You just delivered your work and now the good part comes: sending the invoice and getting paid! Guess what, you need to be careful in this phase as well, otherwise you risk not getting paid or damaging your reputation with your client, which could affect future orders.
Below you will find 5 common mistakes businesses and freelancers alike make when creating and sending their invoices to clients.
1. Not double checking the email address
If you want to get paid you need to make sure that your client will actually receive the invoice. Always double check the email address you are using, otherwise you risk sending it to someone else. This mistake is important because it will be hard to detect. You might hit “send” and never realize that the email address was incorrect. If you have a busy schedule, several weeks will probably pass by before you remember that the invoice was never paid. Even if you manage to contact the client and get paid it will create a really bad image, one of someone who is not on top of his game. To avoid this, you can scrape emails and verify their accuracy before sending important documents.
2. Not using a professional invoicing tool
We are in 2019 and you are still creating and sending your invoices manually? If that’s the case, you need to upgrade yourself urgently! Online invoice software make it much easier to create and manage all your invoices from a single place. It will also make much easier to create professional looking invoices, and this will help your brand with clients.
3. Design matters
Even if you offer services that are not related to design, such as legal services or management consulting, you still need to pay attention to how your invoices look. Remember that every interaction you have with your clients either strengthen or hurt your brand and image. For example, if you don’t have a good looking logo make sure to invest in one. A research from the MIT confirmed how powerful logos and other design elements are in shaping the brand of a business.
4. Making spelling mistakes on your invoices
People often judge intelligence and professionalism of other people and companies by the way they write. If your invoices contain grammar and spelling mistakes they are certainly going to affect negatively the image that your clients will have of you. Even small details matter here; for example, if you are a software developer should you write on the invoice that you sold your client a software program or programme? Always proofread before sending the invoice, and when in doubt check a dictionary.
5. Make sure the values are correct
So far we talked about the design and the writing aspects of your invoices, and about how you’re going to create and send them. There is one very important part left: making sure that the items and values in the invoice are absolutely correct! This point is crucial because a mistake could give the wrong impression that you are trying to overcharge your clients. Always triple check the numbers in your invoice before sending them.
Wrapping Up:
Maintaining critically acclaimed professional standards of invoices and documents is important. By now you must have known the major mistakes you have been making in creating the invoices that led to delayed payments. Make the wiser choices and create perfect invoices with Invoicera which is the World’s Best Online invoicing software. Pre-designed templates and multiple accessibilities make management of finances and business reliable.
