Practical Tips for Invoicing Clients

Many freelancers and independent contractors experience setbacks when invoicing clients. If you’re accustomed to receiving a regular salary, having to log your own hours and subsequently create invoices represents a stark departure from the norm. Fortunately, once you get into the habit of sending out regular invoices, requesting timely payment for your services will come as second nature. If you’re new to invoicing and could use a few helpful pointers, the following tips are sure to come in handy.

Give Your Invoices a Professional Appearance

It behooves all freelancers to maintain an air of professionalism when invoicing clients. Submitting a sloppily put-together invoice is liable to make clients question your business acumen and think twice about working with you in the future. In some cases, it may also cause them to question your math, potentially resulting in a smaller payment. Luckily, creating a professional, easy-to-read invoice couldn’t be easier with the help of a solid template. If you’re interested in stepping up your invoicing game, don’t hesitate to create your invoices online at Aynax.com. Aynax’s convenient templates enable contractors and freelancers to create professional-looking invoices in mere minutes.

Submit Your Invoices in a Timely Manner

Some freelancers are hesitant to submit invoices immediately after completing jobs, as they believe this could be interpreted as pushiness. While this concern is certainly understandable, most clients would rather you submit your invoices as soon as possible than wait it out. The sooner you send your invoice, the sooner your client will be able to process it – and the sooner you’ll receive payment for your services. Receiving an invoice long after work has been submitted will come as an annoyance to many clients, who won’t interpret your lateness as courtesy. Being late in submitting invoices also indicates a lack of professionalism and may also suggest that you don’t have enough confidence in your work to request payment forthright.

Don’t Assume the Worst if a Payment is Late

If you upheld your end of the bargain and completed your work by the agreed-upon date, it’s perfectly reasonable that you’d want to be paid in a timely manner. Unfortunately, payments can be processed late for a number of reasons, few of them the fault of your client. For instance, many late payments are the result of invoices being detected as spam and therefore never received. That being the case, avoid adopting a combative tone if a payment is submitted late. In all likelihood, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, and being confrontational won’t do you any favors with clients.

If you’re used to working traditional jobs and receiving regular paychecks, it may take you a while to adjust to freelancing. Although there are many perks associated with being one’s own boss, there are also a number of noteworthy downsides. For example, keeping track of the number of hours you work and how much effort is expended on each assignment is now solely your responsibility. Furthermore, you’ll now need to invoice clients and request payment instead of simply having your paycheck deposited into an account. To ensure success on the invoicing front, take care to give your invoices a professional appearance, submit them in a timely manner and avoid assuming the worst if a payment is processed late.