5 Reasons Why You Need To Invoice Your Customers - addressing common challenges faced by business owners and freelancers

Invoicing is the act of raising a commercial document by a seller, relating to a sale and indicates the products sold, quantities and prices of the goods or services sold. But is this the only reason why sellers invoice their customers? Here are five real life situations where invoicing makes it easier for you to do business.

#1 - Proof of purchase & Conflict resolution 
An invoice is an itemized statement of money owed for goods shipped or services rendered. It is also a legal commercial document that can be used in a court of law to prove a sale or a purchase. Should any discrepancies relating to the amount payable arise after a sale, the invoice from that sale can be used by either parties to resolve the confusion as an invoice will contain all billed items that were sold along with terms of sale.

You can further reduce conflicts that could arise because the scope of projects weren't agreed on ahead of time. Our friends at ehow advise, "when practicable, hand deliver invoices that may have unusual items on them and take a few minutes to sit down with the payment contact to ensure that they understand the issues surrounding the anomaly." The sooner discrepancies are identified the less likely issues will arise later.

#2 - Record keeping
Maintaining invoicing records are a good way to track your earnings and spendings. If you are recording and filing your invoices properly it should serve as a journal of your business transactions. Proper record keeping of invoices will also help you accurately track the progress of your business. organized invoices are great way to knowing who owes you money and who you owe money to and which orders are completed and paid for. Nothing is more embarrassing than calling a client to remind him about a payment only to realize halfway through the conversation that he has already paid you.

#3 - Professionalism
Professionalism plays a role in the process of closing a sale. In the business world, where image is everything, it is very easy to lose a client for having come off as unprofessional. entrepreneurs and business are not only judged by the goods or services they provide. They are also judged by the people and documents that represent them. A professional invoice is taken seriously and is more likely to be paid off in a timely manner than a verbal request for payment

#4 - Get paid on time
Some businesses are notorious in dragging payments for as long as they can get away with. When you issue an invoice to your customer, along with the payment due date, you are effectively telling your customer that payment is expected by the mentioned date. When your client receives an invoice that has a ‘payment due date’ mentioned, you are more likely to receive your money within a week of the payment date if not on the date mentioned on the invoice. However do not forget that with some clients you may need to constantly remind them of payments outstanding

#5 - Your client knows what they are paying for
A well-thought out invoice will prevent arguments and make the client feel like their money has gone to good use. if your invoice contains a logical breakdown of costs this will make it easy for your client to understand how they racked up such a big bill. Some clients may ask why their project was so expensive. You could say "good work is expensive", but that isn't very nice, is it?

Instead if your invoice contained an accurate breakdown of costs and looked professional, you could show it to your client and explain how their money has been put to good use.

#Bonus tip - try out ezBiz for your business and invoicing requirements and let us know what it’s like in the comments below.