Best Billing Software in 2024

Billing software functionalities differ from vendor to vendor as they serve the various needs of industries and vertical markets. There are vendors that offer hourly billing, while there are others that base it on successful project completion. Part of managing client relations is sending them professional-looking billing statements. They also have to consider other factors such as how they will send the bill, how many customers they have, when they intend to collect the payment, and how they process late or delayed payments. Whether you are a small business or an enterprise, all these have to be taken into account in choosing the best billing software. With this buyer’s guide, selecting the right billing software for the needs of your business is fuss-free.

The first step in the selection process is to sign up for demos or free trial plans offered by leading billing software vendors. By doing so, you’ll be able to see first-hand and test-drive the important functions, which in turn will give you points of comparison of the capabilities of each software. In addition, you’ll gain a better understanding of what billing software is. We recommend testing the services of different billing systems that enjoy high rankings in our SmartScore and Customer Satisfaction Rating, such as Melio, QuickBooks Online, NetSuite ERP, FreshBooks, Salesforce CPQ, Sage Business Cloud Accounting, vcita, Zola Suite, Easy Busy Pets,  Zoho Books, and HoneyBook.

Billing software buyers may belong to any of the main categories below:

• Standalone buyers. There are buyers who require their billing software to be highly flexible and customizable. Thus, they would be more inclined to buy software dedicated to billing that meets their unique needs.
• Buyers of integrated systems. On the other hand, other buyers want billing software that can be integrated with their bigger, more complex accounting software. These purchasers are looking for a complete solution that instantly logs payments as accounts receivables in their general ledger. As such, they focus mostly on the product’s specific billing features. Other software offerings include billing features specific to certain business units. For instance, child care management software and salon software have billing features for daycare units and outlets, respectively. On the other hand, medical practice management software has medical billing features for inpatient/outpatient services and outsourced billing functionality for healthcare units.
• Buyers with unique requirements. These buyers are not the typical customers of billing software. For instance, there are utility companies that require tools tailored to their unique needs. To fulfill such requirements, they usually create their own custom software or contract the services of a third party to do such work for them.

Among our billing software reviews, the following products are the best examples of this type of platform:

• Melio: One of the leading billing systems on the market, Melio is a web-based accounts payable software that lets you pay your bills via bank transfers for free. The solution gives small businesses access to its network of more than 7,000 vendors for easy bills payment.
• QuickBooks Online: Another formidable contender in this software category is QuickBooks Online, an accounting solution that helps freelancers and businesses manage their income and expenses and gain insights into their customers. QuickBooks helps clients organize their transactions and get a complete picture of your cash flow.
• NetSuite ERP: NetSuite ERP is a comprehensive enterprise resource planning system that helps customers streamline their business processes and make smart decisions. Using its billing module, it lets businesses transform their general ledger and maximize their accounts payable processes.
• FreshBooks: One of the leading cloud solutions for freelancers, small businesses, and self-employed professionals that simplify tracking and billing. It makes collecting payments from clients faster and easier, plus, it comes with robust reporting features.
• Salesforce CPQ: Salesforce CPQ is a sales tool that helps businesses provide accurate pricing for the products they offer. This cloud-hosted application enables companies to increase their bottom lines and speed up their sales processes.

There are many types of billing software, ranging from free tools that have basic features to the more costly but feature-rich offerings. They can also be grouped based on their capabilities as some billing programs allows users to create online customer records while more sophisticated ones have predefined communication templates, configure currencies, or incorporate their branding. As to deployment methods, these can include:

• On-premise billing systems. These billing systems are run under one license and are hosted on the client’s local server. Because setting them up can be complicated and might require installing hardware that drives additional cost, such solutions can be expensive.
• Cloud-hosted billing systems. These software programs usually are offered in monthly plans, with the solution being hosted on the vendor’s server. The user or business does not have to worry about setting up, updating, and maintaining the software.

The list below are some of the recurring features of the best billing software:

• Bill Creation. This feature allows users to bill clients through professional-quality documents that can be tweaked according to your branding guidelines. The billing system should be able to pull relevant data from timesheets, projects, and customer records. It must also ensure that the bills sent are accurate and error-free.
• Customer Record Preparation. Users can keep records of customers’ personal information and purchase data and keep relevant files in one centralized database. Said database should have a search function with filters for easier retrieval of customer records.
• Payment Processing. The ideal billing system should be able to process payments through credit cards, ACH, and PayPal promptly, thereby helping clients get paid faster. Some software have the capability to automatically bill clients so that they won’t overlook payments.
• Customizable Templates. While ensuring that the contents of the bills are accurate, the way they look is equally important. Thus, you should look for a solution that has readily available templates for generating professional-looking billing statements. Using such templates helps you save time while allowing you to reflect your brand identity.
• Currency Setting. Having the option to price your items in multiple foreign currencies is helpful to global companies that have offices in foreign countries or that regularly do business with foreign companies. Users can set up a base currency and assign currencies to customers or vendors.
• Import/Export Customers. With this feature, client records are kept in a central database and can be easily retrieved. This allows users to send quotes to customers in a snap.
• Paperless Transactions. Another distinctive feature of billing software is its power to transform previously paper-heavy processes into paperless transactions. It often comes with mobile apps that allow the scanning of paper receipts and eliminate dependence on paper documents.

After doing a billing software comparison, narrowing down your top choices should involve looking at the benefits of your top picks such as the following:

• Payments are on-time. The right billing software can help make your billing process run smoother, helping you collect payments on time. You can keep all client information and manage them in one place, which will help you grow your business.
• No more late fees. Having bills organized in one place lessens the chances that you will miss them. It will also help you avoid late fees.
• Improve branding. An excellent billing solution can help your brand put its best foot forward. Most solutions have the capability to use your custom logo on your billing statements so that you put a positive, consistent image of your brand.
• Make subscription management easier. Through automated billing software, you can set up recurring payments or auto-pay. Payments are automatically taken on a regular basis, which is ideal for subscriptions, retainer agreements, and other similar services.
• Reduced overhead costs. Automating the billing process of your business considerably reduces the likelihood of errors versus manual, paper-based processes. Consequently, you won’t need as much manpower nor the rendering of overtime by employees.
• Better operational transparency. Improving the efficiency of your billing process through automation means you can track time, inventory, and project profitability. This can also give you reports about your financial health, plus, business analytics and insights that promote transparency into what is going on in your company.

As you use billing programs, some issues may crop up that limit their functionality. While some of these can be easily solved, some may take longer to address as they require looking into the root cause of the issue.

• Unable to see a 360-degree view of the customer. Most solutions may address billing, but you would need the complete picture of the customer journey. You’ll need customer details such as purchase orders, account activation, account renewal, account termination, length of service, and the like. Getting such information gives you a holistic picture of the customer to forge a relationship that goes beyond billing them for your products or services. It will also help you develop best practices for customer experience.
• Integration problems. Making the most out of your existing technology toolkit is ideal. Thus, it would be best if the program natively integrates with the software and apps you are already using. However, there are those where you would need API or custom integration. Besides its fit with your technology tools, you would have to consider additional costs, if any, if you are looking into using integrations with the software.

• Broader services for large enterprises. Some solutions target freelancers, self-employed professionals, and small- and medium-sized businesses. However, in the coming years, as more large enterprises migrate to the cloud, we can expect vendors to meet their demands. As such, more billing systems can be used to unify the core transactions of larger businesses.
• More worldwide payment solutions. Credit and debit card providers like MasterCard and Visa used to dominate the field, but not anymore. Today, there are many payment options such as Alipay, Paypal, Bitcoin, and more. With the rise of ecommerce, recent online payment statistics indicate that card transaction fees are increasing. According to the National Retail Federation, swipe fees are estimated to reach $110.3 billion in 2020 compared to $20 billion in 2001. As such, we can expect billing solutions to evolve and slowly accommodate all of these new payment options.