1000+
customers

50+ countries
across the world

Outsourcing leader
since 2008

Technology-driven
services

Stringent
quality processes

Blog » 3 Commonly Used Platforms for Creating Invoices

3 Commonly Used Platforms for Creating Invoices

Last updated: 30 Nov, 2023 By | 6 Minutes Read

invoice platform

Every business create invoices using accounting software like QuickBooks, Quicken, or NetSuite. They may also use word processing systems like Microsoft Word or even Microsoft Excel. These are also termed as invoice platform, streamlining processes for businesses.

Top 3 Invoice Platform that can Help you Streamline the Process

How to Create Invoices in Microsoft Word?

In case, you do not have access to Google Sheets or Microsoft excel, you can opt for Microsoft Word. It is a cost-effective invoice creation solution for businesses having fewer volumes of invoices.

Microsoft Word comes with a lot of templates for invoices. All you need to do is open Microsoft Word and click on ‘New Document’. This is going to put forward an entire database of various pre-designed templates that you can make use of.

Listed below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Word for invoice creation:

Advantages:

  • Easy accessibility to nearly 200 templates available in the library, which implies that you do not need to begin from scratch.
  • Flexibility to make custom changes to any template from changing the color scheme or design to adding your business logo with the overall brand entity.

Disadvantages:

  • It involves a lot of manual efforts and is an overall time-intensive responsibility.
  • As opposed to Microsoft Excel, in Word, you can’t create formulas for calculating the applicable discounts or even tax. You will need to perform such calculations manually, which augments the possibility of errors. And errors in accounting processes can prove to be costly if ignored or not dealt as early as possible.

How to Create Invoices in Microsoft Excel?

The process: Microsoft Excel is a commonly used program nowadays. A lot of businesses who have just started out and have a less number of customers can opt for Excel for creating invoices. Excel also works for businesses that want to learn the process of writing an invoice since it is a beginner-friendly platform.

The process of creating an invoice isn’t exceptionally different from that of Word. However, in Excel, you get templates for automatically calculating the sums as well as performing other mathematical functions. For instance, Excel invoice template can easily add up discounts, deduct taxes as well as perform subtotals so as to calculate the final amount of the invoice.

Listed below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Excel for invoice creation:

Advantages:

  • You can easily create or use formulas for calculating taxes, discounts, and sub-total.
  • As in the case of Microsoft Excel, you get access to more than 200 pre-designed and ready-to-use templates in the repository, thereby, making it easier for you to create invoices.

Disadvantages:

  • Creating invoices in Excel is a manual task and requires someone’s time and efforts to set up.
  • One needs to have proper and detailed knowledge of creating formulas in Excel, or else, your calculations are going to be wrong. This can prove to be detrimental to business overall reputation and growth.

How to Create Invoices Using an Accounting Software?

The process: As soon as you’re generating a lot more than a handful of invoices on a monthly basis, an accounting software application like QuickBooks generally turns out to be the way to go. For one, it’s simpler and quicker to generate invoices.

However, in all probability, the most important point to reflect upon is, features such as online payments and auto-reminders can help you receive money more quickly.

To learn about QuickBooks accounting software, you can visit their website and start your free trial. There are two options available for QuickBooks, namely the desktop version and the online version. You can opt for the one that suits your requirements.

Advantages:

  • Completely customizable – You can simply add your business logo, choose a color theme, and font of your interest.
  • Automatically computes the total invoice amount on your behalf – This includes relevant discounts and taxes. Absolutely no manual computations are needed.
  • Comes in both desktop as well as the online (cloud-based) variation
  • Easily accept online payments from your clients or customers.
  • Execute an A/R Aging report in QuickBooks to find out the invoices that are pending or perhaps coming due.
  • Send invoices anytime using QuickBooks enables you to easily maintain a record of when the invoice has been seen and/or remunerated by your client/customer.
  • It is possible to create automated reminders to clients whenever an invoice is going to be due or overdue.
  • QuickBooks can automatically send out invoices to clients you have to bill on per week, month or quarterly basis.
  • You can generate an invoice to ask for an upfront deposit (or perhaps retainer) from your customers prior to starting the work.
  • Put in place recurrent payments for the customers who usually have to pay you the same amount of money on per week, month or quarterly payment basis.

Disadvantages:

  • QuickBooks primarily includes only a handful of templates as opposed to the 200 templates you can select from with Microsoft Word or Excel.
  • Like the majority of accounting software program, you have got to pay a membership fee every month to make use of QuickBooks. Nevertheless, in contrast with Microsoft Word & Excel, you are able to do much more with QuickBooks than merely invoice processing.

You can easily take care of all your earnings as well as expenditures in QuickBooks and generate primary financial statements such as a Profit and Loss Statement.

Considering the nature of businesses and the scope of growth, making use of invoice platform for creating invoices and processing makes good sense. However, businesses today are short of time and need to focus on their core operations along with strategizing to make profits.

Tasks like bookkeeping, invoice processing, financial reporting, and payroll processing can be outsourced to advantages: a competent external company. This would take the load off from you giving you an ample amount of time for running your business.

If you are looking for an accounting outsourcing company, your search ends at Cogneesol. We are an ISO 9001:2008 certified company helping businesses across industry verticals in carrying out their accounting back-office processes. Learn more about our accounting services by calling us at +1 833-313-3143 or emailing [email protected].

X