Whether you run a marketing agency or are a freelancer yourself, you can bet that the professional services industry is thriving. From creative materials to social media demands, helping businesses and clients expand their brand awareness initiatives and create a more robust market has helped millions of agencies and independent professionals around the globe.
That said, sending invoices has been second nature to a lot of people who rely on their clientele for a living.
Still, it’s worth examining today, at a time when so many things are changing and digital solutions are taking over menial and repetitive work, what exactly should we include in our invoices?
Here the non-negotiable essentials for drafting professional invoices
Your Business’ Branding Aesthetic
Contrary to what many may think, invoices aren’t merely PDFs agencies and freelancers send out to claim money. These are documents that reflect your brand, and so ensuring that your invoices carry your brand’s aesthetic can play a critical role in business consistency, as well.
From colors and logos to fonts and taglines, these files should hold a striking balance between elegance and professionalism.
Legal information
Despite all the personalization you want your invoice to possess, you have to remember that at the end of the day, it’s still a legal file. That said, there are pieces of information that you shouldn’t overlook. Furthermore, keywords such as “invoice,” “price,” and “services” have to be legible and written clearly.
Other details your invoice should have are the following:
unique ID numbers, the name of your business, your business address and contact details, the name and address of the client you’re sending an invoice to, the exact service or product you’re charging for when these services or products were sent and the timeframe of consumption, the data of your invoice, and lastly, the amount you’re asking your client to pay.
Again, all these things have to be clear to avoid unnecessary clarifications from your client. Should additional VAT fees be applicable, make sure to include them on the document.
Using Integromat to make things easier and faster
Although designing your invoice is very much a feasible direction to take, there is now a myriad of no-code tools that allow you to generate invoices stress-free.
From PayPal to TransferWise, the capacity to customize an invoice is now a breeze no one has to worry about.
In fact, no-code tools have made the establishment of web apps much more viable today.
For instance, customers and clients can now automate invoices depending on the services they avail of from you.
Should you establish a web app clients can customize on their own, you’re more able to reach a larger group of audiences while expanding the way you want to work with these clients.
A stellar example of this is by providing a menu of products or services on your web app. Customers can then click on whatever they want to avail from you and your app can auto-populate an invoice.
It doesn’t matter if you run a creative agency or an SEO-driven team. Web apps created on no-code providers like Bubble are easy to maintain, update, and personalize.
What’s more, integrating invoice technology from apps like Authorize, PayPal, and Stripe, are easy activities too. Through Integromat’s workflow-automation technology, users can move data between apps without having to manually go through the whole process themselves anymore.
Not only is this more efficient and time-effective, but it’s also a wiser way to work, ensuring no numerical hiccups are prevented.
It’s time for a web app
Sure, you have a brilliant website but it isn’t going to take you too far. Whereas websites host mostly static content, web apps allow easier SEO access to online searchers and prospects. Designed for interaction with users, a web app enables businesses and freelancers to better serve their customers and clients by allowing them to book their services, schedule discovery calls, and a whole lot more.
The future is digital, and so establishing dynamic and profitable web apps will only better prepare your business for the future.
Do you have ideas you’d like to discuss and apps you want to build? We’re the agency you want to partner with!
