To help, here are 15 key elements to include on your client invoices, along with brief descriptions of what they mean and why you should include them.

1. Include the word INVOICE

Clearly mark the document as an invoice near the top or in a prominent position. There should be no ambiguity for the client about what the document is for – i.e., it’s a request for payment from the seller to the buyer. It’s not to be confused with a receipt, credit note, or purchase order. Making it crystal clear from the outset mitigates the risk of late payment.

2. Name and address

This includes your business name and address, as well as the client’s name and address. You should also include contact details, such as a phone number, email address, etc. And ensure it is addressed to the right person and department.

Note that the address you send your invoice to may be under a different project name or business address, or the accounts department may be in a different location, so make sure you check before you send it. If you are emailing the document, again, ensure you are sending it to the right person.

3. Invoice number

An invoice number is a unique identifier and, in some countries, is mandatory. It’s highly recommended that you add an invoice number for tracking and record-keeping, for tax and accounting purposes, and to avoid errors.

4. Payment terms

You should include your payment terms. This can consist of the invoice due date and any conditions. For example, if your payment terms are Net 30, the payment is due 30 days from the invoice date. You can also include early payment incentives, late payment fees, shipping fees or discounts.

5. Late payment

If you have a late payment policy, include it on the invoice. If you are including a late payment fee on the invoice, clearly state it.

With the Invoice Ninja Pro Plan, you can set up invoice late fees that apply automatically when invoices pass their due dates. These can be as a percentage of the invoice or as a flat monetary amount. Find out more here.

6. Discount

If you offer a discount, you should clearly show the discount and rate on the invoice. Again, with Invoice Ninja, you can easily enter a discount amount to apply to the invoice, either as a percentage or a flat monetary amount.

7. Taxes

These can vary depending on jurisdiction. In some countries, value-added tax (VAT) applies, whereas in the US, sales tax depends on the state and the nature of the product. With Invoice Ninja, you can configure tax rates using manual or automatic tax calculations. You can set up total taxes, line-item taxes, and localize for your region. Find out more here.

Where applicable, you should include tax ID numbers.

8. Invoice date and invoice due date

The invoice date and invoice due date can be the same, but in practice, the invoice date is usually the date of issue (when the invoice was created), whereas the due date is the date on which the invoice is due to be paid.

As always, it’s important that it’s absolutely clear exactly when the invoice should be paid.

9. Description

It’s important to provide a clear description of goods or services rendered, and if applicable, the dates and any other information pertinent to the invoice.

For example, in addition to a description, you may need to add a cost centre (or cost code), refer to a purchase order and name the person or department who requested the services or goods. You should also provide a breakdown of costs. For example, if you are a service provider that charges by the hour, then you should state the number of hours worked, the hourly rate and the relevant dates.

10. Unit cost and quantity

The unit cost is the cost per unit of goods or services. For example, one widget might cost $5.00, then you multiply this amount by the quantity sold. So, if you are selling 10 widgets at $5.00 each, that’s a total of $50.00, which will be entered as the amount due for this line item.

11. Line item

The line item on an invoice is a single entry for a specific service or product. So, if you are selling 10 widgets and also an additional product, the additional product will have a separate line item entry.

12. Total amount due

This is the total amount due after applying any discounts, adding any fees or taxes, etc. The total amount due should be clear to avoid errors or misunderstandings. This is not to be confused with the subtotal, which is the sum of line items before you’ve applied any taxes, shipping costs, discounts, etc.

13. Payment method

In addition to the due date and amount, another important detail to include is the method of payment. For example, via a bank transfer, online payment gateway, credit/debit card, check, cash, etc.

If you want your invoice to be paid fast online, you’ll need invoicing software that integrates with a payment gateway. A payment gateway is the tech that allows your clients to pay you securely and swiftly online.

Invoice Ninja integrates with some of the world’s most popular payment gateways to facilitate fast online payments, and you can even get paid in Bitcoin. Check out all our payment gateways here.

14. Your branding

If you have a logo, add this to the top of the invoice to make your invoice look professional and instantly recognizable. Invoice Ninja offers free, attractive, professional invoice template designs you can customize with your logo and brand colors. Check them out here.

15. Notes

Here, you can add additional information relevant to the transaction, such as thanking the client for their business or adding a promotional code for future purchases.

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Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software and offers an incredible range of small business and freelancer-friendly features to help you get paid hassle-free and fast. You can try Invoice Ninja for free at the link here.

However, it’s worth noting that nobody is super-motivated all the time, things sometimes just don’t go as planned, and, like most positive things in life, staying motivated takes effort. In fact, as the quote by the famous American motivational speaker Zig Ziglar goes, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Neither does bathing — that’s why we recommend it daily.”

So if you’re feeling unmotivated at the moment, here are 5 useful tips to help you stay motivated and get your freelance mojo back.

1. Uncover the root cause

There are more than a few factors that may contribute to why you might be feeling unmotivated, so it’s worth spending a little time on self-introspection and reflection to find out what is bringing you down. It might not just be one thing, either, but a number of things combined.

For example, it could be anxiety about getting new clients that’s impacting your mood, or you could be experiencing burnout or overwhelm from having too many tasks to do and too little time, or perhaps you’re not getting proper rest, enough exercise, or fuelling your body with the right nutrition.

It could of course be down to other factors, such as a wrong fit client or a money concern, i.e. you aren’t getting paid enough so need to review your prices (always a good motivator) or maybe you are experiencing a delay in payment of your invoices so you need to streamline the invoicing process and put checks and safeguards in place to help you get paid on time. The point is that once you uncover the cause (or causes), you can take the necessary action.

2. Take stock

Now is a good time to review just how far you’ve come since you started your business. Take into account all your client wins and successful projects, and have a read through case studies and client testimonials to see all the people you’ve helped and impacted with your work. What about sales? How much profit have you made? You might be pleasantly surprised when you take a bird’s-eye view of your financial position and review sales regularly. With Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software, you can email reports on a regular schedule.

For example, at the end of the month, you may want to send yourself a sales report or an aged receivables report. While it’s easy to generate reports manually, you can configure the system to email them to you on a regular schedule.

It’s worth remembering that everything you have now is what you once hoped and wished for, so it pays to practice gratitude. You might be chasing things you don’t need and unnecessarily comparing yourself to others who are on a completely different journey from you.

Remind yourself why you started, your purpose, and your why.

3. Reach out to others

Reach out to other freelancers in your network who can help you regain your freelance mojo. Networking with other freelancers who understand what you are going through and provide support, guidance, and inspiration could be just the turbo tonic you need. 

Attending a networking event, an industry conference, or even a small meetup can help enhance relationships with colleagues and build new ones, and can even spark new profitable ideas for products, services, and businesses. It could even lead to collaborations with other freelancers that would give your business (and motivation!) a boost.

There’s nothing to stop you from creating your own events, either. If you need help with that, EventSchedule is the perfect online tool to manage your events with calendars, ticket sales, QR check-ins, AI-powered tools, translations, and team collaboration, all from one platform. Check it out here.

4. Nurture a positive mindset

You can help nurture a positive mindset by reframing perceived negatives as positives, and, where possible, taking action. 

For example, if you have a lot of time-consuming repetitive tasks to do, you can view it as a great opportunity to outsource or automate some of them. Likewise, instead of viewing invoicing as a chore, you can use invoicing software to streamline the process and see it as a major positive, as you get paid fast and on time. 

Another reframe is if there is a slowdown in your business, you can view it as a perfect opportunity to work on your business rather than in it, or to take a well-deserved break. And remember, ‘nature abhors a vacuum’, so your next opportunity is on its way!

5. Invest in yourself

Investing in yourself by enhancing your skills is always a wise move. Whether that’s by learning a new skill that can help enhance your business or having a fun side project or hobby that you can get involved in, you’ll find that doing something you enjoy is immensely satisfying and can give a real positive boost to your mindset, mojo, and motivation. 

Your fun hobby or side project doesn’t have to be related to your business, either. It’s just something you can do to provide some much-needed positive endorphins. When you approach your business from a more holistic mindset, i.e., taking all parts of your life into consideration and seeing how it makes up the whole, you’ll be better able to identify any areas that need improving and, as a result, restore your motivation. That fun hobby might even turn into your main business, or you could decide to pivot.

Whatever avenue you take, remember, as the motivational saying goes, “You didn’t get this far to only come this far!”.

1. Your goals

Before you choose a mentor, you first have to define your goals. Where do you want to be? What do you want to achieve? Where do you see yourself in a year or five years’ time? Unless you know your goals and what you want to achieve, you won’t know if you’ve reached them or not.

Your vision might be a financial one, like making six figures by the end of a specific period, or a status goal, such as becoming the go-to freelancer and expert in your field. It could also be something more intangible but just as rewarding, like increased confidence or improved leadership skills.

Your goals should be specific and measurable: you need to know exactly what you’re aiming for, why you’re aiming for it, and what needs to happen to show that you’ve achieved it.

2. Mentor experience

It’s only logical that the mentor you seek has relevant experience, for example, maybe they’ve already been in your position, and have now moved on, so they know the steps you need to go through to reach your goals. A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be in the exact same industry as you; it could simply be someone who is a successful entrepreneur who can help you navigate increasing your rates, launching a product, or achieving another business-related goal. A mentor doesn’t need to be massively ahead of you, either; it might be someone who’s one or two steps ahead who can help you with your goals.

In addition to guidance and understanding, a good mentor can also help you with suggesting the right tools for the job. Take invoicing, for example. If you want to get paid fast and on time, it makes sense to use invoicing software that integrates with all the most popular payment gateway providers so you can get paid online at the click of a button. Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software for freelancers and small businesses that does just that. It also includes a great range of freelancer and small-business-friendly features to help you get paid fast. Try it for free here.

3. Accept that failure is part of success

While it makes sense that your mentor is someone who has achieved what you aspire to, you should also consider someone who has experienced failure, too. While it might seem counterintuitive, you can learn from their mistakes as to what not to do. There’s a lot to be learned from failure that instant success simply cannot teach you. Most people who fail, even if they fail several times, eventually succeed if they apply determination and persistence. There’s an apt quote about this by former US President Calvin Coolidge:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On” has solved, and will always solve, the problems of the human race.”

So persistence definitely pays off!

4. Mentor qualities

A good mentor always has your best interests at heart, understands where you are right now, is encouraging, and gives you the time of day. You’ll also want to ensure your values align. If, at first glance, the mentor you seek seems critical or unresponsive, or although a good fit on paper, there’s just something about them that doesn’t sit well with you, it’s probably better to trust your gut instincts. Not everyone aligns, and that’s okay, too.

A good mentor will help you focus on what’s working so you can do more of it and help navigate you through challenges.

Another thing to take into account is that every person’s business journey is unique to them, so mentoring is not something that works well with cookie-cutter processes or a one-size-fits-all approach. If the mentor you seek has already mentored others, while this is generally a good sign, you should still check out case studies and testimonials from other mentees to make sure they are the right one for you personally.

On the other hand, it might be that your mentor hasn’t mentored anyone before, but you can clearly see they’ve been successful, and you hit it off. Sometimes, mentors can appear in your life from the most unlikely of paths, so pay attention and take action if and when it happens.

5. Be mentorable

In addition to finding a mentor who has all the qualities, attributes, and experience you seek, it’s worth bearing in mind that the relationship is not a one-way street; you’ll also need to be mentorable. This means taking all their guidance on board. Remember, your mentor is here to help you, not compete with you; they want you to succeed, so before you dig your heels in with a suggestion or course of action you don’t like, step back and consider why they might be suggesting it and why you might be hesitant. Sometimes, doing the uncomfortable thing is where the breakthroughs happen.

Finally, some people designate mentors with whom they have no personal connection whatsoever, but they see them as role models. For example, you might choose someone well-known and, while not directly hiring them, follow their progress for inspiration. Whatever path you choose, investing time in a mentor shows you mean business and are open to growth opportunities. Go you!

1. Short demo videos

Showing people how your product or service works is a great way to market your business and educate your user base and/or clients. For example, for service-based providers, you can guide clients through your onboarding process, whereas for products, helpful how-to videos and walkthroughs are more effective.

At Invoice Ninja, we have tutorials on our YouTube channel that cover our free invoicing software’s features and setups. You can also view short demo videos that guide you through our features here.

Try Invoice Ninja for free here.

2. Behind-the-scenes content

Behind-the-scenes content can showcase the human side of your business, your unique processes, and highlight your origin story and progress to date. 

For example, if you are an artist, you can share the stages you go through from a blank canvas to a finished painting on Instagram. If you are a service provider, you can share the processes you follow to deliver a top-notch service to your clients. You can do this via various formats such as video, an infographic, or a blog post. 

You can then share this content across your social media channels and/or add it to your website.

3. Blog posts for search traffic

SEO-optimized blog posts are a great way to attract search traffic to your website, cultivate your brand’s voice, and position your brand.

Blog posts can answer the questions your ideal audience is searching for online, as well as educate and entertain. You can also share blog posts on your social media channels. Helpful content also builds trust, so visitors will return to your website if they want to know more about a subject.

One of the great benefits of blog posts is that they can continue to attract traffic in the long term. Your blog posts can also include a Call To Action (CTA) to try out your product, sign up for your email newsletter, or contact you directly.

4. Podcasts

Podcasts are a great way to discuss topics relevant to your audience or industry, to story tell and even establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Whether you start a podcast yourself or are a guest on someone else’s, podcasts are a popular and effective way to get your brand out there and have your name recognized. What’s more, audio is more portable, so people can listen to podcasts at their convenience and on the move, for example, while cooking, doing household chores, or driving.

5. Case studies and testimonials

Once you’ve received your glowing testimonial and put together your winning case study, don’t forget to make good use of them.

You can add them to your website and share them on social media – but don’t stop there. You can also add links to them in client correspondence. For example, if you are producing a quote for a new client, linking to a relevant case study and your client testimonials may be the tipping point that makes them hire you over your competitors. Visual evidence is compelling, too; therefore, if you have video reviews or testimonials, use them as well.

6. Short-form videos

Short-form videos are popular on many social media platforms. They are a great way to showcase your personal brand, convey your message quickly, and share valuable tips.

What’s more, you don’t need any fancy or costly equipment; you can simply record something on your smartphone to share. In any event, many social media platforms offer free filters and features to enhance your videos. Short-form videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram can provide an authentic glimpse into your personal brand.

7. Email newsletter

An email newsletter allows you to stay in contact and connected with your audience. For example, if someone lands on your website and wants to hear more from you, you can get them to subscribe to your email newsletter. You can share helpful tips, industry news, your latest blog posts and products and also offer discounts to your email newsletter subscribers.

You can get website visitors to sign up to your email newsletter by adding a CTA to your blog posts, as mentioned earlier, or offering a lead magnet in return for their email address.

A lead magnet is something (usually free) that you offer to your potential clients. It usually comes in e-format, such as an e-book, and can cover all sorts of things, including a how-to guide, toolkit, recipes, templates, and video training. It can be anything that is helpful and relevant to your audience.

You can also include a link to your newsletter in your social media bios and email signature.

Read more about the benefits of email marketing for freelancers and small businesses here.

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Finally, creating content daily can be overwhelming and time-consuming, and working this way doesn’t allow for freelancer vacations or time off. That’s why it’s a good idea to batch-create content in advance, especially if you know you’ll be going on vacation. 

Planning content also means you can plan ahead for seasonal content (for example, holidays and national or global events).

And don’t forget, you can also repurpose content into different formats, so a blog post can become a video, a podcast script can be repurposed and condensed into a blog, and so on.

Even when the potential client is a word-of-mouth referral, it doesn’t mean that it’s a dead cert you’ll get the job. So, what are some freelancer client touchpoints you could enhance to help you be seen as the reliable, safe pair of hands they need?

Here are 4 freelancer client touchpoints to review to help you stand out and win clients.

1. The contact

While a client’s first point of contact with you may have been via social media or landing on your website, the next point, where they actively reach out, should be as positive and smooth as possible. 

You’ve already attracted them to you through your marketing, reputation or word-of-mouth referrals – go you! – So the next steps count. If the next point of contact isn’t efficient or smooth, your potential client might question what the rest of their experience with you will be like. Therefore, make it clear in your communications how to best contact you for your services. 

For example, do you have a website and a contact form they need to complete, or do you prefer potential clients to contact you via a social media channel? How long is your response time? When can they expect to hear back from you? You may even have a pre-contact questionnaire in place that needs to be completed to pre-qualify clients. This avoids both parties spending time going through a process where you aren’t the right fit or you don’t offer the service they are seeking.

You may also want to consider what the process is when you are on vacation or when someone contacts you out of hours. An automated response or workflow could work well here. 

The aim is to inform the potential client about what is happening at each step of the way. This will automatically help build trust.

2. The call

Following the initial inquiry, it’s not unusual to schedule a call with a client as part of a discovery or sales call. Some more introverted freelancers may not look forward to the experience because it can feel a bit like a job interview if not handled well, or a situation where you feel compelled to oversell yourself. 

However, the purpose of the call is to determine if you can assist them, outline your process, and explore whether you are a good fit for each other. It’s a two-way communication – it’s also an excellent opportunity for you to ask questions to better understand their needs.

The call serves as an important bridge between them making their first active contact and further exploring the opportunity of working together. It’s a great time to briefly go through your process and what they can expect from working with you. You could consider producing a visual if you think that might help; a one-page document should be sufficient.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that they might not know the intricacies or nuances of your craft, or if you are technically better than another candidate, but they will know how you make them feel. So, the more you can instill their confidence in you (and your process), the better, as they’ll likely be evaluating your ability to properly manage a project as well.

At the end of the call, establish what happens next. For example, let them know when they can expect to hear from you with your written proposal.

3. The proposal

If you are putting together a written proposal, it’s a good idea to provide a recap of what was discussed on your call so you can clearly demonstrate that you understand their problem and offer your solution. The proposal should be clearly set out and contain no ambiguity about exactly what you are offering, including the deliverables, timescales, and your payment terms and conditions.

Some freelancers offer more than one option. For example, if you are offering three options for the client to choose from, one might be the bare bones of what you offer, with the other two adding consecutively more services or enhancements to the offer, each with different price points. To avoid having to chase potential clients for their decision or them coming back to you months later when your prices may have changed, you could consider adding an expiry date to the proposal. You can also consider including any relevant case studies or client testimonials.

It’s typical for the proposal to include your brand colors and logo; many freelancers make use of proposal software to streamline the process. If you stipulate payment upfront or a deposit, you can include a payment link or send an invoice with the proposal or when it is approved. Making it easy for clients to pay you and having a smooth invoicing process is another positive, which may tip the scales in your favor. The easier it is to deal with you, the more potential clients are likely to view you as a safe pair of hands.

Invoice Ninja is a leading free invoicing software offering an incredible range of small business and freelancer-friendly features to help you get paid hassle-free and fast. We offer multiple payment gateways, allowing your clients to pay their invoices online with 1-click!

Try Invoice Ninja for free at the link here.

4. The follow-up

If you didn’t include an expiry date, or for whatever reason you haven’t heard back from them after a reasonable amount of time or when they said they would respond, send a polite follow-up email or call them. It’s possible they haven’t responded yet because they are waiting for another person’s approval, their workload is high, or for several other reasons. The follow-up may be just the nudge they need.

In any event, if they decide not to pursue working with you at this stage, now is a good time to ask for feedback. The reason might be something that has nothing to do with you, or it could highlight areas that you can enhance going forward. As the saying goes, feedback is the breakfast of champions!

1. Dress for the occasion

Take a leaf out of Steve Jobs’s book and have a work ‘costume’.

Steve Jobs famously wore the same thing every day because it required less mental energy, and meant that he didn’t suffer from decision fatigue. One less thing to make a decision about at the beginning of each day.

Having something specific to wear while working can also put you in the right mindset. It doesn’t have to be a suit and tie either; it can be something like your favorite baseball cap, t-shirt, or lucky blouse. Simply something that you know when you are wearing it, you are focused on work tasks. It might be that you need to wear specific work clothes while working, such as overalls or an apron.

2. Set micro goals

Instead of struggling to achieve big goals all at once or getting overwhelmed with your grand annual plan, break tasks down into achievable micro goals. You can even do this daily, and tick things off your daily to-do list. Knowing you’ve achieved your daily goals and reframing them as wins you celebrate can give you the impetus you need when you’re feeling stuck, as well as a sense of achievement and job satisfaction. What’s more, by breaking down bigger tasks into bite-sized chunks, you soon achieve your big goals but without the overwhelm.

It also helps if you are intentional with each task, however small, so instead of flitting from one task to another or multitasking, you complete the task at hand before moving to another. You could even schedule specific days or times for different tasks.

3. Automate repetitive tasks

It makes sense to automate repetitive tasks that take up your time but are necessary (such as invoicing, for example). It’s worth bearing in mind that not all tasks need to be automated, and some don’t easily lend themselves to it. However, it’s worth considering what tasks you can automate. Sometimes simply thinking about automating a task can help guide you through the entire process and could even highlight processes and systems you can improve or eliminate.

If you’ve got clients that you need to bill regularly (e.g. retainer clients) with Invoice Ninja, you can set invoices to be sent automatically with our recurring invoices feature. You don’t have to lift a finger. Invoice Ninja offers auto-billing via the world’s favorite payment gateways. Discover more of our small business-friendly features here. And try Invoice Ninja for free here.

4. Schedule a weekly check-in

At the end of each week, schedule some time to review what you’ve achieved in that week and plan for the following week. Having a weekly overview of your business can help plan for any future contingencies and better spot any potential areas that need action. As well as ticking off items on your to-do list, now is also a good time to check your bookkeeping for any overdue invoices and upcoming bills. With the Invoice Ninja Pro Plan, as an incentive for clients to pay you on time, you can set up invoice late payment fees that apply automatically when invoices pass their due dates. You can set up late payment fees as a percentage of the invoice or as a flat monetary value. 

Being organized in this way helps you nip problems in the bud, improves cash flow, and provides a significant boost to your productivity. You can view the check-in as a warm-up for the week ahead, so you don’t start off the following week on a back foot.

5. Listen to music

Music can have an extremely positive effect on your workflow, mood and even your ability to concentrate on difficult tasks, depending on the type of music. Alternatively, you could use the length of a song as a timer, and stop and start tasks accordingly.

Obviously, if you’re the type of person who prefers to work in silence, the opposite is true, and so wearing a pair of noise-canceling headphones while you do deep work could be more effective.

6. Exercise

If you are getting bogged down in a task or simply not in the mood, a short bout of exercise or a movement ‘snack’ during the day could provide the pick-me-up you need.

Whether it’s a short walk to get some fresh air or a glass of mineral water, a plank and some press-ups, it could provide a boost to your creativity, too, or the break your subconscious needs to solve a problem. Taking a break is sometimes the best way to regain momentum.

7. Make it enjoyable

Finally, one way to get tasks completed is to make them enjoyable. Consider applying gamification to the task, or pair it with another task that you like to perform, so it becomes a habit.

You could give yourself a small reward on completion, or each time you complete a task, it goes toward a bigger reward. Some people find that breaking tasks into categories and then color-coding their calendar helps. The key is to remove any sense of friction so it becomes less of a chore, something you do habitually, and you get a sense of satisfaction from once it’s completed.

You’ve got this!

1. Know your accounts receivable and accounts payable

To optimize cash flow and be aware of exactly what’s going out and coming into your business at any point in time, you need to be familiar with the accounting terms accounts receivable and accounts payable.

Accounts receivable (AR) is all the money due to you for goods or services provided. The sooner you can collect this money, the stronger your cash position. That’s why it’s important to send invoices on time and not let unpaid overdue invoices go unnoticed. Unpaid invoices cost you money! Slow payers mean you could miss paying your vendor bills, and you lose out on an asset that could be used for your business.

Accounts payable (AP) is the amount you owe or is due to vendors, suppliers, etc.
It’s important to pay bills as soon as they are due to avoid late payment fees and interest charges. It also helps to keep relationships professional and friendly. You can even set up calendar alerts to remind you when bills are due. By maintaining good relationships with vendors, you can negotiate more favorable conditions with them. For example, you could ask to extend the due date to align with when you know your invoices will be paid, thus allowing you to pay your bills strategically, again strengthening your cash flow. 

Keeping up to date with your AR and AP reports will help keep you on track and nip any problems (such as slow payers) in the bud as soon as they arise.

2. Make it easy for clients to pay you

To make it easy for clients to pay you and, therefore, avoid any potential late payment, you can make use of invoicing software that integrates with the world’s most popular payment gateway providers.

Payment gateways enable you to accept credit cards and other electronic payments online directly from invoices you email to your clients.

Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software for freelancers and small businesses, offers multiple popular payment gateways to choose from. Integrating your Invoice Ninja account with a payment gateway allows clients to pay their invoices with 1-click! The payment gateway processes the transaction in the background, while your client never leaves their Invoice Ninja client-side portal. You can set up more than one gateway, giving your clients extra convenience and choice in how they pay your invoices.

Try Invoice Ninja for free at the link here.

3. Consider charging for late payment

To motivate prompt payment of your invoices, consider charging late payment fees on overdue invoices. Naturally, you should let clients know in advance in your freelancer payment terms and conditions that you charge for late payment. Your freelancer terms and conditions should always be clear from the outset, and your invoices easy to understand.

With Invoice Ninja, you can set up invoice late payment fees that apply automatically when invoices pass their due dates. You can set up late payment fees as a percentage of the invoice or as a flat monetary value. 

4. Send payment reminders

Payment reminders can be an excellent prompt to get your invoices paid on time. You can send out automated professional reminders before, on or after they are due to help reduce delinquencies.

With Invoice Ninja, you can create custom email reminders based on the invoice date or invoice due date. You can define date parameters to remind your clients before or after invoices are due to ensure timely payment. You can set ‘First, Second, Third’ or ‘Endless’ reminders to ensure invoices are not overlooked.

When it comes to getting your invoices paid, early intervention and consistent follow-up are key.

5. Get payment upfront

One way to ensure you are paid on time and have money in the bank is to get payment upfront.

This can be a partial or full deposit (100%).

Getting a deposit or down payment from clients before you commence work is standard practice for many freelancers. And some apply milestone billing, where you get paid at specific intervals throughout the project and the final payment at the end.

With Invoice Ninja, you can set up a partial payments/deposits feature on your invoice.

After your client pays the partial payment, the invoice will automatically update with the balance due and set the new final invoice due date. You don’t need to do a thing apart from sit back and get paid.

See all of Invoice Ninja’s small business and freelancer-friendly features to help you get paid faster here.

1. Project and task management 

Depending on your business, the work you carry out will likely be comprised of a series of tasks that go toward the completed product or service. At first, you might not know what these tasks fully look like or how long they’ll take, but as you gain experience, you’ll want to document them so that you can repeat the process and, where possible, discover efficiencies and opportunities for improvement.

To properly manage these tasks and successfully complete client projects, you’ll need to adopt some form of project and task management system. It could be a templated process and basic time management protocol that you follow, the use of an online (or series of online) tools, or something more sophisticated that allows you to collaborate with your clients in real-time, update them, and meet client deadlines.

Whatever system you adopt or create, make sure it’s relevant to you and your business. For example, you probably won’t need an expensive all-singing, all-dancing system if you are a one-person service business and not looking to scale.

With Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software, you can make good use of the time tracking feature to manage tasks and projects so you know exactly how much time you’ve spent on a project and can invoice accordingly. Task time-tracking allows you to accurately record every second spent on each individual task and quickly transfer timed data to the relevant invoice.

When you’re done with a task or series of tasks within a project, simply click and send your work time to an invoice with 1-click! We also have a Google Chrome task extension so you can manage all your tasks within Chrome. 

Try Invoice Ninja for free here.

2. Payments and auto-billing 

Keeping track of payments coming in (and going out) of your freelance business will help maintain a positive cash flow. Sending invoices (and invoice payment reminders) out on time will mitigate the risk of late payment and help you get paid accurately and promptly.

This is an area where invoicing software can help streamline the creation, sending, and payment of invoices, saving you time and effort.

With Invoice Ninja, you can save time by automatically billing long-term clients with recurring invoices. If you have clients who need to be billed repeatedly on a fixed schedule (e.g., weekly or monthly), Invoice Ninja offers auto-billing via the world’s most popular payment gateways. 

You can also set up a payment schedule on an individual invoice, allowing your clients to pay you over time. You can split the payment into equal payments on a predefined schedule or a custom schedule, where you can define each date and corresponding amount. Perfect for projects with milestone invoicing.

You can further improve cash flow by automating the creation of your customer invoices. This is because you can connect Invoice Ninja to thousands of apps via our platform integrators, such as Zapier, Make, and more.

See more of our small business and freelancer-friendly features here.

You should also aim to pay vendor bills on time to avoid late payment charges, keep a close eye on cash flow, and help maintain good relationships with them. You can set up a calendar alert to remind you when bills are due to be paid.

Good financial management and planning will pay off in the short and long term.

3. Client onboarding and offboarding

When you land a new client, you’ll want everything to go as smoothly as possible; that’s where a good client onboarding process comes in and does a lot of the hard work for you.

It could involve a simple automated welcome email to introduce yourself and provide some basic housekeeping guidance (i.e. what channel you communicate on, project review and completion dates, turnaround times, reminder of payment terms and conditions and anything relevant to the project) or it might be something more elaborate such as sharing project management tools, setting up passwords and access to online tools, social media, etc. Naturally, you’d already have your written agreement and payment terms and conditions agreed in writing before you commence any work.

At the end of a project, you want your clients to have a positive experience, as the last contact they have with you will likely be the one they remember. Therefore, in addition to getting your final invoice paid and requesting a testimonial and client referral, you may also want to thank the client for hiring you and wrap up the project professionally, ensuring there are no loose ends, all questions are answered, and you both part ways knowing it was a job well done.

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There are many other systems and processes you can implement in your freelance business, as well as automated workflows that will help your business run smoothly, but the three listed above are ones that will likely not differ too much from client to client and form part of the freelancer-client life cycle.

1. Standard Invoice

A standard invoice is a common yet important business transaction document and is most likely the main type of invoice you issue to customers and clients.

An invoice is essentially a document requesting payment for goods or services sold. It includes important information such as the invoice date, due date, and details of both the buyer and seller. It covers the transaction and includes line items such as goods or services sold, description, quantity, cost, any taxes due, and the total. It will have a unique number and include payment instructions.

Naturally, when issuing an invoice, you want to ensure that you don’t miss any important information, and this is where invoice templates come into their own.

Invoice Ninja, a leading free invoicing software, provides free access to a range of professionally designed invoice templates that you can customize with your logo and brand colors. By using professional invoice templates, you mitigate the risk of missing important information, which could result in delayed payment.

2. Proforma Invoice

A proforma invoice is a non-binding quote/estimate of the cost of services, goods, or products. It’s a useful document issued by the seller to the buyer, as it can help the buyer budget in advance or decide whether to proceed, negotiate, or obtain approval for the sale. It’s also handy for the seller, as it helps them plan ahead. 

A proforma invoice, like a standard invoice, typically itemizes costs and includes payment terms, details about the product or service to be delivered, along with the relevant dates.

3. Purchase Order

A purchase order is not, strictly speaking, an invoice, but rather a request for services, goods or materials and is typically used by businesses in the procurement process. The buyer issues this to the seller, and it includes details such as the type, quantity, and cost of the products or services being requested, as well as any relevant delivery or payment terms.

You can create purchase orders in Invoice Ninja to email out to your vendors. When they are approved, they are then converted into expenses. These expenses can be rebilled to clients or used to run reports.

4. Credit Invoice

A credit invoice, also known as a credit note or memo, can be issued to adjust an invoice that has already been issued, where the amount payable is to be reduced, for example, due to a refund, cancellation, miscalculation or error in the original invoice. 

It is used when credit is due to the client or customer and can therefore be used for discounts. It’s a record of the money owed to customers or clients.

5. Debit Invoice

A debit invoice, also known as a debit note or memo, is the opposite of a credit invoice and can be issued when the original invoice amount needs to be increased or additional charges require collection. 

It could be that the work cost more than estimated, or more hours were worked. It is used when you need to charge the client or customer more. It acts as a record of the money owed to the supplier.

6. Recurring Invoice

A recurring invoice is one that is issued regularly for the same amount. It is frequently used by freelancers who have retainer clients for services where the monthly amount doesn’t change. It can also be used for subscriptions, rentals, and service packages, to name just a few examples.

If you have clients who need to be billed repeatedly on a fixed schedule (e.g., weekly or monthly), Invoice Ninja offers auto-billing via the world’s most popular payment gateways. See them all here. Auto-billing is a feature that enables the payments system to capture your clients’ credit card details and store them for billing at a future date. This means you can save time by automatically billing long-term clients with recurring invoices.

7. Interim Invoice

An interim invoice is one that you issue before the end of the project or before the final invoice is issued. It can help with cash flow because it allows you to apply milestone invoicing, where you are paid at intervals throughout the project. An interim invoice can also be used as a deposit invoice to collect a deposit before commencing work.

With Invoice Ninja, you can set up partial payments/deposit requests, and the invoice will update itself automatically. After your client pays the partial payment, the invoice will automatically update itself with the balance due and set the new final invoice due date. Perfect for milestone invoicing and/or deposit collection.

8. Timesheet Invoice

A timesheet invoice is used when you are billing for time spent on a project and is typically used by freelancers who charge by the hour. It details the hours spent and calculates the amount due based on the actual hours worked.

Invoice Ninja’s time tracking feature allows you to accurately record every second spent on each individual task and quickly transfer timed data to the relevant invoice. When you’re done with a task or series of tasks within a project, simply click and send your work time to an invoice with 1-click!

We also have a Google Chrome task extension, so you can conveniently manage all your tasks within Chrome

9. Past Due Invoice

A past due invoice, as the name suggests, is issued when the payment date has expired and the payment has not been made. It can also include any late payment fees. 

With Invoice Ninja Pro Plan, you can create custom email reminders based on the invoice date or invoice due date. You can define date parameters to remind your clients before or after invoices are due to ensure you get paid. You can also charge a client an additional fee for unpaid invoices with our automatic late payment fee feature.

10. E-invoices

E-invoices require no manual intervention and have a structured format. The buyers and sellers’ accounting systems can ‘machine read’ each other’s invoices and receipts, therefore speeding up processing time. 

Many countries in the EU are now mandating the requirement to issue e-invoices. Invoice Ninja is among the first to support the direct delivery of e-invoices over the PEPPOL network, the EU standard for exchanging electronic documents. You can read more about e-invoicing here.

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Invoice Ninja offers an incredible range of small business and freelancer-friendly features to help you get paid hassle-free and fast. You can try Invoice Ninja for free at the link here.