Invoicera

Full Review

Invoicera's main focus is invoicing, but it's really a loaded tool that can guide you through the entire business cycle. I was impressed with the excellent integration on every level, and the interface of the site is just great to use. When you first register for Invoicera, you're guided to a dashboard which eight big, clickable buttons that outline what the software does. You could add clients, add products and services, make an invoice, and more. Later this dashboard becomes a very useful snapshot of significant information.

I started with the basics, and added clients. It's a nice feature, and pushes Invoicera into the realm of contact management - barely. It's a solid tool to store your clients, but it's not going to allow you to have discussions around clients, store files, and tag emails - features most dedicated CRM tools will have. CSV import is supposed, allowing things to go much faster.

I next moved onto products and services, which is where you can register anything you might bill on an invoice. I really liked this feature because it gives a good level of flexibility and saves you the hassle of having to type up information for the same billable service over and over again.

Invoicera also has built in Time Tracking and Project support. The two really go hand in hand, and projects can be assigned to clients to show up on invoices. For each project, multiple billable tasks can be added and assigned to staff. Live tracking is done via the web, and happens as a small pop-up from where you can pick a task. No word on an iPhone app, so you have to be near a computer when you're tracking time.

So I've covered all the steps leading up the ultimate goal - which is creating the invoice. Everything is so synchronized that this becomes a very easy process. On the new invoice, you pick the company and all the information is pulled. Then you choose what services you billed, enter in how many hours you worked, and all the set rates are pulled. You can add discounts, taxes, and late fees, and side expenses right there on the invoice. Once you're satisfied, just click send and your client will be emailed a link to a very professional looking invoice. Invoicera even supports payment gateways, so if you have something like PayPal. you can accept online payments on your Invoicera invoices. Like I said, it's a very thorough process.

Aesthetically, Invoicera gives you the flexibility to customize invoice templates to suit your needs. In that vein, it's easy to remove unnecessary sections and add sections unique to your business. Invoices are also editable even after they have been paid, in case you need to settle any disputes or make post-payment changes.

All Invoicera plans come with unlimited invoices. Free has limits of three clients, five products/services, and limited payment gateway support. Classic ($9.95/month) supports 25 clients, 25 recurring profiles, two additional staff, unlimited products/services, and full payment gateway support (as do all following plans). Preferred ($19.95/month) has unlimited clients, three additional staff, and unlimited products/services. Exclusive ($49.95/month) has unlimited clients, unlimited products/services, five additional staff, and a few extra features.

The Bottom Line

Invoicera is the most comprehensive tool I've seen for invoicing from start to finish, all the way up to payment gateways. And it's the best interface I've seen I've worked with on any invoicing tool (and maybe any web-based application). But I'll qualify that with this - if you use other dedicated project management or CRM tools, Invoicera won't sync with those apps directly. Still, Designers, developers, consultants, lawyers, etc will find Invoicera refreshingly simple to use, and clients will appreciate the difference.

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