Invoicera Review

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Date Established

2006

Location

India

Overview:

Expensive, luxurious, extravagant, and sometimes even fun, Invoicera is the celebrity yacht of the invoicing world. Launched in 2006, the company has now grown to 125 employees and facilitates the sending of an average of 200,000 invoices a year, worldwide. With a large number of advanced features and the reliability to back them up, Invoicera goes above and beyond the sea of other invoicing software companies, offering time tracking and project management along with highly customizable features like recurring invoices, recurring expenses, and recurring bills (a feature I have never seen in any other invoicing software to date). These extra bells and whistles do come at a steep price, but there is a reason 3,000,000 customers use Invoicera.

Despite its glamorous exterior, the last time we reviewed this software Invoicera suffered from poor customer service and stagnant updates. But with improved customer service and more consistent updates, Invoicera has become an invoicing software contender once again.

Continue reading to see if Invoicera is right for you.

Pricing:

Invoicera not only offers a forever free plan, they also provide a free 31 day trial with full feature access. No credit card or banking information is necessary to access the trial, and the service can be canceled at any time.

Additionally, Invoicera offers three paid pricing plans to fit the needs and size of most businesses. Payments are made monthly, though a 6% discount is given for a 6-month subscription, and a 12% discount is given for a 12-month subscription.

Free Plan:

• Unlimited invoices and estimates
• Three clients
• One recurring profile
• Time tracking and project features
• One user

Classic Plan:

• $19.95/mo
• 100 clients and 100 recurring invoices
• Auto billing for 15 bills
• Five staff members.

Business Plan:

• $39.95/mo
• Unlimited clients and unlimited recurring invoices
• Auto billing for 100 bills
• 10 staff members.

Infinite Plan:

• $99.95/mo
• Unlimited clients and unlimited recurring invoices
• Unlimited recurring auto bills
• Unlimited staff members.

Invoicera also offers several extra additions, including:

• Extra Auto Bills: $10/mo for 25 auto bills.
• Extra Users: Additional users are $9/mo each.
• Extra Clients: $10/mo for 50 clients.
• Extra Recurring Invoices: $0.20/mo for one recurring invoice, $10/mo for 50 recurring invoices, $30/mo for 300 recurring invoices.

Note: All extra products must be paid monthly.

Invoicera has a fairly generous referral plan as well, which gives you one month of complimentary service for every person you refer to the company (so long as they use a paid version of Invoicera for three months). There is no limit to the referral rewards you can accumulate.

Web-Hosted or Locally Installed:

Web-hosted. No installations or downloads required.

Hardware or Software Requirements:

As a cloud-based software, Invoicera operates on any computer with an internet connection. In addition, Invoicera hosts a mobile app for the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch (iOS 7+) and Android (4.0+).

Specific Size of Business:

Invoicera is ideal for almost any sized business, provided you do not require full accounting software. Freelancers, independent contractors, and smaller businesses can benefit from unlimited invoices and expenses, while larger businesses will be thrilled with limitless auto billing, detailed user settings, and, particularly, unlimited staff.

Check out this link to see how Invoicera works for a variety of businesses and business models, from photographers to lawyers to restaurants to contractors/consultants.

Ease of Use:

“Invoicing simplified” is Invoicera’s motto and raison d’etre. But while this claim is mostly true, Invoicera’s software could stand to be streamlined and simplified even further. Set up and invoice creation, however, is incredibly easy and quick.

• Set Up – Simply add your logo and company details, choose a default invoice template, and you are good to go. The only thing that might take some time is scouring through settings for necessary preferences. But other than that, this might be the quickest setup process I’ve seen.

• Organization – All in all, Invoicera is well-organized and easy to understand and navigate. The top of the screen contains a toolbar marking Dashboard, Billing, Projects, People, Received, Reports, and Settings. Each of these tabs has intuitive drop down menus and a second toolbar of quick links (to create invoices, estimates, expenses, etc.) is included underneath the first toolbar. Occasionally certain features aren’t as streamlined as I would like, but everything is exactly where I would have expected to find it.
• Instructions and Guidance – In most cases, Invoicera is self-explanatory. However, if you do require assistance, there is a live chat platform where you can receive quick answers. Email responses are also fast and informative. There is a Knowledge Base for very basic questions, but the most helpful guidance by far is via the free webinar demo. Representatives are incredibly helpful and provide a complete walk-through of the software’s functions. And best of all, they don’t try to preach an expensive plan to you. Actually, my representative encouraged me to use the smallest plan because it would fit my business best.
• Problems – There’s a reason I called Invoicera the luxury yacht of the invoicing world. However, like most expensive things, the software can be a bit flashy or unnecessarily complex. Sometimes simple is better. Here are a few of the problems I had with Invoicera’s software:
  • Could Be Streamlined – My main complaint is that Invoicera could be so much better with just a few minor tweaks. For example, when adding an item to an invoice you cannot add a sales tax unless you exit out of the item screen and enter it under the tax section, even though there is a tax setting under the item creation button. And when going through settings, it would be nice to move to the next settings section without having to exit out again and again. This, and many other issues like it, are small annoyances that grow more irritating over time. There’s nothing bad enough here to keep me from using the software, but even minor nuisances can slowly drive you crazy.
  • Too Much Clicking – As I mentioned above, there are numerous times when are you unnecessarily forced to switch from screen to screen. For example, when trying to log hours, you are kicked off the screen if you haven’t created correlating projects and tasks first. Throughout my entire reviewing experience, the various bells and whistles of Invoicera became just a little bit much for my taste, and I just kept wishing for a simple back button.
  • Not Always Intuitive – Sometimes the software is hard to navigate. For example, when previewing an invoice template, there is no way to X out of the preview. You somehow have to magically know that clicking the invoice makes it go away.
  • Glitches – Multiple times I was logged out of the software randomly. In addition, the built-in timer glitched on me once and I lost my logged hours. Actually, the timer itself could stand improvement; it opens up as a new window that you have to leave open on your desktop in order to use. And when converting the timer to logged hours, you can only see the number of hours logged and not the specific times you worked.

Features:

Invoicera pulls out all the stops when it comes to features. Many of these offerings are incredibly unique and set Invoicera apart from the competition. To read a full list of Invoicera’s features, go here, but here are a few highlights:

• Dashboard – The Invoicera dashboard is a collection of graphs that mark your recent activity and financial state. These graphs include: invoices for the year; invoiced, paid, and overdue invoices; recent activities; expenses; time sheets; and top billed customers. As mentioned earlier, there are two toolbars for quick access to features and links.
• Invoicing – Invoicera offers seven invoicing templates, as well as a completely customizable template (featured below). This template is easy to create and adds flexibilty and creativity to your invoices. Generally, there are only one or two invoice templates I actual like or deem professional enough for business use, but all of Invoicera’s templates are business-worthy. You can invoice for services or items and can accept payments directly from the invoices with your choice of over 20 payment gateways. You can also add attachments to invoices. Furthermore, Invoicera has late fee options. The best thing about Invoicera by far (besides customizability) are the abilities to schedule invoices to be sent at a later time and to send recurring invoices. My only complaint is that there is no place to input shipping costs on invoices.

• Estimates – There are six estimate templates, an impressive amount (far more than most every other invoicing software). You can duplicate and copy estimates in order to quickly create a new estimate for a client. You can also easily convert estimates to invoices – just make sure you double check that the default Terms and Conditions and Notes are correct.

• Auto Billing – This is one of the coolest features in Invoicera. You can automatically charge clients’ credit cards to save invoicing hassle and receive quick payments.
• Expense Tracking – Through Invoicera, you can track your expenses and add attachments (such as receipt pictures). You can also import expenses via .xls or .csv. And unsurprisingly (if you haven’t picked up on Invoicera’s recurring items theme yet, you haven’t been paying attention) Invoicera supports recurring expenses. You can also assign specific expenses to staff members or clients.
• Credit Notes – Invoicera supports credit notes for customers, as well as purchase orders.
• Customizable Emails – Invoicera has one of the most developed email customization features I have seen. You can customize default email messages for new users, new invoices, new estimates, client login information, invoice payment notifications, estimate thankyou notes and invoice payment reminders. You can also customize emails directly before sending an invoice or estimate off.
• Projects – Projects and tasks can be created and assigned to specific staff members or clients. You can attach billable and unbillable time to projects as well as important documents and incurred expenses. You can also set task priorities within a project, which is a cool touch and one I haven’t seen before.
• Time Tracking – This is one area that could seriously use some improvement. While Invoicera does offer time tracking, a built-in timer, and timesheets, these features are a bit wonky and need to be streamlined. Like I mentioned above, not only do you have to leave up the built in timer as another window on your desktop, you can’t add specific blocks of times; only the total hours worked will appear in your calendar. In addition, the time tracking feature itself is not very intuitive, and timesheets have to be created under projects instead of under time tracking.
• Client Portal – Invoicera offers a simple, easy to use Client Portal where clients can pay for, print, export, or dispute invoices, as well as accept, reject, print, export, or comment on estimates.
• Contact Management – Invoicera allows you to manage contacts and vendors. Contacts can have both billing and shipping addresses.
• Inventory – This feature supports basic inventory management. You can track item quantity and backorder items if you still want to create an invoice even when your inventory stock is at zero.
• To-Do List – If you’ve read my article The Complete Guide to Choosing Online Accounting Software, then you know how much I love lists. That’s why this next feature is my favorite out of all Invoicera has to offer. Invoicera has a built in to-do list which allows you to choose the task you have to complete (create invoice, purchase order, email client, etc), set a date to complete it (or recurring dates), and prioritize the level of urgency and importance the task requires. Then, voila! Every to-do task is prioritized, and most importantly, every task is easy to remember.
• Reports – Around 20 reports can be found in Invoicera, including a P&L statement and timesheets. You won’t find other typical accounting reports, but you will find customizable summary reports and export capabilities.
• Sales Tax – Invoicera has strong sales tax features. You can set as many sales taxes as needed and handle compound tax as well. Under the sales tax tab, you can also save additional charges and fees that can later be added to your invoices.
• Multi-Currency – Invoicera supports multiple currencies, multiple languages, and multiple companies.
• Open API – Invoicera has open API for developers.

Customer Service:

I found myself pleasantly surprised by the customer service. The last time we reviewed Invoicera, the customer service was one of the biggest problems with the company. Since then, they have improved their email and support ticket response times (I generally received email responses anywhere from 20 minutes to 20 hours after reaching out). The staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and refreshingly non-pushy about sales.

However, the additional customer service resources offered are still limited compared to other invoicing software companies, and the lack of a US phone support number is disappointing. On a scale of one to ten, where one is the worst possible service and ten is the best you could imagine, I would plop Invoicera right in the middle.

Here are the ways you can connect with the Invoicera support team:

• Email – Contact Invoicera customer service at support@invoicera.com or contact a sales representative at sales@invoicera.com.
• Support Ticket – You can also create a support ticket here.
• Phone – The US phone number seems to no longer exist. But you can call 91-9350204838 from 6:00 am to 12:00 pm IST.
• Live Chat – There is a live chat feature within the Invoicera website, which is really helpful for quick responses.
• Knowledge Base – Invoicera does offer a Knowledge Base with brief step-by-step articles. While these can occasionally be helpful, the number of articles is severely limited compared to those provided by other invoicing companies.
• FAQ Section – There is a short FAQ section that mostly just explains how subscriptions and creating an account works.
• Webinar Demo – You can set up a free webinar demo with an Invoicera representative. I found this to be my favorite resource. They walk you through each feature, give advice and tips about what features will be most valuable for your business, and answer any questions you may have on the spot.
• Blog – Invoicera has a blog, which mostly revolves around Invoicera updates and software promotions, though there is an occasionally interesting article with good business advice.
• Social Media – For better business advice, check out a few of Invoicera’s Facebook posts. Both the Invoicera Facebook and Twitter also feature Invoicera tips and advice articles for specific small business industries, like photography. This resource is definitely worth looking into if you are searching for helpful business tools and advice.
• YouTube – I generally love it when companies have a YouTube presence, but I was incredibly disappointed with Invoicera’s YouTube channel. Each video is a collection of PowerPoint slides with absolutely zero audio. And in the two videos where actual Invoicera employees speak, their eyes are following a teleprompter the whole time and the language barrier makes it difficult to understand exactly what is being said.
• Feedback Form – Invoicera provides a space for customers to leave feedback on the software. Within the app, there is also a space to vote for your favorite suggestions (like which integrations you would like best).

Negative Reviews and Complaints:

For a company of over three million users, it’s surprisingly difficult to find reviews on this software. The majority of reviews available are regarding the mobile apps, though I did find a few, random customer reviews deep down in the depths of a Google search. For the most part, Invoicera is well loved by its users; however, there were a few complaints to note:

• Mobile App Bugs – This is by far the biggest complaint. Many people report bugs within the mobile app and neither the Android or iPhone app have been updated since 2015, a bad sign.
• Poor Customer Support – A few users complain about Invoicera’s customer service.
• Too Advanced – A couple users say that the Invoicera software and feature selection are too advanced and were overkill for the needs of their companies.
• Unauthorized Charges – One woman reported unauthorized charges placed on her account after she had canceled her Invoicera subscription.

Positive Reviews and Testimonials:

Invoicera receives 5.5 stars on g2crowd (based on three reviews), 4.5/5 stars on Capterra (based on two reviews), and 8.1/10 stars on TrustPilot (based on four reviews). In addition, the Android Play Store rates Invoicera at 3.3/5 stars (based on 32 reviews). (The iTunes store has not received enough reviews for a rating yet.)

Though some of these sites featured only a small number of reviews, most customer feedback was positive overall. Here’s what users like most about the software:

• Quick and Easy – One of the most common praises of Invoicera is that the software is easy to use and makes sending invoices a quick, painless process.
• Saves Time – Many users report that the ease of use and software mobility save them valuable time.
• Lots of Features – Across the board, people love the number of features Invoicera offers. Users especially like the auto billing feature and the ability to send unlimited invoices and estimates on the free plan.
• Mobility – While many users complain of mobile app bugs, plenty of users have never had this issue and appreciate the mobility that the Invoicera apps provide them with.
• Good Customer Support – A few users praise the customer support team.

Here’s what some reviewers are saying:

“Invoicera is the best billing application that we have used. It is very easy to use and has got a host of features.” – Mark Robinson, K-Electric

“I’ve found Invoicera to be a very nice application for freelancers. Very simple and easy going software that gets me paid. I am able to have better control over my finances and work/ cash flow is now in equilibrium.” – Aaliyah

“Very easy to navigate with all the features of online invoicing / billing, tracking etc. I was looking for a complete invoice management, and vendor, staff management solution which I found in Invoicera.” – Venjee K.

“Invoicera has become an integral part of our business. The time that Invoicera has saved us in regards to invoicing, time tracking and project management more than covers the minimal cost of the service.” – Sophie Park

Integrations and Add-Ons:

Invoicera integrates with 22 payment gateways (including PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, Braintree, and more), an amount that significantly outnumbers other invoicing software options. However, as mentioned earlier, there is a severe lack of other kinds of integrations. The integrations Invoicera does support are as follows:

• Google – Users can link their account with Google Apps. You can use iGoogle and Gmail as time tracking tools.
• Basecamp – A team management and communication platform. Read our full review here.
• Magento – A powerful internet retailer platform in the eCommerce world. Read our full review here.

Security:

Invoicera takes strong security measures by using 256-bit SSL encryption and firewall protection. Data is also backed up routinely onto multiple servers. To learn more about Invoicera’s security details, go here.

Final Verdict:

While this software may be a good fit for yacht-sized companies with commensurate budgets and extensive needs, Invoicera’s steep prices and excessive features might capsize a smaller company. For users with fewer, less champagne-and-caviar requirements and a desire for simple, easy to use, and uncomplicated software, Invoicera may not be the best choice. There are still quite a few areas where the software could be streamlined, and the customer service resources could certainly stand to be expanded. The lack of recent mobile app updates and limited integrations are also concerning.

That said, Invoicera’s forever free plan is more than worth looking into. Invoicera offers an incredible amount of invoicing features, including unrivaled recurring profile options. The number of users allowed and the permission settings offered are almost unrivaled, and this software’s invoice customizability options are some of the best I have ever seen.

To see if Invoicera can help you navigate the rough waters of invoicing and keep your finances afloat, check out Invoicera’s free trial and forever free plan.

• Bio
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Chelsea Krause

Head Accounting and Invoicing Writer

Chelsea Krause is a writer, avid reader, and researcher. In addition to loving writing, she became interested in accounting software because of her constant desire to learn something new and understand how things work. When she's not working or daydreaming about her newest story, she can be found drinking obscene amounts of coffee, reading anything written by C.S. Lewis or Ray Bradbury, kayaking and hiking, or watching The X-Files.

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