8 Tips to Help You Deal with Late Payments on Invoices

How to Create and Send an Invoice for Your Online Business

8 Tips to Help You Deal with Late Payments on Invoices

Are you invoicing your clients? If you’re doing any type of work online for which you get paid, you should be.

An invoice is the document a seller provides the buyer with after a purchase has been made. You might be selling a product, your services as a freelancer, or might have earned income through other side hustles online.

However, you need to indicate the goods or services, include the agreed price, add the payment terms such as due date, etc. The exact details an invoice must contain depend on the country you’re doing business with. Please note that this doesn’t mean the country where your client resides as that could be anywhere, but the location where your business is registered and where you’re paying taxes.

I’m based in Europe and my blogging business is registered in the country I live in – The Netherlands. However, the readers of Let’s Reach Success as well as the clients I work with come from the US, UK, Canada, India, etc.

There are cases in which you don’t need to invoice your clients and that depends on the business model and the regulations in your country. Many US businesses still don’t invoice properly. 

If you’re serious about your business and want to grow and look professional, though, you must do it.

Now, you might be wondering why you should complete accounting tasks such as creating invoices? 

Well, I have an accountant but still create and organize my own invoices and make sure each contains information that’s correct. Then, at the end of the month, I send these to my accountant and he takes care of the taxes that need to be paid and other things.

Read also: 9 Fast and Easy Ways to Send Money Online

But how do you create an invoice?

Here’s a video by FreshBooks – an invoice and accounting software for small businesses – explaining the process.

Freshbooks offers you a free template on Microsoft Word, Excel, PDF and Google Sheets. You can choose any format and create your first invoice.

An invoice should include:

  • Your business logo
  • Your company information (name and address)
  • Your client’s billing address
  • Date
  • Due date
  • Invoice number
  • Amount due
  • Description of the products/services provided
  • Taxes (if any)
  • The total sum
  • Payment terms

Once you’ve filled in all the details, you can save the invoice as PDF and email it to the client. But that’s not the only way.

There are also other types of invoices that include more details. One example is the pro forma invoice to which you must add a precise sale price. With that document, you give an estimate to the customer, including any additional costs.

How to send an invoice

There are 3 most common ways to do it.

The first one is by email – the most popular and convenient way. 

The second one is by using an online program such as accounting software. That allows you to send the invoice directly from the program, which makes it even faster than with email. 

Check out the 30-day free trial of Freshbooks.

The third option to send an invoice is by mail. If you have clients who prefer that, you should get the right office supplies and send it in a letter.

Cloud accounting software is considered the most professional and easy way to send invoices to a client. Here’s what to look for in an invoice app:

Now you know what an invoice is and how to create and send one. You just took your online business and brand to the next level!

Want to take your online business to the next level? Start invoicing your clients. Here's what an invoice is and how to create and send one: #howtoinvoiceclients #invoice #howtocreateaninvoice #onlinebusinesstips #bloggingtips #freelancingtips #businessowner

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