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by Jarno Koopman on August 30, 2024
FYI: At PSOhub, we periodically review software solutions for our own market research and to benefit our readers. PSOhub is not paid a commission by any software company featured in this list, nor in any other review written by us. Instead, our user reviews simply present an honest look at what the market currently offers by way of software solutions, price points, features, etc. For details, read more about PSOhub’s editorial process for software reviews.
Even freelancers and solopreneurs need to have an effective invoice management system in place to make sure they get paid accurately and on time.
But with dozens of invoicing software platforms vying for your business, how do you know which one to choose? After all, if you’re not familiar with these types of tools, they can all start to look the same.
Plus, invoicing platforms have evolved a lot over just the past 5 years or so. Now, most of these tools handle a significant load on the project management side, too, by helping you tie in your team’s time tracking, your contract management, and more. All good things.
That’s why we narrowed it down to just 5 invoicing software solutions that represent the best of the best in terms of UX, scalability, and value.
We’ve updated our list this year of the best invoicing and billing software, in order to reflect our own timely rankings as well as the dominating sentiment of verified user reviews. Here’s what we landed on:
Top 5 Invoicing & Billing Software 2024
- Best Overall - QuickBooks Online
- Best for Small Businesses - FreshBooks
- Best for Project Managers - PSOhub
- Best for Contractors - Square
- Best FREE Invoicing Software - Zoho Invoices
Our Picks: The Best Invoicing & Billing Software 2024
1. Best Overall - QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online can be universally applied to businesses and entrepreneurs from all sectors, with a comprehensive financial management platform that goes beyond just invoicing.
It’s no wonder the easy-to-use platform has surpassed other brands as a household name in the US for accounting software.
With built-in payroll, QuickBooks is a one-and-done solution that’s affordably priced considering all the functionality.
And arguably, QuickBooks offers the fastest way to get paid: You set up your billable rates in QuickBooks Time.
This time then gets pulled into your invoices, which can be automated if you choose, meaning you don’t ever have to go in and create invoices, only approve them.
Finally, with QuickBooks you can put payment within the invoice itself, so your clients can pay with a couple clicks.
I’ve personally used QuickBooks Online, but I have never used their project management features which are newer to the wheelhouse.
Now, in addition to all the accounting functionality, you can in fact manage most aspects of your projects with the QuickBooks Online Projects feature.
This lets you easily keep track of all financial transactions by project as well as all billable and non-billable time.
You can also dial-in your task management, making QuickBooks more than just invoicing software, but a potential all-in-one replacement for tools like Asana and Trello, whose functionality it can now compete with while simultaneously housing all the financials.
Why QuickBooks Online Cracked the Top 5:
- Robust reporting
- Intuitive, very user-friendly
- Integrates with everything
- Smart invoicing
- Payment processor
- Includes time tracking with QuickBooks Time
- Task management & project tracking
Pricing:
Simple Start - Starting at $35 per month for small businesses and individuals.
Essentials - Starting at $65 per month for growing businesses who want more reporting functionality.
Plus - Starting at $99 per month for mid-market businesses who need project management features, profitability tracking, and the ability to scale.
Advanced - Starting at $235 per month for enterprise businesses who require more advanced features
Learn more about invoicing with QuickBooks Online
2. Best for Small Businesses - FreshBooks
FreshBooks is consistently favored over QuickBooks by small businesses and freelancers in dozens of software reviews I read online.
I think this might be due in part to the overall more friendly interface, but also the fact that FreshBooks targets a lot of features specifically toward smaller organizations.
For instance, FreshBooks offers a wealth of templates for small business invoices, proposals, business plans, and more. It also makes collaboration effortless with mentions that feel almost like Slack.
Automated invoicing is really easy to set up with FreshBooks with no workarounds required. You can pull directly from your timesheets that live within FreshBooks and automate your invoicing schedule with payments included.
FreshBooks also is considerably more affordable than QuickBooks Online, with their Lite version starting at just $19 per month.
FreshBooks has waded into the waters of project management as well, with a Projects feature similar to QuickBooks. FreshBooks Projects has built-in profitability tracking and real-time messaging around tasks that can help small firms handle both the financials and the execution of their projects.
It’s worth noting that some businesses outgrow FreshBooks, as it doesn’t offer the kind of scalability of QuickBooks at the lower pricing tiers. If you want to accept payments within invoices themselves and bill more than 50 clients, you’ll need to go with Premium.
Why FreshBooks cracked the top 5:
- Friendly interface
- More affordable than QuickBooks Online
- Rated highly by freelancers
- Includes project management
- Includes time tracking
- Smart invoicing & payments
Pricing:
Lite - $19 per month for 5 clients
Plus - $33 per month for 50 clients
Premium - $60 per month for unlimited clients + invoice payments
Enterprise - “Let’s talk” (upon request)
Learn more about invoicing with FreshBooks
3. Best for Project Managers - PSOhub
Project managers need a bit more from an invoicing solution than what QuickBooks and FreshBooks provide out of the box. PSOhub gives project managers complete control over the execution and financials of their projects in one place.
Because a project manager has to keep their eyes constantly on budget versus actuals, PSOhub makes the most sense as it can relay this information to you quickly, 24/7 via dashboards.
PSOhub also has something QuickBooks and FreshBooks do not: self-driving time tracking. With this AI-powered feature, PSOhub learns from your calendar and your GPS location to track your time for you.
From there, you can opt to automatically create invoices using this time, meaning that essentially, you and your team don’t ever have to actually track your time again or create another invoice if you don’t want to. You can even automate the invoice approval process to go totally hands-off.
While I think that PSOhub is the best invoicing software for project managers that you can get under $50 per month, it’s particularly geared toward HubSpot users and professional services.
The interface was designed with these two overlapping segments in mind, so much so, you can sometimes forget whether or not you’re in HubSpot or PSOhub at any given time.
That means you can see invoice status in HubSpot if you wish. And if you’re a project manager whose business already uses QuickBooks or Xero for accounting, PSOhub provides native integrations with those, so you can still enjoy all the perks of their smart invoicing.
Why PSOhub cracked the top 5:
- Affordability
- All-in-one functionality
- Self-driving & self-learning features (AI)
- Unbeatable HubSpot integration
- Track time directly to projects & tasks
- Smart invoicing
Pricing:
Essentials - Starting at $25 per month with time tracking included
Professional - Starting at $35 per month for growing businesses
Enterprise - Starting at $45 per month for large businesses with needs like multi-currency transactions
Learn more about invoicing with PSOhub
4. Best for Contractors - Square
I myself have not used invoicing and billing software specifically catering to contractors, but I wanted to look into it as this is a big segment of the market.
Lo and behold, I have used Square for taking payments, and it turns out Square’s easy-to-use invoicing platform is rated highly among contractors across the US.
From what I can gather, Square offers customers the most payment options of any other mainstream invoicing software I’ve used.
Clients can pay you instantly with a credit card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, bank transfer, Cash App, or afterpay. The only thing that’s missing is PayPal.
Although I put it as the best for contractors, one of the best things about Square is that it’s very universal. Everyone from restaurants to retailers to attorneys uses the software to take payments and send invoices.
Square is known for its easy-to-interpret dashboards that are pleasing to the eye. It’s easy to keep everyone on your team aware of invoice status as well as other important financial metrics that can empower productivity.
As far as project management goes, Square flows from quote to cash, handling estimates, contracts, invoices, and yes, projects.
However, to get the project management features like project dashboards, tasks, and reports, you have to get the Plus license for $29 per month in addition to processing fees Square already charges.
Why Square cracked the top 5:
- One of world’s most reliable payment processors
- Highly rated mobile app
- Recommended for construction & freelancers
- Most payment options
- Best dashboards
Pricing:
FREE - Use the Square FREE version for invoicing and only pay transaction fees.
Plus - Projects and other advanced features are included in Plus for $29 per month
Premium - For scaling businesses with complex daily financial needs, get a custom solution from Square.
Learn more about invoicing with Square
5. Best FREE Invoicing Software - Zoho Invoices
Finally, I couldn’t complete this list without including Zoho Invoices, for the sole reason that you can theoretically pay nothing and still accept online payments.
Zoho Invoices does all the invoice management that small businesses need, including quotes, invoice management, and payment processing.
You can also track time to specific projects in Zoho Invoices (without using Zoho Projects) and pull that time into the right invoices with ease.
The only negative aspect worth mentioning is that Zoho Invoices, though indeed thorough, is a bit too simplistic for service businesses that are scaling.
Zoho Billing will eventually become a better fit or may be the right choice from the start for more complex billing needs. This product is not free and will set you back $39 per month, which is more in line with some of the other invoicing platforms on this list that provide more functionality.
Before you choose Zoho Invoices though, it’s important to keep in mind how Zoho works on the whole as a platform. They have various products that you can pick and choose from to cover your business needs, like a CRM, projects, Zoho Inventory, invoicing, and more.
This is great for startups who can start with basics and add on as they go, but it can be annoying if you’re not using Zoho for everything in terms of extra work around collaboration between teams and reporting.
My advice is if you’re going to use Zoho, go all the way with the brand in order to keep things more simplified for your team.
Why Zoho Invoices cracked the top 5:
- All-in-one everything if you use Zoho
- Very intuitive
- Time tracking, expense, and reports included
- FREE invoicing forever
- Highly recommended for startups
- Accept online payments
Pricing:
FREE forever - For more functionality, upgrade to Zoho Billing starting at $39 per month
Learn more about invoicing with Zoho Invoices
Frequently Asked Questions
Who needs invoicing & billing software?
Invoicing & billing software makes sure you get paid correctly and that a system is in place to create, send, and track your invoices.
Basically anyone that invoices and bills clients on a regular basis. This will include solopreneurs and freelancers in all manner of professions. Invoice management is non-negotiable for most for-profit organizations like service businesses, consulting agencies, construction companies, and everyone in between.
What are the benefits of invoicing & billing software?
- Get paid accurately
- Get paid on time
- View important reports
- Improve the customer billing experience
- Stay on top of taxes
- Improve cash flow
- Automate admin to save time
What is smart invoicing?
Smart invoicing manages the creation, delivery, and tracking of invoices using automation in one secure digital environment. Smart invoicing gets ‘smarter’ in certain solutions that have more interconnected data because they can then pull that data, say from timesheets and expense reports, into invoices automatically.
Smart invoicing doesn’t necessarily mean a system that also takes care of payments, but this is offered by a few platforms like QuickBooks Online to help you get paid as quickly as possible.
Is there any free invoicing & billing software?
Yes! Zoho Invoices was the only free invoicing software good enough to make this list. But here are all the free options for invoicing & billing I could find that may be a good idea for freelancers and startups who want to save cash:
- Zoho Invoices
- Invoice Ninja
- Paymo
- Bookipi
- Wave
- Paypal
2024 Invoicing Software Review Wrap-Up
Rather than do a big top 10, I decided this year to focus on the highest rated software for invoicing, i.e. the platforms people rave about online.
QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, PSOhub, Square, and Zoho Invoices all offer affordable invoice management and automated features.
No matter your industry, one of these solutions is bound to work for you, as each provides dozens of robust integrations and is designed to be user-friendly.