Invoicing basics: How to invoice someone in business.

Learn the best way to invoice customers, including how to use templates, which information to add, and how to simplify payments.

As a small business, you’ve probably concerned yourself with everything from product development to marketing, but you might not have your system for invoicing down yet. The best way to get paid as a business is to make invoicing easy and simple for clients or customers. Learn how to invoice someone effectively, from creating an invoice template to including the right details.

What is the best way to invoice clients or customers?

The best way to invoice clients depends on your situation. First, you’ll need to know which kinds of payment you’ll accept and which types your clients use.

Look into the standard way invoicing works in your specific industry and ensure it works with your payment method. You can also ask yourself how the client expects to be invoiced since that’s where they’ll look for your bill. In some circumstances, clients will expect a physical invoice in the mail — in others, they’ll expect an email. You can even combine the two approaches to help ensure payment.

Also, don’t overlook presenting your invoice in person if that makes sense for your business and matches client expectations. Always thank the client briefly after you’ve received payment from your invoice.

Invoicing clients can become part of a simple system if you make a template and include all the right information. Follow the steps below to learn how to invoice effectively.

1. Create an invoice template to reuse.

Invoice templates are the best way to simplify the billing process.

Once you’ve learned how to create an invoice template, you don’t have to worry about coming up with new designs, adding your logo and business information, or remembering which information blocks to include every time you want to invoice someone. You can simply pull up a blank invoice, add the product or service details, and send it to the customer.

If you’d prefer not to create your own template, you can easily download free invoice templates online.

2. Include all relevant information in the invoice.

Give your customers all the information they need to understand exactly what they’re paying for, who they’re paying, and how they can make payments.

Make sure you include at least the following information in every invoice:

• Your business contact information
• The client’s contact information
• Invoice date and number
• Each product sold or service rendered
• Total amount due
• Payment terms

Once the proper information is added to your invoice template, it’s ready to send to the customer or client.

How to invoice someone with recurring payments.

If you have an ongoing client relationship and have to send regular invoices, you can set up auto-recurring invoices with invoicing software. Setting up your invoices to be automatic can make your invoicing more efficient, saving you the time it takes to refill your template and send your invoice. Double-check that the automated system you have set up will be accurate — you don’t want to worry a client with an extra or inaccurate invoice.

Along with invoicing automatically, you can create automatic follow-ups to make sure your payments come in when you expect them. Your automated follow-ups should be polite, pleasant, and help build the relationship with your customer.

Best way to invoice customers? Make it easy.

Learning how to invoice someone doesn’t stop with sending an invoice. The final stage of the invoicing process is the acceptance and payment.

The easier it is to make payments, the faster customers will pay your invoices. Set up a way to accept online payments to make it easy for your customers to pay using a credit card or other online payment option.

If your business requires customers to sign invoices, adding an online signature using software powered by Adobe Acrobat is a great way to speed up the invoicing process. Your customers can accept and pay invoices without needing to meet in person for signatures or deal with copiers or fax machines.

Explore more about what Acrobat can do to simplify the invoicing process.