QuickBooks Invoicing Guide: Simplify Invoicing in 9 Easy Steps

Invoices form the major component of Accounting in small businesses. It is a formal document that keeps track of a transaction between a buyer and a seller. It also acts as a crucial tax document that should be retained as proof of your income.

People and organizations have found it easier to rely on Electronic Invoicing as an alternative to paper since the dawn of the computer era. Electronic Invoicing, often known as E-Invoicing, is a type of electronic billing that allows parties to generate, save, and track transaction-related documents in order to guarantee that the requirements of their agreements are met. You can create and send Invoices via the web using platforms like QuickBooks. QuickBooks Invoicing can save you time, eliminate errors, and help you get the most out of your budget.

This article will help you understand QuickBooks Invoicing. You will explore the key features of QuickBooks, learn critical components of Invoices and understand the steps to create an invoice using QuickBooks Invoicing. At the end of this article, you will unravel various benefits of QuickBooks Online Invoicing. So, put on your reading glasses, and let’s dive in to gain insights about QuickBooks Invoicing.

Table of Contents

• Introduction to QuickBooks
  • Key Features of QuickBooks
• Understanding QuickBooks Invoicing
  • Invoice vs Receipt vs Bill
  • Invoice Checklist
• Steps to Set Up QuickBooks Invoicing
• Benefits of QuickBooks Invoicing
  • Easy Customization & Flexibility
  • Real-Time Tracking
  • Faster Payments
  • Customer-Friendly
• Conclusion

Introduction to QuickBooks

QuickBooks is an Accounting and Financial Management application that enables businesses with bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, inventory management, and other financial tasks. QuickBooks is a reliable product used by hundreds of thousands of small businesses throughout the world. QuickBooks was created by Intuit, a California-based company, to help automate typical tasks and save time on bookkeeping and paperwork.

QuickBooks can be customized to suit one’s own needs and preferences, hence, making it versatile and adaptable to a wide range of enterprises. It comes with a simple User Interface that guides users through all of the features. It also provides ready-to-use templates for developing Charts, business Plans, Invoices, and Spreadsheets. It can also help businesses save time and effort by automating their signatures on business checks. 

Key Features of QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a tried-and-true accounting software offering a plethora of excellent features. Its popularity among small firms is aided by a number of significant features, including:

• Accounting Reports: Keeping track of your business’s progress has never been easier thanks to QuickBooks Custom Reports. It gathers all of your information in one place and makes it accessible whenever you need it. The Accountant will check and verify all transactional information and bank statements, making the tax filing process straightforward and accurate.

• Multiple Users Access: You can grant several levels of employee access using QuickBooks Online. This makes it easier for your company’s various teams to work together. 

• Payments and Cash Flow Management: By delivering an Invoice or statement to your client and allowing them to pay you with a credit card or a bank transfer, you may get paid faster using the QuickBooks Online Payment System. You can pay your bills online with QuickBooks. You won’t need any envelopes, stamps, or paper checks once you’ve set up your current bank account. You can also download your monthly statement from a participating bank for easy accessibility.

• Support: QuickBooks Professionals will answer all of your queries and provide you with unlimited free assistance. To help you become a QuickBooks expert, QuickBooks offers seminars, videos, an online community, and other resources.

To explore more about QuickBooks, visit the homepage here.

Understanding QuickBooks Invoicing

An Invoice is a commercial document that itemizes and documents a transaction between a buyer and a seller. If products or services were bought on credit, the Invoice normally spells out the conditions of the agreement and lists the various payment options. Invoices can be used by businesses to keep track of how much money their customers owe in total and to keep track of their cash flow.

Invoice vs Receipt vs Bill

Let’s understand some critical differences between Invoice, Receipt, and Bill.

• Invoice: It’s handed out to collect payments from customers. It records a sales transaction in which the seller receives payment for goods or services at a later time.
• Receipt: It serves as evidence of a customer’s payment to a merchant. Receipts serve as proof that a client received the goods or services for which they paid, as well as a record that the business has been paid.
• Bill: It’s a type of sales transaction in which customers pay right away. Customers may sometimes refer to a payment request due to their vendor as a “Bill”.

Invoice Checklist

A robust, legally sound Invoice should include all of the information a client will need to make payments as well as a way to contact them if they have any issues. Let’s have a look at the important components that must be included in an Invoice:

• Invoice Number: To identify an Invoice from the rest, each Invoice must have a unique identifier number such as an Invoice number, purchase order number, or reference number.
• Date: Keeping track of the date of service or sale can make categorizing a lot easier. To ensure that payments are made on time, the Invoice must specify the date it was sent.
• Business Contact Information: To safeguard that the customer can contact you if they have any questions, the Invoice should clearly display the seller’s name and contact information. To ensure the document’s legitimacy, the client’s contact information must also be included.
• Descriptions of Goods and Services: Each product or type of service delivered must be described on the Invoice. 
• Payment Terms: Provide precise details about payment expectations to maximize the chances of obtaining payment on time. The length of time the buyer has to pay for the agreed-upon purchase should be specified in your payment terms.

QuickBooks Invoicing has a number of free, editable Invoice templates that may be used to create a variety of Invoices in a range of file formats. You can receive payments, send personalized Invoices, and use automatic matching to optimize your bookkeeping using QuickBooks Invoicing and Payments. Your financial statements are updated in real-time, allowing you to see changes in your accounts receivable and bank account balances quickly.

Steps to Set Up QuickBooks Invoicing

QuickBooks Invoicing enables you to create professional and personal Invoices, manage payments in real-time, and send automatic reminders. Let’s look at how you can make your first Invoice using QuickBooks Invoicing.

Step 1: Log in to your QuickBooks Online. Go to Dashboard → Invoicing and click on Send your first Invoice button as shown below.

Step 2: Now, as seen below, select a customer from the dropdown menu. To add a new customer, select Add New from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: Select the payment terms for this Invoice using the dropdown menu. Some of the common Invoice payment terms are shown below.

Step 4: Next, enter the product and description, by clicking on Add or + symbol.

Step 5: After entering product details, enter the customer’s email to send the Invoice. You can preview your Invoice using the Print or Preview option as shown below.

Step 6: To change the Invoice template, add a logo or content, modify colors, font, and much more, you can select the Customize option as shown in the above image. 

Step 7: Your payment options will be displayed automatically if QuickBooks Payments is enabled. For each Invoice, you can toggle options on and off. Else you can click on Get set up as shown below to set a new payment option.

Step 8: Click on Save to save your Invoice. To send it to your customer, you can click on Save and Send option at the bottom of your Invoice. 

Step 9: Next, you can customize your email by adding the subject and body. Click on Send and Close to send the Invoice as shown below.

Hurray!! You have successfully created and sent your first Invoice using QuickBooks Invoicing. 

Benefits of QuickBooks Invoicing

QuickBooks Invoicing enables you to create and send personalized, professional Invoices, Sales Receipts, and Estimates quickly and easily. Invoices are easy to create and can be printed or emailed to clients. In this section, you will explore some of the benefits offered by QuickBooks Invoicing.

• Easy Customization & Flexibility
• Real-Time Tracking
• Faster Payments
• Customer-Friendly

1) Easy Customization & Flexibility

You can create and customize Invoice templates quickly to help streamline Invoice production and send more bills to more clients. For a lasting impact, you don’t need to work long hours. You can customize logos, colors, and more in a matter of seconds, with previews that show you what customers precisely see. You have everything you need to accept contactless in-person payments anywhere, anytime with QuickBooks mobile app and card reader.

2) Real-Time Tracking

QuickBooks Invoicing keeps track of partial payments and payment progress based on your original estimate, making it simple to keep track of how a transaction is progressing. You and your customers can set up a timetable for sending and receiving Invoices. QuickBooks help performs the heavy lifting for you and so that you can manually stop modifying your Estimate or Invoice.

You can monitor when a customer sees an Invoice and set up notifications to let you know when it’s paid in full. You can even set up automated payment reminders so that the system alerts the client when the payment deadline approaches.

3) Faster Payments 

You can add a hyperlink to your online Invoices. All the customer has to do is click the link to pay their bill once they receive it. This accessibility is especially important if you’re selling to busy enterprises or professionals.

QuickBooks enables clients to pay their bills immediately and eliminates the need to wait for cheques to process and clear. You can also add a button that allows clients to pay their Invoices online directly from the Invoice. Credit cards, debit cards, and ACH bank transfers are all accepted. In addition, you can also set up recurring payments to save time.

4) Customer-Friendly

 Accelerated QuickBooks Invoicing helps you save time and repeat similar Invoices for several customers. You can keep your clients informed to avoid disappointments. Furthermore, you can display the entire amount invoiced, what is still outstanding, and what has been paid on prior bills to your clients.

As a result, QuickBooks Invoicing makes it very easy to send, handle, and receive Invoices and payments, allowing you to focus on more critical activities.

Conclusion

In this article, you learned about QuickBooks and its key features. You understood the basic differences between Invoices, Receipts, and Bills, and learned the critical components of the Invoice. Moreover, you understood the steps to create and send invoices using QuickBooks Invoicing. At the end of this article, you unraveled the exciting benefits of QuickBooks Invoicing, to help you work smarter and efficiently.

However, extracting complex data from a diverse set of data sources like CRMs, Project management Tools, Streaming Services, Marketing Platforms can be quite challenging. This is where a simpler alternative like Hevo can save your day! 

Hevo Data is a No-Code Data Pipeline that offers a faster way to move data from 100+ Data Sources including 40+ Free Sources, into your Data Warehouse to be visualized in a BI tool. Hevo is fully automated and hence does not require you to code.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO EXPLORE HEVO

Want to take Hevo for a spin?

SIGN UP and experience the feature-rich Hevo suite first hand. You can also have a look at the unbeatable pricing that will help you choose the right plan for your business needs.

Share your experience with QuickBooks Invoicing in the comments section below!