Invoicing is one of the most essential aspects of any business. Making sure that the invoicing process is free of errors is crucial for business success. Since invoicing is a continuous process, most of the times invoicing mistakes do happen and one has to constantly review the process so that it is free of errors.
Here are some common invoicing mistakes to avoid:
1) Not Sending Invoices On Time
One of the key invoicing mistakes of any process is not sending invoices at all or not sending them on time. Many a times, teams are just busy providing services to their clients and forget about generating invoices. This causes delay in the payments and the whole business suffers. Using the invoice scheduling feature is very helpful in sending out timely invoices to clients.
2) Sending Invoices To The Wrong Person
Sending out invoices to the wrong individual/email address is also one of the common invoicing mistakes. This may cause you to resend the invoice to the right individual at a later date, wasting a lot of precious time. One should make sure that the right email address is collected from the client and the invoice is sent on the same.
3) Not Adding Proper Item Description
Adding proper item description is one of the most important aspects of invoicing mistakes. If proper item description is not added, then the client may get confused about the invoice. In such cases the clients tend to ignore the invoice and delay its payment.
4) Unclear Pricing
Many a times, the pricing of products and services is not clear on the invoice. This is another reason for confusion for clients. The pricing of products and services along with the requisite taxes and discounts should be clearly mentioned on the invoice.
5) Unprofessional Invoicing
One of the key reasons for delayed payments is unprofessional invoices. Invoices that are created poorly in excel formats without any proper templatization are often ignored and not taken seriously. Invoices must be created using an online solution like Invoicera. The tool helps in creation of customized invoices with company branding on them.
6)Not Adding A Late Fee
Not preventing clients from paying late can be one of the biggest invoicing mistakes in the business. A late fee must be added to the invoices or an early payment discount can be included as well. This helps in getting the clients to pay up on time.
7) Not Adding Terms and Conditions
Adding payment and other terms and conditions are very important for every business. This ensures that the client and the supplier are on the same page, as far as the deal is concerned. The client clearly know the time of delivery of products and the deadline for payments. The section is a very important part of any invoice.
8) Not Storing A Backup
A backup of the original invoice must surely be kept for future reference. This is important in case the client has any queries regarding the same. Online solutions like Invoicera help in keeping a PDF copy of the invoice in the desktop. Besides that, all invoices are easily stored on the cloud, in the Invoicera account.
9) Not Sharing Work Reports
Sharing work reports with clients is an important aspect of the invoicing process. Work reports must be sent along with invoices, so the client knows if the progress is as desired.
10) Not Adding The Payment Method
Adding the payment method is a very important part of the invoicing process. This makes it easy for the client to make the payment.
Using an online invoicing tool like Invoicera helps in getting the clients to pay online. This makes the payment process simple and user-friendly.
