Smart Billing: Invoice Templates for More Effective Business Operations
No service-orientated enterprise can do without invoicing. Creating a functional invoice requires professional experience and takes a lot of time too. But the functionality is not the only issue: your transaction documents are part of your company’s public image, and ideally, you would like them to make a good impression on your clients.
Fortunately, you will find an infinite variety of free invoice templates at https://docsandslides.com/googledocs/invoice/ to make that part of your business operation easier for you. This way, you can leave the job to professional designers and focus on more significant aspects of your work instead.
What are the advantages of using the templates, and how to find the best ones for your business needs are the questions we shall attempt to answer in this article.
Why Use Invoice Templates
1. The most immediate benefit is that it helps you save time. There is no reason to spend hours drawing an invoice when you can download one from the internet in one click. Besides, it will cost you nothing anyway.
2. If you find a reputable provider, the chances are, the templates you get from him will be easier to read and use, and they will make your enterprise look more respectable too. Creating a template is an art, and you can let professional designers provide you with an invoice that will boost your image and promote your business on the market.
There are many aspects to consider, such as customising the fonts and grids, and making the layout appropriate for your specific purposes. Your invoices will also have to look different, depending on the type of your enterprise. A professional provider will offer you a choice of templates for freelance services, large-scale contractors, rental invoicing and self-employed bookkeeping, to name a few.
3. Templates are easily reusable: all you have to do is save them on your computer and when you need them again, fill the new data into the corresponding fields and format the items to suit your current purposes. It is a lot more convenient than creating a new invoice for each occasion. And a reputable provider will always be willing and able to assist you with the task.
Google Docs or Word
The chances are, the templates you find online will be in one of these two formats. Which one is better is, largely, a matter of personal preferences and style, and each seems particularly suitable for different purposes. Therefore, we will only summarise their most obvious pros and cons in the table below.
|
Word |
Pros |
More widespread and, therefore, accessible to your clients Better integrate with other Microsoft programs Best for large and complex tasks with variable structures and unique content |
|---|---|---|
|
Cons |
Less functional on mobile devices Is not cloud-based More expensive than its alternatives | |
|
Google Docs |
Pros |
Is cloud-based Allows to work in real-time Best for simple tasks with standardised structures and content Costs nothing |
|
Cons |
Provides a comparatively mediocre range of formatting options Jeopardizes your safety due to its online availability, requiring additional security measures |
Where to Find the Templates
You will find myriads of companies providing invoice and other templates online, so the more actual question is how to find a professional and reliable one. The word of mouth is, probably, the best recommendation; plus, you can browse the collection of templates to see if like them for yourself.
Still, some rules of thumb will help you increase your chances of finding a reliable provider.
1. For one thing, the templates must be 100% free, and there should be no hidden charges whatsoever.
2. The provider’s terms, conditions and privacy policy must be perfectly transparent, and they should be easy to find on his official webpage.
3. A professional and reliable operator will also be easy to contact, and you should see his phone number, e-mail and, often, social media profiles on his website. In the optimal cases, he will have a physical address too. In addition, he should be easily accessible for professional assistance and support, and be willing to offer them when you need them.
Summary and Conclusion
Invoice templates can considerably simplify the routine part of your bookkeeping and enhance your professional image too. Fortunately, they are easy to find on the internet, in good quality, impressive variety and free of charge.
All you should do is understand what sort of templates you need, and make sure you get them from a reliable company. Besides, a professional provider will help you select or design the best templates for your specific purposes too.
Once you start using them, you will discover whether Google Docs or Word suits you better, and in which cases, as well as how to use, customise or format them for each specific occasion. And your template provider will most likely be glad to help you with that too.
