What to look for in an invoice app

Speed to first invoice, whether it works without signal, what happens to your data if you stop paying, and whether the PDF looks like it came from a real business.

Five questions worth asking before you commit

1. How long from install to first invoice sent? If it needs an account, email verification and a setup wizard before you can bill anything, that is a bad sign for a tool you will use in a hurry.
2. Does it work with no signal? Test it in airplane mode. A lot of apps that claim offline support only cache the interface.
3. What happens to your records if you stop paying? Some tools lock historical invoices behind the subscription — invoices you are legally required to keep.
4. Can you get your data out? A real export, in a format something else can read.
5. Does the PDF look right? Send yourself one and look at it as a client would.

Time to first invoice

The most revealing test, and it takes five minutes. Install and see how long until you could actually send something. An app that wants an email, a verification link, a company profile and a plan selection before you can type a line item has told you what it optimises for.

Does it work with the signal off

Aeroplane mode, then create an invoice, apply tax, export the PDF and open the reports. This one test separates apps that hold your data from apps that hold a view of data on someone's server. It also tells you what happens on a site with no coverage, which is where a lot of invoicing actually happens.

What the PDF looks like

Export one and look at it as a customer would. Is the total obvious? Is there a watermark? Does your logo survive? Does it print? The PDF is the only part of the app your customer sees, and it is doing more work for your business than any screen in the app.

Tax done properly for your country

Not just a percentage field. Does it use the right name — GST, VAT, IVA, SST? The right label for your registration number? Per-line rates, so a zero-rated item can sit next to a standard-rated one? And does it charge tax on the discounted amount rather than the list price, which a surprising number get wrong? Tax by country covers what "properly" means in 58 of them.

Can you get your data out

The question to ask before you put two years of records in. Is there an export, does it contain everything, and is it a format you could read without the app? An app you cannot leave is a decision you only get to make once.

What it collects

Read the store data-safety declaration rather than the marketing page — it is required, auditable, and has to disclose advertising and analytics. Then check the permissions. An invoice app requesting contacts, location or storage access should be able to explain why. Invoice apps and ads covers what advertising does to a business tool.

What it costs in year three

Not the introductory price. A subscription is a permanent operating cost, and the relevant question is what happens if you stop paying — do you keep read access to your own invoices, or does the app lock? Invoice apps without a subscription covers the arithmetic.

Things that sound important and are not

Dozens of template designs, when three good ones are enough. Integrations you will never connect. A dashboard of charts. The features that actually decide whether you get paid are speed of creating an invoice, quality of the PDF, correct tax, and a reminder that fires on the due date.

Free, unlimited, no ads and no account. Get EstimateBill — or try the free browser invoice generator with nothing to install.