Some businesses are using Excel for invoicing, while others prefer accounting software to create business invoices, but almost all of these businesses wonder what the other most common platforms for invoicing are. With the help of this article, we will explain all such platforms along with their advantages and disadvantages to help you decide the best.
The process of invoicing is quite important for all kinds of businesses. Effective invoicing has a ton of long-term and short-term benefits. Generally, medium-scale and small-scale businesses take the help of accounting software like QuickBooks. However, this is not the only solution for invoicing available out there for businesses.
If you are also looking for ways to create business invoices, then there are three major ways that can benefit a small-scale and medium-scale business. With the help of this blog, we will have a look at the procedure to use these platforms as well as their pros and cons. So, let’s dive into the platforms right away.
Three Major Platforms Used to Create Business Invoices
Below are the three most commonly adopted platforms used for invoice creation. You can choose any of these for your business according to your preferences. However, to help you make a better and well-informed decision, you should also go through the pros and cons provided.
Microsoft Word: Helpful But a Manual Way to Create Business Invoices
One of the most popular solutions for invoicing as used by businesses is Microsoft Word. Any business or entrepreneur who has more than enough knowledge about computers or MS Word can easily use the same to create invoices. However, this method of invoicing is only suitable for small-scale businesses having to create ten or fewer invoices per month.
This method of invoicing does not require you to spend any money on paid tools and gets the job done quickly. There are tons of invoicing templates that you can find in the template library of the software. All you need to do is run Microsoft Word and click on the button to create a New Document. Here, you will find a plethora of templates that allow you to create business invoices. You can also search for such templates online.
Below are some of the pros and cons associated with using Microsoft Word software for invoice creation:
Pros of Microsoft Word Invoicing
- A plethora of templates are available for you to use
- Allows you to design and create a new invoice from scratch as well that meets your requirements.
- Allows you to add or remove brand or sample logos and names.
- Easy to use for all
- Takes care of small-sized invoice requirements of a business
Cons of Microsoft Word Invoicing
- Time-consuming
- Requires to introduce some modifications manually
- The requirement to put in the numbers and other data manually
- Ineffective when the number of invoices is more than 10 per month
- Increased chances of errors due to manual data recording
As you can see, using MS Word for invoicing can only be accurate and helpful for a handful of companies. Let’s have a look at using Excel for invoicing.
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Microsoft Excel: Advanced Yet Another Manual Way to Create Business Invoices
A lot of businesses may not know this but they can also take the help of an Excel invoicing program to create an invoice. Just like Microsoft Word, Excel is also a manual solution but it is semi-automatic. If your business operations are more than 10 per month but less than what Excel can handle, then you can easily make the best out of the solution.
Using excel for invoicing, even beginners can easily create invoices for the business, the performance and the process of invoice creation in both Word and Excel are quite similar to each other. Just like in Word, you also get a variety of templates in the Excel invoicing program. Additionally, unlike Word, you get some predefined functions and formulas in Excel to help automate the creation process.
Using these automated functions, you can put in and get back the required information from the invoice with ease. Let’s have a look at the major pros and cons of using Excel for invoicing:
Pros of Microsoft Excel Invoicing
- The tool has some pre-defined and set functions and formulas
- Easy to use and creates invoices quickly
- Steep learning curve
- A plethora of templates for your use.
- Allows you to provide a fresh start for invoicing and invoicing patterns.
Cons of Microsoft Excel Invoicing:
- Manual procedure hence may take some time
- Requires extensive knowledge of formulas and functions for better and more accurate performance
- Requires to introduce some modifications manually
- Problems adding logos and images to the invoice
From the above section, one can easily figure out that if the business is willing to put in manual efforts, then Excel is one of the best ways to create business invoices. However, what’s even better, is the automated tool or software specifically created and designed for such invoicing tasks. Let’s have a look at the same right below.
Invoicing Software: Advanced and Way to Create Business Invoices
Last, comes the invoicing software as a smart way to create invoices for your business. Such tools are perfect for both small-scale and medium-scale businesses. For this, you can take the help of platforms like QuickBooks and Quicken. Why such programs are a huge success amongst businesses is because they are fully automated. Additionally, with such platforms, you also take the help of templates to get the job done. For example, Quicken Invoice Templates are quite helpful for small and medium businesses.
But that’s not even the tip of the iceberg that is the automated invoicing software. These tools inform businesses when a payment comes in and when another one is due. Advanced software also helps you create insightful reports from the data in the tool for effective and efficient decision-making.
Below, are some of the pros and cons of using automated software to create business invoices:
Pros of Automated Software Invoicing:
- These platforms are utterly customizable and flexible according to the requirements of the users
- The tool automatically discounts taxes, subsidies, and more the create exact and well-defined invoices.
- You can use the tools on your office computers and even on your personal smartphones.
- Regular updates are offered related to accounts receivable and account payables.
- Can be used to receive online payments from clients.
- You can create an invoice from the scratch or use the templates and modify them as per your requirements.
- You can specify and line up concurrent and recurring payments using automated solutions to create business invoices.
Cons of Automated Software Invoicing:
- You need to pay a price to get these unlike Word and Excel
- Some platforms may have a limited number of templates
Summing Up: Multiple Ways to Create Business Invoices
So, in the previous sections of this article, we had a look at some of the most extensive and advanced yet commonly used platforms to create invoices. All of these platforms are useful for both small-scale and medium-scale businesses involved in different kinds of industries. There are three alternatives available for all to create invoices. These are Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Automated Software.
After comparing the data provided for these platforms, taking the help of an automated tool for invoice creation makes the most sense. This solution is suitable for all businesses and allows you to do a lot more than just manage and create invoices. Smart reporting and other features of such tools allow you to make better decisions in the future after comparing the past record. Hence, such tools have also been the main reason behind the growth of some businesses.
If you don’t want to blow your head off looking for the perfect way to Create Business Invoices in your organization, then the smart executives at The Ledger Labs may be able to help you. The peers at the accounting solution provider company are quite experienced and have knowledge about various industries as well. They can easily deliver the required services you seek. Contact us today for free and tell us your problems.
