How I learned to love invoicing

Posted on 16 November 2011 by Clive Walker in Freelancing

I wrote this post a while back. The content can still be relevant but the information I've linked to may not be available.

A few months ago I read Grace Smith’s article 8 Services That Power My Business where the online invoicing application CurdBee was described. I took CurdBee for a test drive and I’ve been using it for the last few months. I don’t use every single feature but I think it’s a great invoicing or billing app for any freelancer or small business.

CurdBee is a simple web application that makes billing a breeze. Use it to send estimates and invoices, track time and expenses, and accept online payments. Say goodbye to paperwork!

CurdBee is an app that allows you to manage your invoices and clients via a web interface. It’s not a full-blown accounting app but it has made invoicing a much more enjoyable and quicker task for me. Here’s why I like it…

Clients get a better invoicing process from me. For example, they now get my invoices as a PDF and are able to view them online. They get a Thank You when the payment is received/banked. The payment is updated against the invoice if they view online.
I save time when sending payment reminders because it’s only a couple of clicks to send a reminder. Previously, I would find the previous email I sent, edit it, repeat the payment information etc. It took too long. Now, much quicker.
Invoices are easy to find because they are grouped by client (and not in my 2011 Invoices folder in My Documents). The CurdBee search is a Live Search so I only type in a few characters of a client’s name to find them.
I get a quick view of overdue invoices on my account’s home page on CurdBee.
I can export client and invoice data for use in other applications or on my PC.
I can comprehensively customise the default emails that clients get from Curdbee.
The CurdBee pricing model means that I pay for what I use. For example, I use the invoicing functionality without the estimates or time tracking features and I pay $5/month for this.

All in all, whilst I probably don’t actually love invoicing ;-), I know that CVW Web Design has a better invoicing process than a few months back!

More: Sign up with Curdbee