Customizing Invoices in QuickBooks Online
As a small business owner, you know how important it is to create a consistently branded online presence. Your website, your social media accounts, even your email signature: every aspect of your company’s digital footprint should match in terms of imagery, color scheme, and languaging.
While the above are obvious examples of online branding opportunities, certain aspects of your digital presence are more easily overlooked. Have you customized your company’s invoicing to ensure that it matches the rest of your branded online presence?
If you use QuickBooks Online for your invoicing and accounting needs, you have the option of creating a custom branded template for your invoices. In this installment of our QuickBooks Tutorial blog series, we’ll look at how to quickly customize your QuickBooks invoices.
As we’ll see, though, there are limitations to the degree of customization that QuickBooks offers when it comes to invoicing. If you want to really help your invoices stand out — and, more importantly, ensure that those invoices get paid on time — Biller Genie offers greater invoice customization, along with an easy to set up, secure customer payment portal. Once we’ve run through the QuickBooks basics, we’ll take a look at Biller Genie’s free invoicing functionality.
Do Custom Invoices Really Matter?
If there’s one thing every small business owner is short on, it’s time. Your time is your most valuable asset. Naturally, it makes sense to ask whether customizing your company’s invoices is really worth the time investment.
The answer is a definitive yes!
Consider things from your customer’s perspective. Your invoice is likely just one of many that’s made its way into their inbox. Imagine all of those invoices with default black and white formatting, without even so much as a company logo to help them stand out. How do you keep your invoice top of mind (and get paid before those other invoices)? Make it memorable by branding it with your company’s logo and color scheme.
Additionally, the default formatting offered by QuickBooks may or may not contain the most relevant information for your customers. By customizing the fields and appearance of your invoices, you can present customers with the information they need in the most relevant order possible.
Lastly, a custom branded invoice changes your customers’ perception of your business. It adds a level of professionalism that many small businesses lack when it comes to collecting payment.
How Do I Customize an Invoice in QuickBooks?
Before we get into the expanded functionality offered by Biller Genie, let’s look at how you can customize your invoices in QuickBooks.
First, click the gear icon in the corner of your QuickBooks Online dashboard. Next, select Custom Form Styles. Then, click New Style > Invoice.
This presents you with a new invoice template, which you can customize via the tabs at the top of your screen.
On the Design tab, you’ll have the ability to insert a company logo, choose a color for your invoice, and pick a custom font.
With the Content tab, you can determine what content you want to display on the invoice. For example, you might opt to include the date, your company’s information, item quantity, descriptions, etc. You can also rename these fields as appropriate, depending on the specific needs of your business.
The Emails tab allows you to input custom information into the email message that will accompany your invoice when you send it electronically. Unfortunately, there’s no way to configure automated email reminders as an invoice approaches its due date. If you opt to set up Biller Genie to sync with your QuickBooks account, you’ll gain access to automated invoice reminders in addition to late fees and overdue invoice notifications.
Finally, the Payments tab allows you to choose which payment options you want to present to your customers.
Biller Genie’s Advanced Invoice Customization, Email Reminders, and Online Payment Portal
While QuickBooks does allow you to insert your company’s logo and a custom color into your invoices, the emails your customer receive are still somewhat generic. The “QuickBooks” brand is clearly present on the invoice via the “Powered by QuickBooks” messaging, and the email itself doesn’t reflect your company’s brand as well as it could.
With Biller Genie, you can customize both your invoices and your email presentation. Email invoices can include your company’s logo, color scheme, and other information without the QuickBooks branding clutter.
Additionally, Biller Genie offers powerful features that will save you time and help you get paid faster than ever:
- Automated invoice reminders: Sending out email reminders by hand is time consuming and inefficient — but with QuickBooks alone, there’s no other option. With Biller Genie, you’ll never have to worry about sending out unpaid invoice reminders: we automate the process for you!
- Late payment fees and overdue invoice reminders: Tired of dealing with unpaid invoices? With Biller Genie, it’s easy to configure automated email notifications for overdue invoices. Plus, Biller Genie can assess late fees and add them to your invoices automatically.
- Secure, custom branded online payment portal: Do your customers email you asking for copies of invoices? Are you spending valuable time fielding customer inquiries about invoice history, outstanding balances, or other invoice-related items? With Biller Genie, you can add a secure, custom branded online payment portal to your website in seconds. Customers can easily set up an account, view past invoices, make payments online, and more.
Biller Genie integrates seamlessly with your existing QuickBooks Online account. And best of all, Biller Genie is free!
Ready to get started? Click here to sign up for your free Biller Genie account now.
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