Without invoices, small business owners would never get paid for their work. So, we think it’s pretty safe to say that making professional invoice templates is a big part of owning a business.

But what do you do if you don’t have the design or coding background to design your own invoices? Luckily, there are plenty of companies that have already done the work for you by designing invoice templates.

So, what’s so great about invoice templates? We’re happy to tell you.

The pros of invoice templates

• They free up your time. Running a business takes a lot of time and energy. By delegating your invoice creation to a program, you have more time to grow your business.
• You don’t have to design them. While you want the invoice to fit your brand identity, you also don’t want to have to go through the hassle of getting the technical and artistic background just to design a template yourself.
• Your clients can pay you faster. When you get the invoice sent out sooner, the payment will usually come sooner. The later you send out an invoice, the later you’ll get paid. In the end, using an invoice template will get you paid faster.
• They give you consistency. Having a template allows you to crank out invoices to multiple clients again and again. This will help your brand prove to be steady and dependable over time and across your client base. Also, by sending the same kind of invoice every time, customers will become familiar with the formatting and be able to navigate it better, which once again gets you paid faster.

The cons of invoice templates

Unfortunately, some invoice templates software companies do have some downsides. Here are some of the cons of using some invoice templates.

• Cost. Paying to get paid is frustrating, but a lot of free invoicing software lacks the quality and professionalism you may want. Some may let you send a certain amount for free and then charge you once you pass that limit.
• Watermarks. Some invoice template companies will brand their invoices, so rather than preserving the identity of your company, your invoices serve as an advertisement for another company. This can also confuse the client and make it unclear who they are working with.
• Too much freedom. Freedom is generally a good thing. You don’t want to be stuck with an ugly template that doesn’t match your brand. But you also chose to use a template because you didn’t have the time or knowledge base to design a template, so sometimes it’s better to be guided a little more to make sure your invoice looks professional.
• Security. Trusting a template company with financial data can be risky. But there are some that will take your security seriously. Make sure to pick one that encrypts your data and keeps it safe and private.

Try ZipBooks

If you’re not sure where to start looking, ZipBooks’ free online invoice software uses a professional-looking template. It manages to be high quality and there are no limits to the number of invoices or customers you can have.

ZipBooks does not include any watermarks and allows you to add your company’s logo to customize the template to fit your brand. You can change some design aspects, but you also can be assured that your invoice will look professional and consistent because of the unchanging basic structure we use.

ZipBooks also takes saving you time very seriously, which is why we offer credit card processing as well as a bank feed option. All that data is encrypted and tokenized to safeguard your company’s and clients’ information.

We also do more than just invoicing, which means you can do handle all of your finances in one place. And if you wanted to get started with our invoice template, you can sign up for a free ZipBooks account today!

Happy invoicing!