Resources
for your business.
Getting paid on time is one of the most important aspects of running a business.
So, we’ve collected free resources for your business (see lists below) that makes invoicing and billing a little easier.
Use the ‘table of content’ to jump to a section on this page.
Without further ado, here’s your list of over 180 (mostly free) invoicing resources – just in time to bill your clients.
Note: We are not a affiliated with any business mentioned.
Unpaid invoices should not just be put aside simply because the customer refuses to pay and you are tired of sending reminders, letters, and making calls. As a last resort, you have the option of making a claim which starts legal proceedings against a customer who has refused to pay. Below are resources that will help in making a claim.
Making a Claim in the UK
To make a claim for unpaid invoices in the UK, fill out Form N1. Below are some sources from which you can download Form N1. Use the guide here to help you fill out the form.
- UK Government Website Download Form N1 and other claim-related documents.
- Asset Publishing Service Download Form N1 in PDF format
- Just Claim other supporting forms and documents before making a claim
For claims of £100,000 or less use this website.
Money Claims Online This is a HM Courts & Tribunals Service, an internet-based service for claimants and defendants. Please note that the service is still in beta mode and you’ll be required to fill out a few questions. You’ll also need to create an account with money claims to start using this service.
Making a Claim in NY City
To make a claim in New York City you fill out the complaint form for freelancers. Learn more about who is covered here. Below are some sources from which you can download the form:
- New York State Website: download the form as a PDF
- Template Roller: fill the form online before downloading it as a PDF
Increase the chances of getting paid by sending an organized set of well-written emails at set times. Below are free proven email templates available online.
- Chaserhq.com: copy-paste email templates for invoices almost due, early overdue, and late overdue.
- fluidly.com: copy-paste email templates for invoices almost due, 14 days overdue, more than 14 days overdue, and final overdue reminder.
- fundera.com: five payment reminder templates to ask for overdue payments professionally
- codeinwp.com: three Scripts to Help You Collect on Unpaid Invoices
- kingsofconversion.com: exact email scripts for unpaid invoices and tips on follow up automation
- millo.co: three general email scripts for unpaid invoices
- zervant.com: email templates: for one week before the due date, for the due date, and for one week after due date
- lessaccounting.com: three sample emails with tips on when to write each of them
- medium.com: eleven detailed email templates for collecting late payments
- invoicebus.com: email templates for late invoice payment with follow up templates.
Include all the relevant legal details and documents to protect your business from late invoice payment. Use the resources below to generate payment terms and conditions as well as accurate invoices that can be printed or sent via email.
Disclaimer: information contained in these is not legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for an attorney or law firm.
(a) Clauses for your terms and conditions
- Free Invoice Builder: create free payment terms and conditions in minutes
- Termly: Create a free terms and conditions agreement for your website or app transactions online
- Terms Feed: generate free payment terms and conditions online
- Jot Form: free payment terms and conditions template in PDF
- Law Insider: download free payment terms and conditions
- Template Lab: download free payment terms and conditions in PDF or word format
(b) Open-source legal documents
- Docracy: An open collection of legal contracts and documents
- Kiss: legal documents for startup investors and owners all for free
- Shake: create a legal agreement and sign it in a matter of minutes for free. It’s optimized for mobile so it’s easy to use.
- Simply-docs: get legal documents and guidance notes
- Rocket Lawyer: make a payment collection worksheet by entering a few details
- Legal Templates: create a legal agreement in minutes
(c) Make and send a statutory demand
A statutory demand is a final warning that if the customer doesn’t make the payment or come up with a payment plan acceptable to both parties, court proceedings will start. Below are some sources from which you can download statutory demand templates.
- UK Government Website: download free statutory demand forms
- Accountant in Bankruptcy: free statutory demand form in PDF
- Asset Publishing Service: free statutory demand form in Word document
- Net Lawman: download statutory demand forms and notes
- West Law: download statutory demand form in PDF format
- Winding Up Petitions: four free templates of statutory demand forms
An effective overdue invoice letter is tricky to write because you have to choose your words very carefully and get the tone right. Below are free templates of effective overdue invoice letters you can use to get started.
- smallbusiness.wa.gov.au: single overdue invoice letter in word document
- mycreditcontrollers.co.uk: four late invoice letter templates: 1st reminder, 2nd & 3rd chasing letter, and 4th final letter.
- simplybusiness.co.uk: three late invoice letter outlines: 1st polite reminder, 2nd firm nudge, and 3rd final notice.
- farill.io: template of the first letter used to claim an overdue payment
- wordexceltemplates.com: template of final letters for overdue payment with word document download option
- foundletters.com: templates of overdue payment letters
- wordtemplatesonline.net: templates of payment reminder letters with a download option
- allbusinesstemplates.com: templates of overdue payment with a download option
- fasttrackdebt.com.au: single letter template for overdue payment
- and.co: templates for overdue invoice payment reminder letter
Increase your chances of communicating the important information to your customer by setting your objectives before making the call. Use a free phone script from the sources below to help set the objective and increase your chances of communicating your demands effectively.
- chaserhq.com: six effective phone scripts for unpaid invoices
- fundinggates.com: sample of two friendly reminder calls for unpaid invoices
- ezycollect.com.au: seven call scripts to handle the most common excuses for late payments
- www.tcm.be: tips on how to chase overdue payment by phone with a few sample script lines
- janreeves.com: a single call script with tips on how to make the call
- dynavistics.com: three call scripts for unpaid invoices
- calllogic.com: three call scripts for late invoices
- linkedin.com: single phone script with explanations
- boisestate.edu: simple call script in pdf
- nav.com: first late invoice call script
Simplify the invoice creation process by using invoice software that can customize your invoice to fit your needs. A good invoice software ensures that all your details are captured clearly and you get to retain a log of all the created invoices. Below is a list of free online invoice software.
- Online Invoices: quick & easy online billing & accounting software
- Free Invoice Generator: create an invoice in a few easy-to-follow steps
- FreshBooks: create your customized invoices for free
- Enerpize: all-in-one cloud ERP solution for small businesses
- Wave: ideal for small business owners who are looking for fast and easy accounting and invoicing, and it’s for free
- Invoicely: create beautifully designed bills, invoices, and estimates in seconds for free
- AND.CO: create invoices based on your contracts and projects for free. This is best for freelancers
- Invoice Ninja: create detailed invoices for free
- Harvest: generate invoices in seconds for free
- Invoice Home: free and fast invoice creator with 100s of templates
Simplify the invoice creation process by using an invoice generator that can customize your invoice to fit your needs. A good invoice generator ensures that all your details are clearly captured. Below is a list of free online invoice generators.
- Free Invoice Generator: generate an invoice in few easy-to-follow steps
- Invoice Simple: generate a free customized invoice in your currency
- Zoho: generate a free neat invoice in seconds
- Free Invoice Build: generate a free customized invoice
- Invoice Home: generate a free neat invoice in seconds
- Invoicely: generate a free PDF invoice
- FreshBooks: generate your customized invoices for free
- Hub Spot: generate a professional invoice for free
- Shopify: free invoice generator that is easy to use
- PayPal: free customized invoice generator
Simplify the invoice creation process by using an invoice generator that can customize your invoice to fit your needs. A good invoice generator ensures that all your details are clearly captured. Below is a list of free online invoice generators.
(a) Free invoice apps for iPhone
- PayPal: for creating invoices on mobile devices.
- Square: for accepting in-person and online payments.
- Wave: for invoicing and accounting for small businesses
- Zoho Invoice: for invoice workflows
- Harvest: for reducing transaction fees on payments
- Invoice Ninja: for extreme customization
- AND.CO: for automatically adding expenses to invoices
- Invoicera: customize and automate your invoice management process
- Invoicely: for inventory price management and invoice generation on the go
- Hiveage Invoicing: a free simple elegant app that generates customized invoices
(b) Free invoice apps for Android
- Invoice Maker: Create an invoice from your phone for free
- Wave Invoicing: create a beautiful professional invoice on your phone in seconds for free
- Simple Invoice Manager: create invoices fast on your phone for free
- Invoice Maker & Estimate: create professional invoices on the go
- FreshBooks: create your invoices for free and on the go
- Street Invoice: Quickly send professional invoices to your customer on the go
- QuickBooks: Use the invoice generator for simple invoicing in multiple currencies
- Zoho Invoice: make invoice management an effortless process for free
- Bookipi: Easily create invoices on the go for free
- Easy Invoice Maker: a free app that makes your invoice process fast and easy.
Submitting the invoice as soon as the job is complete can make you get paid faster. Use the following templates to create an invoice in minutes.
Word
- Invoice Simple: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- Microsoft Office: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- Vertex 42: free basic invoice template
- InvoiceBerry: free invoice templates for freelancers and small businesses
- Invoice templates: download free blank invoice templates
- Hloom: download free blank invoice templates
- Fresh Books: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- Smart Sheet: download your preferred invoice design template for free
- Wave: download an easy-to-use free invoice template
- Instabooks: download free invoice templates
Excel
- Hloom: download free blank invoice templates
- Vertex 42: free basic invoice template
- Microsoft Office: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- Invoice Simple: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- SpreadSheet 123: download a free simple invoice template
- Fresh Books: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- Smart Sheet: download your preferred invoice design template for free
- Transferwise: download professional invoice template for free
- Vyapar: Free professional MS Excel invoice templates
- InvoiceBerry: free invoice templates for freelancers and small businesses
Streamline your sales process with a proforma invoice and increase the chances of getting paid on time. Below are some sources from which you can get free proforma invoice templates:
- Smart Sheet: download your preferred pro forma invoice design template for free
- eForms: download a free proforma invoice template in word or PDF format
- Vertex 42: free basic proforma invoice template in excel or word
- Fresh Books: choose your preferred design from a variety of free templates
- Word Templates Online: download free proforma invoice templates in word or excel
- Invoice Simple: create your proforma invoice online and download it as a word or excel document for free
- Hloom: download free blank proforma invoice templates
- Invoice templates: download free blank proforma invoice templates in word or excel
- Template Archive: choose from 30 free proforma invoice templates that you can download in word or excel.
- Template.net: choose from 17 free proforma invoice templates that you can download in word or excel
Get tips, advice and share experiences with other business owners. Below are forums where you can get valuable insights from other businesspeople.
UK Business Forums
- Forum of Private Business: non-profit comprehensive business support that offers advice, support, and protection for its members
- Business Forum UK: small business forum helping business owners with advice and tips
- UK Business Forums: a big community of small business owners
- inBusiness UK: split by sector, this an organized forum where questions are answered fast.
- Startups UK Forum: a good place to share insight and experiences that can help grow a business.
- The Wholesale Forum: for businesses that are looking to source wholesale products and sell them on. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking to set up your first retail business
US Business Forums
- Biz Warriors: discussion forum for entrepreneurs and small business owners
- Reddit Entrepreneur: A community with 901,000 individuals who seek to solve problems, network professionally, collaborate on projects and make the world a better place.
- The Admin Zone: different aspects of businesses are discussed widely to make you understand your business better.
- Quora: A forum a wide range of topics regarding business and other social issues
- Startup Nation: for active group discussions with like-minded entrepreneurs sharing tips and valuable advice
- Fast Lane Forum: for real entrepreneurs creating real businesses with one goal in mind: Freedom— both financial and temporal
Canadian Business Forums
- Global Business Forum: an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded by sponsors promoting thought and action leadership.
- Red Flags Deals: forum for entrepreneurship and small business
- Business Transition Forum: for practical insights from entrepreneurs and business experts that have traveled down the transition path before you
- Forum for Women Entrepreneurs: A forum that educates, mentors, energizes, and connects women entrepreneurs
- MacKay Forum: for highest impact peer group for forward-thinking, action-oriented executives, and business owners
Get accurate numbers that will help in making important business decisions. Below are websites that provide free online calculators to assist you in informed decision-making.
(a) Invoice calculator
- My Math Table: simple to use invoice calculator with discount features
- Good Calculator: simple to use invoice calculator with different rates, discounts, and tax features.
- TiPalti: easy to use payment cost calculator
- Bonsai: estimate how much you’ll be paying when you invoice clients
- Microsoft: Set the tax rate – and calculate the tax automatically – on the sale of your products or services with this basic, accessible invoice template for Excel.
(b) Invoice factoring calculator
- TCI Business Capital: calculating invoice factoring fees
- Gateway Commercial Finance: calculate invoice factoring fees based on your factoring rates
- CORSA Finance: calculate invoice factoring fees based on your factoring rates
- Crown Financial: calculate how much it’ll cost to factor your invoice
- Fit Small Business: determine the expense to their business for receiving an advance on their existing invoices
(c) Invoice financing calculator
- Touch: finance calculator that can instantly assess if you are paying more than the industry average
- Fast Capital: calculate how much it’ll cost you to finance the invoice
- Hitachi Capital: a calculator to work out how much money you could release from your invoices, and how much the facility may cost you
- Nav: calculate how much it’ll cost you to finance the invoice
- SME Invoice Finance: estimate the costs of an invoice finance facility with our handy invoice finance calculator
(d) Penalty interest calculator
- My Calculators: Use the penalty interest calculator to find out the amount of interest, if an invoice is paid late
- Contractor Calculator: Calculate how much interest you can charge your clients when they pay late
- Free Online Calculator: quickly calculate the interest penalty on overdue invoices
- Fiscal Treasury: automatically determine the amount of simple daily interest owed on payments made after the payment due date
- Don’t Pay Late: work out how much interest and compensation to charge on your unpaid invoice
Leveraging an invoice to release working capital can help a business become more profitable. Below are companies that offer invoice financing services.
UK
- Market Finance: credit facility you can get an advance against your outstanding invoices and say goodbye to those gaps in cash flow.
- Aldermore: quickly release cash into your business by converting the value of unpaid invoices or contractual billing into ready working capital
- RBS: release cash quickly with Invoice financing
- Investly: for registered businesses, trading for over 6 months and £50,000 minimum turnover
- SME Invoice Finance: Release instant cash from unpaid invoices; up to 95 5 of the invoice value paid to you within 24 hours.
USA
- BlueVine: release cash for your business using the invoices at hand
- Fund Through: receive the money you need to fund your business growth without waiting on customers to pay
- USBank: simple, reliable, and transparent invoice financing
- Porter Capital: flexible financing for all kinds of businesses that may not qualify for traditional loans
- Payplant: instant payment for the supplied invoices
Canada
- uLoan: free up cash for your business, without new debt
- Meritus Capital: get an immediate advance on your outstanding invoices
- Commercial Capital: don’t tie up the business’s cash flow with invoices
- Riviera Finance: get fast cash from the invoices at hand
- Express Business Funding: quickly get your invoices financed without too much bureaucracy.
Invoice factoring frees up your time and capital; all of which are important for growth in revenue and profitability. Below are companies that offer invoice factoring services.
UK
- Market Finance: credit facility you can get an advance against your outstanding invoices and say goodbye to those gaps in cash flow.
- Aldermore: fast access to up to 90% of the funds your customers owe you – with the added benefit of a full credit control service.
- RBS: they’ll collect your invoices, you can focus on your business
- Penny: free yourself from waiting to be paid, with Penny you get paid instantly whilst your clients pay as normal.
- Biz Britain: provide access to cash flow finance providers and amounts between £50,000 and £5m to increase your working capital
USA
- Crest Mark: flexible and immediate funds that will give you the opportunity to grow, restructure, take advantage of supplier discounts through volume purchases.
- Fund Through: receive the money you need to fund your business growth without waiting on late-paying customers
- Gateway Commercial Finance: sell your outstanding invoices to get an instant cash flow boost
- BlueVine: release cash for your business using the invoices at hand
- Alt Line: reliable invoice factoring that keeps your business moving forward
Canada
- Riviera Finance: get fast cash from the invoices at hand
- Express Business Funding: quickly get your invoices financed without too much bureaucracy.
- Hitachi Capital: customized and flexible cash flow solutions to support your company’s continued growth and success
- Fund Through: receive the money you need to fund your business growth without waiting on late-paying customers
- Commercial Capital: don’t tie up the business’s cash flow with invoices
Credit management is core to a business that is heavily reliant on cash flow. Managing credit exposure can be what determines whether a business thrives or closes its doors. Below are credit management companies that help manage receivables exposure.
UK
- Credit Management Group: a ‘virtual’ credit control department with a proven track record of consistently improving our client’s cash flow
- STA International: outsource credit management and refocus on other areas that need your close attention
- CCI Credit Management: combines exceptional service, highest recovery ratios, and the best-value-for-money solutions with zero reputational risk
- Scottish Trust Deed: for professional debt service
- Sterling Credit Management: high quality, cost-effective credit control service to all sizes of business, from SMEs to blue chips
USA
- High Radius Credit Cloud: enabling you to make quicker and more accurate decisions with access to the latest financial information by automating the credit risk management process
- Conduent: experienced in accounts receivable and order to cash best practices
- Urios Beic: an insurance solution that builds a cash value over time
- Credit Management: recovering the future of our clients and their communities with a proven track record
- CMC: decrease your accounts receivable through enhanced strategy and with our experienced staff
Canada
- Eastern Credit Management Service: professional agents to assist in getting the customers to pay faster and protect the cash flow
- Priority Credit Group: a full-service accounts receivable firm that specializes in providing tools and resources that save time, protect the reputation, and drive results
- Credit Canada: make sure that your late invoices are not limiting your profitability
- LCMC: reducing your accounts receivable to a healthy level
- Dun and Bradstreet: a proven credit management firm with experience in international trade
Debt collection is a complex process that requires an experienced professional to successfully recover the debt. The chances of getting late invoices paid are increased by engaging a debt collection company. Below are debt collection companies and links to their websites.
UK
- DCS Collect: works with businesses across the UK to retrieve money owed to our clients by customers
- CCI Credit Management: combines exceptional service, highest recovery ratios, and the best-value-for-money solutions with zero reputational risk
- Debt Collect: with over 35 years of experience, they provide debt recovery solutions for businesses across the UK and internationally in Europe, America, Australia, and beyond
- Expert Collections: zero cost debt recovery for your business at no cost to you
- Lovetts Solicitors: fixed fee service across all four main stages of the UK debt recovery process
USA
- Commercial Collection Agency: helping creditors with their commercial debt, by getting the people who control the money to pay
- Benjamin Chaise: full-service small business debt collection agency that serves clients across the nation
- TCM: International debt collection in the USA
- Bierens: using their international knowledge and experience to get your US debtor to pay
- OddColl: making sure that you get paid by your customers in the US
Canada
- Canadian Express Collection Agency Inc: professional debt collection agency
- Canadian Credit Service: debt collection service for small, medium, and large companies.
- Metcredit: provides business debt recovery, accounts receivable management, and specialized commercial debt collection services
- PMC Corp: debt collection service with a proven track record
- Wiggins: International debt collection agency based in Canada
Accounting is vital for any business that seeks to grow and remain compliant with tax agencies. Failure in accounting can lead to the closure of business as well as the prosecution of a business owner. Below are accounting tools to assist in maintaining the business’ books.
UK
- QuickBooks: an accounting software meant for small businesses
- Wave Accounting: free accounting tool for small businesses
- Deltek Vision: project-based solution for professional services firms to manage their clients, projects, and finances
- Zoho Books: simple and easy to use accounting software
- Sage Business Cloud Accounting: helping you manage your business effectively by simplifying accounting
- Trust Books: effective accounting software for small law firms
- Dolibarr: A powerful accounting software that takes into account the type of business
- Dext: powerful tools at your fingertips for real-time and accurate insights to help your firm be more productive and more profitable
- MineralTree: an automated way of managing the accounts payable efficiently.
- LedgerLite: a simple accounting software that is effective and will help organize your accounts.
