While I don’t do a ton of invoices, I do have to create one every now and then. It’s even better when I can do them on the go or right on site. Yesterday, a Twitter follower asked me which App did I recommend and while I hadn’t spent a lot of time with Invoicing Apps for iOS, I did have any idea of what I’d be looking for in such an App and Invoice2go seemed to fit the bill nicely.
What I’m looking for:
- A good looking invoice!
- Ability to add my logo
- Ability add my items/prices for easy selection when invoicing
- Ability to use my Contacts to send invoices to.
- Has to generate PDF of the invoice.
- Of course it has to do all the math for the totals, taxes, etc.
- Ability to put in a deposit (or pre-payment amount).
- Support for multiple companies/identities
- iPad and iPhone versions (ideally a Universal App)
Invoice2go does all of the above and there is very little that I don’t like about it. The App was very easy to setup. You start by picking a template for your “look and feel”. Then you enter the info about your business (address, phone number, etc). Next you add your items and then you’re all set to start invoicing. There’s even a cool PayPal feature that allows you to automatically include a PayPal link to receive the payment at as an option. The invoices look great and very professional. When you email the invoice from the App there will be a PayPal payment option in the body of the email along with the PDF attachment.
What could be better…
While this App does meet my minimum requirements, there are some features/tweaks I’d like to see added. First off is the area of a deposit. If a client wants to/required to pay 50% down, I’d like to see the ability to simply put in a percentage for a deposit and have the App do the math for the balance due. I’d also like the ability to set my starting invoice number. I can’t seem to find a way to do this. Lastly, their business model seems to be to sell you a service ($30/year) for syncing the data between multiple devices. I can’t fault them for wanting to create another revenue stream, but it seems that in this day of free cloud services (ie. Dropbox) that this paid model is a tad bit expensive for the casual user. There is a backup and restore feature that works via email, but you’d be replacing the info on one device with the backup file.
The Bottom Line
If you don’t need to tie into a desktop accounting system and you want to create great looking invoices, this is your App! It can print invoices via AirPrint and manage payments so that you know how much you’re owed. It also does estimates, credit memos and purchase orders.
Invoice2go for iPad 
Invoice2go for iPhone/iPod touch
