Common Invoicing Mistakes to Avoid for Small Business Owners

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Are invoicing mistakes costing you a fortune?

Invoicing is a complicated payment process, especially for a small business owner. Most freelancers and small-scale business owners can not afford a dedicated accountant employee.

Thus, if you pull your sleeves up for invoicing, mistakes are bound to be made without accounting experience.

The only way we can avoid mistakes is by being aware of them.

Say “no more” to the invoicing blunders as we have consulted our accounting experts and listed the most common invoicing mistakes and shared an appropriate solution.

And trust us, not reading this blog till the end would be another huge mistake.

So, let’s get started.

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Whether your business is in construction, landscaping, consulting, photography, auto repair, or the medical field, invoicing takes way too long. That’s why we’re here. InvoiceOwl makes your invoicing faster and simpler so you can get paid promptly and without the hassle.

10 Invoicing Mistakes To Avoid While Requesting A Payment

Invoicing mistakes

When you are running a business, you need to double-check the invoice before sending it to the client. Below are the common mistakes made by the business owners during invoicing process.

  1. Forgetting to Invoice

    Letting your branded invoices fall between the cracks is one of the most common and biggest mistakes. How can you expect the client to pay you when you have not even invoiced them.

    Many business owners forget to invoice because they are managing multiple projects simultaneously. And some see it as a tedious task and just keep procrastinating on it, which hinders the positive cash flowing.

    Solution:

    Make a habit to invoice clients at the same time the project ends. Or, the best solution is to use a brilliant invoicing app, such as InvoiceOwl.

    It helps you create an invoice
    from your smartphone itself.

  2. Sending an Invoice to the Wrong Client

    Letting your invoice bark up the wrong tree will not only make you linger for the payment but will harm your reputation as a brand.

    Sending invoices to the wrong place may reveal your trade secrets or the custom discount rates to the wrong person and you end up losing their trust.

    Solution:

    Double-check the client information (client’s legal company name, company logo, contact number, office address, and email id) mentioned on the invoice before sending it out.

    And if you want to rest assured, the InvoiceOwl app ensures that the same client receives the invoice on the same day. By managing the client details easy and efficiently, It automatically fills up the correct email id eliminating any spelling errors.

  3. Not Mentioning The Due Date

    The due dates are crucial to getting you paid on time. It encourages the clients to pay you in a timely manner. It lets the client know when you are expecting them to pay you.

    Moreover, if you do not mention the last payment date, you can not charge the clients a late fee.

    Solution:

    Always mention the payment terms. ‘Payment terms’ is the time limit for the customer to pay after the invoice. So, even if you forget to mention the last paying date, the client knows the time they have to pay you to avoid the late payment penalty.

    Automation of such repetitive tasks is the best solution. Therefore, pick an account payable automation software like InvoiceOwl. It automates the whole invoicing process and you will might never of unclear payment terms from clients.

  4. Not Itemizing Services/Products

    Itemization of all the products and services sold helps the customer understand the total amount. And many professionals do itemize the bill but just mentioning the line items is not enough. You should describe every item with rates, quantity, and cost.

    Solution:

    An itemized invoice is necessary and tedious to create. Thus, use the online invoicing software — InvoiceOwl to add line items while creating invoices with just a single click.

    It remembers all the products and services you provide and adds the description automatically, which helps you to get paid on time.

  5. Calculation Mistake

    One of the most common invoicing errors is silly calculation mistakes. When you have to add multiple line items, taxes, and discounts, it is quite natural to make common mistakes. After all, we are not computers.

    Solution:

    Invoice calculations can get complex at times, and what is better than letting the computer handle the calculations? As they stamp out the room for human error.

    Therefore, to create precise and accurate invoices, download the InvoiceOwl app. It figures out the final amount to be paid and you just have to verify the invoice.

  6. Not Clarifying The Payment Policy

    Not clarifying about payment policy can bring you a lawsuit against your brand. Many businesses don’t feel the need to mention tacit information such as payment currency or refund policy.

    But, by mentioning them, you inform many customers who do not know your payment process policy and protect yourself against any legal actions.

    Solution:

    Payment policies are something that does not change quite often. Hence, writing it every time is not a wise idea. You are only inviting fat finger errors by doing so.

    Thus, to avoid such a mistake, use a customizable invoice template to add your policies once and for all.

  7. Double Invoicing Problems

    In invoicing process, business owners usually made a detailed invoice, but there are chances that they send invoices multiple times to their clients. If you mistakenly have double invoicing, then you may not have a clear idea of making payment. Also, you would be unsure about the billing errors.

    These invoice errors could be because of poor bookkeeping done by the accounting person. If such recurring invoice mistakes continue for a long time in a billing cycle, they may have an adverse effect on your business.

    Solution:

    If you have recurring mistakes of double invoicing, then you should audit your current system to see how efficient it is. When you’re satisfied with your invoicing system, make sure your employees are properly trained on how to use it.

    In case, if you have more than one person handling invoices, there would be no way to ensure that the correct invoice numbers are being sent.

  8. Marking An Invoice Paid Before It Actually Is

    Counting your chickens before it hatches benefits no one. Just because the customer has received the invoice does not mean you are guaranteed to be paid.

    Therefore, wait for the money to actually be transferred into your account and only then mark it as paid. And if the clients forget to pay you timely, send automated reminders via emails to follow up.

    Solution:

    To keep track of paid and unpaid invoices, maintain a ledger of all the transactions. Moreover, ask the customer to provide the transaction details in case of a bank transfer.

    You can use the InvoiceOwl online invoicing software that keeps track of invoice payments and notifies you in real-time. Furthermore, it helps you generate receipts for the paid invoices too.

  9. Surprising The Client With Hidden Charges

    Not discussing all your charges in advance is a big no in the professional world. Do not hesitate to reach customers again if needed to let them know of all the additional costs they have to pay before taking the assignment.

    Solution:

    To avoid such a Himalayan blunder, make sure you send an invoice before finalizing the collaboration. And to generate precise estimates, use InvoiceOwl online invoicing software.

    Notifying customers about all your charges helps you win their trust and helps you get paid quickly if you are offering multiple payment options to them.

  10. Keeping No Digital Backups

    Having no digital backups of your invoices makes no sense in today’s world. You don’t want to end up with heaps of paper and wasting paper is not for the environment too.

    Moreover, paper-based invoicing makes it hard to sort and refer to an invoice from a few months ago. Whereas, if you have a digital copy, you can track all your business finances effortlessly.

    Solution:

    How strange is it that a simple solution can resolve such a huge issue? Like all the other invoicing issues, all you need to do to avoid this one is, download the InvoiceOwl invoicing app and it will take care of your invoices.

    It not only stores your invoices on the cloud but your templates too with a unique invoice number assigned in a sequential numbering system automatically.

Frequently Asked Questions
  1. What happens if an invoice is incorrect?

    If an invoice is incorrect, it may lead to delay in payment, no pay, brand image menace, or even a lawsuit.


  2. How do you solve an invoice problem?

    To resolve the biggest invoicing mistakes, you can cancel the invoice immediately by using a credit note. This way you can legally stop an invoice from getting overdue and balance the accounts.


  3. Is it legal to change an invoice?

    No, it’s not. You can not change an invoice that has been agreed upon. The only exception that allows you to modify an invoice is to correct a mistake which further stops recurring invoices mistakes.


  4. What is the impact of processing an invoice with an incorrect invoice date?

    Processing an invoice with an incorrect invoice issue date can make you pay more in late fees, or even mess up your annual tax numbers too. The invoice might even get lost when sorted chronologically.

InvoiceOwl

Create Professional Invoices Online Easily and Keep On Top of Your Finances

InvoiceOwl is a feature-rich invoicing app that helps small businesses, freelancers and contractors to create invoices on-the-go and get paid quicker!

Conclusion
As they say, “Precaution is better than cure.”

We must prevent any invoicing mistake from occurring in the first place. And for that, we need to be mindful of the common billing errors. Also, one should be providing multiple payment options when it comes to sending invoices.

So, today we discussed all the most common goof ups. And as we discussed the solution, we found a simple yet complete solution for all the mistakes. Which is, InvoiceOwl— one of the most popular invoicing apps.

What are you waiting for? Download the app now and guard your invoices against glitches.

Author Bio
Jeel Patel
Jeel Patel
Founder

Jeel Patel is the founder of InvoiceOwl, a top-rated estimating and invoicing software that simplifies the invoicing and estimating processes for contractor businesses. Jeel holds a degree in Business Administration and Management from the University of Toronto, which has provided him with a strong foundation in business principles and practices. With understanding of the challenges faced by contractors, he conducted extensive research and developed a tool to streamline the invoicing and estimating processes for contractors. Read More

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