invoice issue date,
• the invoice number, i.e. a unique number based on a continuous, unbroken chronological sequence (source: official French public administration website),
• the date of the sale or service,
• the identity of the purchaser: name or company name, address (home address for private individuals and head office for companies),
• the identity of the seller or service provider: surname and first name in the case of a sole trader, company name, SIREN or SIRET number, RCS number in the case of a retailer and the town concerned, registered office address, legal form of the company, trade register number in the case of a craftsman,
• the individual VAT identification number of the seller and of the customer if the latter is a professional - this information is optional for invoices worth €150 or less excluding VAT,
• product or service description and breakdown (quantity and unit price),
• the list price, i.e. the unit price excluding VAT for products, or the hourly rate excluding VAT for services,
• the applicable VAT rate and the total amount of VAT,
• a discount, if applicable,
• the total amount to be paid, excluding VAT and including VAT.

If you fail to include this information on your invoices, you may be liable to :

• a tax fine of €15 per missing or inaccurate item for each invoice, capped at 1/4 of the invoice amount;
• a criminal penalty of up to €75,000.

Mandatory information for invoices sent to professionals:

• payment date or deadline,
• rate of late payment penalties,
• mention of the €40 flat-rate penalty for late payment.

Download your free Excel invoice template

appvizer provides you with two free invoice templates in Excel format, one without VAT and one with VAT.

Invoice template without VAT

Are you a self-employed entrepreneur starting up your business with VAT-free invoicing ? This template is for you:

Invoice template with VAT

For all companies that have to charge VAT, this template with VAT is made for you:

Best free invoicing software

Would you like to professionalize and automate your invoicing, but don't have the budget to invest in a paid solution? There are a number of free online invoicing software packages available, whose functionalities may be sufficient for a self-employed entrepreneur or a very small business:

Henrri

Henrri is an online solution dedicated to very small businesses that takes care of all your invoicing management needs: creation of quotes and invoices, personalization of sales documents, reminders of unpaid invoices, etc. The tool includes a mobile application for tracking invoicing and sales management from anywhere.

Henrri benefits :

• meticulous, intuitive ergonomics,
• software certified NF 525 and compliant with anti-fraud legislation,
• a high level of data security.

Zervant

Zervant is a free solution for small businesses. Create and send an unlimited number of invoices by email or in PDF format.

Benefits of Zervant :

• create invoices in 60 seconds,
• get paid faster,
• centralize your customer and product database.

The limits of free invoicing

Before committing yourself to a free solution, take the time to identify your needs and the required scope. Free solutions have their limits in certain cases:

• the need to purchase additional modules or subscribe to a premium pack to benefit from advanced functionalities ;
• no support, or non-priority support - this can be a blocking factor in the event of an urgent problem, and if you don't invoice, you jeopardize your monthly sales;
• a limited number of invoices;
• no interoperability with your accounting software, customer relationship management, inventory management, etc.

Our selection of invoicing software

appvizer has selected six professional invoicing software packages for you, at affordable rates and with no obligation subscriptions. All are certified to comply with anti-fraud legislation.

Axonaut

Axonaut is an invoicing module combined with a CRM for complete, centralized sales management. It supports the growth of small businesses by offering, among other things :

• production of quotes, invoices, pro formas, credit notes, etc,
• online signature and payment by direct debit or credit card,
• automated reminders.

Axonaut benefits :

• a customer portal providing access to documents and notifications,
• synchronization with your bank account and connection with your accountant,
• pay-as-you-go pricing, offering small businesses the same services as large corporations.

Evoliz

Evoliz is an online software package, made in France, that not only facilitates your invoicing management, but also your accounting and sales management. It simplifies invoice collection, whatever the source.

In just a few clicks, create your commercial documents :

• quotations,
• invoices,
• purchase orders,
• delivery notes.

Evoliz benefits :

• real-time synchronization with your bank account and correspondence with your bank statement lines,
• interfaces with e-commerce software such as Prestashop,
• dashboards to measure your performance.

Factomos

Factomos is a simple, reliable and secure solution for creating quotations and invoices, with and without VAT. Send your business documents by email or save them in PDF format. Your accountant also has direct access to Factomos. Interconnection with Prestashop, Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce facilitates invoicing for e-commerce sites.

Advantages of Factomos :

• data import in Excel format,
• a notification system for invoices paid online, for example,
• an online directory of chartered accountants if you haven't yet found the right expert to work with.

ISAFACT - AGIRIS entreprises

ISAFACT is the invoicing solution published by AGIRIS entreprises. In addition to its invoicing functions (editing sales documents, converting quotations into invoices rapidly, sending dematerialized invoices, etc.), ISAFACT is an integral part of your sales management system, improving customer relations and sales efficiency.

ISAFACT benefits:

• clear, regular monitoring of sales and cash flow, with customizable statistics,
• marketing and communication functionalities (emailing, qualification of your customer and prospect base, for example),
• a team of 47 trainers available to you, close to home.

Sellsy Invoicing

Sellsy Invoicing, available as a complement to Sellsy CRM software, lets you create sales documents automatically and quickly. Customizable documents and secure electronic signatures speed up sales.

Advantages of Sellsy invoicing :

• product catalog management,
• opening and reading time tracking,
• online payment with PayPal, Atos, Stripe or Gocardless,
• recurring billing management.

See all software Billing and Invoicing

Invoicing made easy with tailor-made invoicing software

Invoicing is no longer a necessity for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Today, there's a wide choice of tools to help you forget Excel and professionalize your invoicing. Not only do you ensure the legal conformity of your invoices, but you also benefit from other functionalities to better manage your business (CRM, inventory management, etc.).

Whichever solution you choose to edit your quotes and invoices, the important thing is that it's adapted to your business, in terms of functionality, interconnections with other tools and price. In any case, the return on investment of such software makes it a wise choice.

How do you manage your invoicing? Do you have any feedback to share?