Sending invoices by text. Can anyone recommend a system or package to do this?

[freckles20]

I am a sole trader who walks dogs and feeds cats. I'm Really busy with work and things are generally going well but I'm really struggling to keep up with paperwork specifically invoicing. It's making me look flakey and unprofessional, plus it's awful for my bank balance!

It would really help me to be able to send invoices by text rather than email. I don't need anything particularly clever or that links into my accounts. I'd like it to show a logo and a breakdown of the dates I've walked each dog etc.. plus ideally if it could let me preload customer names and addresses that would be great.

Google has thrown up so many options, I can't see the wood for the trees and after making a few initial enquiries I am now getting spammed by sales calls from people offering the perfect invoicing solution.

My turnover is small so it needs to be very affordable.

A system where people pay when they book won't work for a number of reasons.

Can anyone suggest anything please?

Thank you

Hi There,

Text is a little tricky, especially if a customer/client wants to print them off or keep a record, and it would also be problematic for your record-keeping. The nearest solution I can think of is WhatsApp and attaching a PDF, but not everyone may have it, and it would not be that seamless.

May I ask why email is not workable for you? If you think about it, these days, people with a phone usually have access to email.

Something like the simple quick books package would work.

You can send invoices from the app.
Preload customer info etc.

I wouldn't go with text invoices. They're really annoying if you want to file them away or keep them stored somewhere. Why not email?

My window cleaner uses squeegee (hope the link works).

I get text with a link once the invoice is ready to view. The first time I used it I had to set up my bank details and now it just takes the payment automatically 5 days after I receive the invoice. It looks like they offer various packages - not sure how much you're expecting to spend.

Very convenient as a customer.

Remember you will need something that will work with Making tax digital ( assuming that you ear more than 10k from all your self employment ) .

To add, I'm able to download and print invoices with squeegee. It seems to work well from my end.

Why do you want to do it by text? Is this what clients have requested or you feel they want?

what are you currently using?

are these one off invoices or recurring invoices of the same amount most the time for regular clients?

how do you want to take money? Bank transfer or automated payment or online card payments via an invoice link?

i have several suggestions but need a clearer idea.

you could also use a direct debit service for a low cost.

I wondered why not email as well. Esp as you want to include a logo, which can't really be done on SMS. And presumably you weren't thinking of using a service like WhatsApp in case not all your customers are on it. Do they all have mobile numbers?

My window cleaner does sent text invoices, that is via SMS, it has the bank details for the transfer and the total, but wouldn't be suitable for a breakdown of line items.

My drain guy uses ServiceM8, which is the fanciest I've seen in terms of functionality. Might be worth a look.

For my own invoicing, I use Zoho Invoice. Works well for me but I only have a few invoices to do each month. I would probably look at QuickBooks.