Is your email invoicing slowing down your cash flow? Here’s how to do it better

How much time are you spending emailing and chasing up invoices? If the answer is too much, read on.

Most people who go into business for themselves do it for the passion, not because they adore spending hours on admin managing spreadsheets and budgets.

If you’re running your own business, you want to lean into the things you’re good at and save time on anything that doesn’t float your boat. Like invoicing and all the admin that comes with it.

There are plenty of cost-effective and time-saving ways you can master your business finances, starting with how you manage your invoicing.  While you may be a sole trader doing it all, managing your business payments, invoices and quotes doesn’t need to be a one-person job. Introducing an automated bookkeeping software can free up more hours in your day, so you can get back to doing what you love.

Stuart Taverner, Marketing and Communications Lead at okke, an Aussie bookkeeping software service for sole traders, breaks down how to incorporate a foolproof invoicing system to help fast-track your business success.

Why some sole traders sink, and others swim

Financial mismanagement can unravel any sole trader’s dream, with so many entrepreneurs and business owners jumping in the deep end without properly learning to swim first.

“They can be in a little bit of a tricky spot decision-making wise sometimes because they start a business, but then they’ve got this extra financial admin building up on their side, which quickly just adds up,” Stuart tells Flying Solo.

Coming up with systems to keep track of your cash flow, expenses and budgeting needs to be a priority for all sole traders, especially during tax time.

“When you get to the end of the financial year, suddenly it’s actually really important, and if you want to keep growing your business, it’s doubly important,” Stuart says. “People don’t always know this sort of stuff.”

Reduce the admin, improve the experience

As a sole trader, you never want to feel like you don’t have visibility and control over your business operations, even the areas you may not be an expert in. If you have less patience with financials, or just way too much on your plate, a bookkeeping and invoicing software system can do it for you.

With software like okke, sole traders can save a lot of time by implementing best invoicing practices.

“The job doesn’t start and end at the invoice,” adds Stuart. “You’ve got a lot of people that have quotes that they need to do.”

The platform is designed to allow sole traders to tie invoices to the individual customer, tracking any additional actions, like quotes, credits, refunds, and unpaid balances. Having your records instantly update means you can accurately follow up with your customers and get paid faster. You still have autonomy over what communication goes out to customers, but the process is automated and you can keep tabs on any digital payments at all times.

“The idea of okke is to take some of that admin away. It’s just built for solo business owners,” Stuart says. “It’s designed to just pick up and go and get you started on those core things like the invoicing, managing that cash, getting reports ready for the end of financial year and automating as much of that as possible”.

It pays to look professional

Having a proper standardised compliant invoice is one of the easiest ways to display a sense of professionalism to your clients and customers. It looks great in client inboxes, is instantly recognisable with your branded logo, and can help slash the risk of fraudulent scammers tricking customers under the guise of your brand.

“Your customers will come to expect that same thing,” Stuart says. “It helps lessen some of that fraud because your customers will know your invoice is exactly the same every time.”

Essentially, there are far better ways to invoice your clients than simply putting your bank account details on a PDF or Word doc.

For example, an automated invoice can encourage a customer to simply hit the ‘Pay Now’ button and settle the invoice straight away with instant payment processing. Automated invoicing software can tell you when the invoices have been paid, meaning you can stop refreshing your bank app every two minutes.

“You don’t have to be checking when your transaction says it’s been paid,” Stuart says, “It automatically reconciles it into your cash flow.”

Paying an invoice or a bill shouldn’t feel time-consuming, so a fast and easy process like this takes the stress out of payment – for everyone.

Sound like your business could benefit from automated payment software? Try okke’s six-month free trial. No credit card needed.

This article is brought to you by Flying Solo in partnership with okke.