Best Invoicing and Billing Software for 2023

Square is a tool that helps business owners accept payments in a quick and effortless way. Among many solutions, Square also offers invoice management software. Square has been working since 2009, introducing new and fast point-of-sales and now also software.

The main reason why I decided to add Square to my list is its flexibility and accessibility.

Here are my thoughts:

Why Square Invoices?

I think Square is a versatile software for both brick-and-mortar shops and e-commerce owners of all sizes. I appreciated the flexibility of taking payments online and in person which gave me assurance in the future of this invoicing software product.

I hate it when my software lags and needs a long time to process a payment or create an invoice. Luckily, I haven’t experienced anything like that with Square.

To test the platform, I have signed up with a free account. Basically, it gives unlimited invoices, and there is absolutely no need to pay for extras. The only thing I had to pay was the processing fee, which is – by the way – exactly the same for both types of accounts. That was a nice surprise for me.

Key Features

• Unlimited invoices
• Real-time tracking of invoices, cash flow, and estimates
• Payment reminders and schedules
• Billing process simplified
• Free transfer of funds
• Customized invoice templates (only for paid accounts)

What I Like About This Tool

After testing the Square accounting features, I would say it has everything for a newly founded business owner.

It took me a few days to get a hold of the automated billing and automatic payment reminders features, but overall, the official website does a great job educating novice entrepreneurs.

I’ve also created invoices and sent them by SMS and email to my customers who later paid with credit cards. My business is about to boom and I feel like multiple invoices without hidden or extra costs are a great beginning for me.

Considering everything goes smoothly as always, I might switch to a paid account to personalize my invoices.

Pricing: $0 to $20

Payment Gateways:

• ACH bank transfer
• Square cards
• Debut or credit cards
• Afterpay for invoiced up to $2,000

My Verdict

Square is one of the best online invoicing software equipped with everything I need to run a business. Both paid and free accounts accept payments online and on-site. I find this feature quite versatile, especially the future possibility to purchase their branded point-of-sale and sync payments altogether.

Square is an investment that will grow together with your company.

FreshBooks was launched in 2003 when Word and Excel weren’t so much explored. The company’s main goal was to create attractive invoices for customers. However, their approach to invoicing has shifted after a mistake that cost them hours of extra work.

Understanding the struggle for themselves and business owners, FreshBooks has developed software that has been their foundation ever since.

Why FreshBooks?

Being a part of a small business, I needed something I could get a hold of quickly and without hundreds of features I was not going to use. A fair point would be to make that I didn’t want to invest hundreds of dollars per month but rather keep the expense low.

I’ve chosen FreshBooks for its user-friendly software and features that weren’t offered by the competitors.

Key Features

• Inventory tracking
• Multi-language invoices
• Multi-currency billing
• Automatic late fees
• Recurring invoices

What I Like About This Tool

For a small fee, you get access to billing and invoicing software with essential features. The accounting software is made in a way that simplifies the billing and invoicing process greatly. What I mean is not how many clicks it takes to create invoices but the terminology itself. A newbie like me created invoice templates within minutes.

The accounting software is user-friendly and far from being confusing. Although I could only add 5 clients with the Light plan, I could send unlimited invoices and estimates to them.

FreshBooks does have certain limitations applied to the cheaper plan, but not in a restrictive way.

Pricing: $15 to $45

Payment Gateways:

• ACH bank transfer
• Credit card
• PayPal

My Verdict

Comparing to other affordable invoicing software products, FreshBooks lacks some features that truly make billing a 5-minute job. However, with the Light account, you can send unlimited invoices to up to five clients and track expenses.

In my opinion, small businesses would find the Light plan sufficient but soon would need to switch to the Premium account with unlimited clients.

The company started as AdventNet Inc. in 1996 and gained a significant ma Zoho Invoice attracted my attention because of their dedication to delivering quality and useful products for companies of all sizes. What’s more, the company itself runs on Zoho. Many features you see on their plans were developed based on their own needs.

Why Zoho Invoice?

Zoho Invoice offers plans are so diverse that your company will find something that fits the budget. You can enjoy the free invoicing software plan and upgrade it to the Ultimate plan for 200$.

The whole ecosystem of Zoho is intertwined, meaning you can use Zoho for invoices and later add Zoho Contracts or RouteIQ to your Zoho package.

Key Features

• Automated follow-ups
• Recurring invoices
• Invoice verification
• Digital signatures
• Customized invoices
• Expense tracking
• Credit notes

What I Like About This Tool

I picked Zoho Invoice because of its organized interface, accessibility from other devices, and integration options. You may notice that most billing and invoicing software products offer similar and sometimes the same features. It makes it difficult for them to stand out.

What differentiates Zoho Invoice from the rest is the number of features it offers on a free plan. The only minor disadvantage of a free plan is that you get to send only 1,000 invoices per year. Other than that, I could track expenses, issue multi-language invoices, and automate payment reminders, among other functionalities.

Zoho’s Premium invoicing solution is fairly priced and gives access to cash flow forecasting and budgeting features. Along with other features, Zoho has all the means to revolutionize accounting processes.

Pricing: 0$ to 200$

Payment Gateways:

• Credit or debit card
• ACH bank account
• PayPal

My Verdict

When I learned Zoho’s history and their course of development since 1996, it gave me the impression that the billing software solutions they offer will always expand. While the free invoicing software is good for solopreneurs and small businesses, other plans could suffice for bigger organizations.

Xero has been conquering the market since 2006 and gained big popularity in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Essentially, it is accounting software that includes billing and invoicing features, among others.

Why Xero?

I’ve picked Xero because of its extensive features and customer support. Xero’s team is available to you 24/7, and I think it’s a great advantage that other competitors are lacking. The plans are a bit pricey – however, online support is always active to assist everyone.

Key Features

• Reconcile bank transactions
• Short-term cash flow and business snapshot
• Multiple currencies (only with a Premium plan)
• Project tracking
• Inventory tracking
• Add-ons available

What I Like About This Tool

Xero has three plans available, starting with $25 for the basic one. There is a 30-day trial period – however, it doesn’t specify which plan it unlocks you. I assumed it was the Starte plan which lets you send 20 invoices and enter 5 bills per month.

The accounting software has an intuitive interface and can be accessed from your smartphone, too. The software is useful for people who have never used any program like this before but only spreadsheets for counting their cash flow and expenses. Manually typing all the data can be quite time-consuming, and it’s really my pet peeve when it comes to accounting. However, this tool automates processes and frees up time to focus on what generates money.

Pricing: $25 to $54

Payment Gateways:

• Xero’s GoCardless payments
• ACH bank transfer
• Stripe

My Verdict

The features offered are enough for any business to run its operations smoothly, but I would still prefer to see a bit more options available. I’ve also noticed that there is not a big difference between the plans, so I would continue with a Starter package for my business. There are three optional add-ons for all the packages: claim expenses, track projects, and analytics plus.

Overall, the software can benefit sole traders, and self-employed entrepreneurs the most as Xero basically replaces the accountant.

QuickBooks’ main focus has always been on small and medium-sized businesses. The invoicing software has many accounting features and offers cloud-based applications.

Why QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks is billing and invoicing software ideal for small business owners. It’s effortless to use and has many useful features, even with a low-cost plan of $17 a month. Although the basic plan is limited to one person, it has all the essential features.

Key Features

• Track expenses and income
• Track GST and VAT
• Progress invoicing
• Track employee time
• Inventory tracking
• Receipt organizing
• Multi-currency (Essentials and Plus plans)
• Manage budgets (Plus plan)

What I Like About This Tool

When I first registered, my dashboard was fairly simple. But as I kept working with it and synced my invoices and expenses, the metrics and statistics were clearly laid in front of me. I didn’t need to look for them anywhere, as it was all on the main page for me.

When it comes to customizing invoices, there are only a few options available like minor design adjustments, but nothing too complicated.

One thing I particularly like – for brick-and-mortar owners – is receipt storage. I could snap a photo of receipts and link them with the system in a few clicks.

Pricing: $17 to $36

Payment Gateways:

• Credit or debit card
• PayPal
• Venmo
• ACH bank transfer

My Verdict

QuickBooks Online is a billing and invoicing software that has many nice features for a competitive price. It offers detailed financial information and an easy-to-use application, but it lacks the project management feature that other competitors have.

Essentially, Paymo is a project management tool that includes invoicing for small companies and freelancers. It has many features to support remote office environments and run business processes to some extent.

Why Paymo?

Paymo is a very affordable invoicing software. The cheapest plan is free and the most expensive one is only $24.79. The software includes unlimited invoices, guest access, and client base, and more.

Although there are limited features, Paymo turned out to be quite useful when it came to integrations and invoice generation.

Key Features

• Managing invoices
• Expense tracking
• Customized invoices
• Multi-language invoices
• Project tracking

What I Like About This Tool

The free plan was only meant for a maximum of three clients, so I had to upgrade it to a Starter pack. For almost 6 bucks a month, I could manage up to 100 tasks, and track expenses and invoices that have no limit.

Pricing: $0 to $2.79

Payment Gateways:

• Credit and debit card
• ACH bank transfer

My Verdict

The fact that you can create unlimited invoices for free is a big advantage for freelancers. However, you have a limit of up to 3 clients only. So, it is worth upgrading your plan at least to a Starter package if you run your business alone.

Scoro is another SaaS that helps companies manage their invoices and more. It also has features that help with team management, automation, and sales. It was founded in 2013 and has expanded greatly since.

Why Scoro?

Scoro is great for companies that have just opened their business to customers. It has everything from managing invoices to project management. You can also monitor your team and clients’ activities to be up-to-date with payments and overdue invoices.

Key Features

• Managing invoices
• Creating quotes
• Tracking bills and expenses
• Budget forecasting
• Automated pricing

What I Like About This Tool

Although invoicing and billing are only a part of Scoro’s software, it does an excellent job. The Essential plan for $27 allowed me to manage contracts and send quotes and invoices.

After a while, I could retrieve a detailed work report, although it lacked expense tracking because it isn’t a part of the Essential package.

Pricing: $27 to $63

Payment Gateways:

• Stripe
• Credit or debit card
• ACH bank transfer

My Verdict

If I only focus on invoicing and billing features of Score, I advise you to consider other solution providers that have more options and metrics available. However, if you need software that also handles team collaboration and project management in addition to invoicing, Scoro is worth a shot.

Sage has been active on the market for over 10 years when it launched its Sage 50c software in 2016. The product is packed with real-time data and features to create and track invoices and payments.

Why Sage 50c?

I’ve chosen Sage 50c because of its versatility and security. One of the features that distinguish Sage 50c is its integration with Office 365. So far, no other competitor has implemented it.

Another key feature is that you can have unlimited users even with a basic 12$ plan, unlike other competitors who allow only one or two users.

Key Features

• Cash flow and invoicing tracking
• VAT management
• In-depth reporting
• Inventory tracking
• Microsoft Office 365 integration
• Supports unlimited users
• Customized invoices

What I Like About This Tool

What I liked about Sage 50c is that you can retrieve data from previous years if you needed to company. I could only access data from weeks earlier during my testing but there was an option to go years back.

The reporting is on point. I could see my balance sheet, income, and cash flow statements. Although I didn’t need it for my company at that time, I compiled a report comparing different periods. I can see a long-term perspective with Sage 50c, especially when it comes to evaluating milestones.

Pricing: $12 to $155

Payment Gateways:

• Credit or debit card
• ACH bank transfer

My Verdict

Sage 50c is a professional invoicing software that has inventory tracking and strong reporting system. I would say that a novice business owner may not need all of the features it has, but an established organization can benefit from it the most.

Wave’s main target audience has always been small companies. Probably for that very reason, their invoicing solution is free of charge.

The software provider is fairly young compared to competitors; it was established in 2010. A year later, it was utilized by 100,000 customers (talking about success!).

Wave does have paid services but those are mainly bookkeeping support and accounting coaching. Banking, accounting, and invoicing features come for free.

Why Sage 50c?

As a business owner, I want to cut operational costs by utilizing software that is cheap (or free) but has value for me. Wave helps thousands of small companies start their business.

Key Features

• Customized invoices
• Automatic payment reminders
• Recurring invoices
• Expense tracking
• Invoice status tracking

What I Like About This Tool

Wave offers reasonable rates and accepts ACH and CC payments if you want those. You can avoid fees if you accept checks.

Pricing: Free invoicing software

Payment Gateways:

• Credit or debit card
• AHC bank transfer

My Verdict

Although I haven’t experienced any problems during my testing, I’ve read people complaining about customer service. This could be my only concern when using Wave if I ever had an issue with any invoice, it might have taken days to get support from Wave.

OneUp is a full-fledged software that supports invoicing, accounting, inventory, and CRM. It’s used in over 50 countries by mainly small and medium-sized companies. OneUP offers everything an organization needs to get started n one place.

Why OneUp?

OneUp advertises itself as a business assistant, and I can see why. The invoicing software has in-depth metrics such as financial performance, cash flow forecasts, and even smart advice. Additionally, you get other no less important features.

Similarly to its competitors (QuickBooks and Xero), OneUp uses AI-enabled cloud accounting. What it means for you and me is automated processes that make billing and invoicing a breeze.

The plans are reasonably priced, with the cheapest one (Self plan) being only $9 per month. Since I am not a one-person company, I went for a Pro plan that costs $19 per month. All plans benefit from all features OneUp has, but the Self plan lacks 1-on-1 support.

Key Features

• Customized invoices
• Customer 360° views to check their due and overdue payments
• Bank connections
• Accounting features
• CRM
• Inventory tracking
• Financial analytics

What I Like About This Tool

What I appreciated the most was the flexibility that software offers. At first, I could get lost in all of the features, but I eventually sorted everything out. It may offer too many options for a small shop owner, but it comes in handy if you have a client base and inventory.

Pricing: $9 to $169

Payment Gateways:

• ACH bank transfer
• Credit and debit card

My Verdict

After testing OneUp, I think solopreneurs will gain the most benefit from affordable plans offered. However, others may find $29+ per month a bit expensive despite all the features OneUp has. Other competitors have better packages for a lower price.