Billing Software: If you go to any retail shop like a pharmacy, supermarket, or grocery shop, after payment, you will be given a bill for your purchase. If it is a computerized bill, retail billing software, also known as POS (point of sale) software, is most likely the one who issued it.
Retail billing software does much more than issuing a bill receipt. It can manage a retail shop’s inventory, accounts, customers, taxes, etc. Sophisticated retail business management software, if effectively used, can give a good ROI.
Some retail software just does billing alone, i.e., has no effect on the inventory or the accounts. Advanced retail software handles it much better. A single purchase will lead to a decrease in stock, entry in accounts, and an update in the customer records that might trigger a re-order threshold, complete a purchase cycle, etc.
Key Features You Should Analyze Before Choosing a Billing Software
Good invoicing and billing software is the backbone of any business. A good SaaS software for invoicing and billing will provide you with the following features:
- Accounting
Any good billing and invoicing software should perform tasks such as maintaining the ledger, accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliation, and managing your assets (fixed and variable) as well as liabilities.
- Tax Management
The good billing and invoicing software provides a tax management module that helps in carrying out tax calculations, along with reporting and integration of taxes.
- CRM Billing
This module lets you store customer and banking information. You can also migrate billing data from legacy systems by integrating CRM systems with secure database development.
- Invoice tracking
With automatic tracking, you can find out which invoices have been paid, which are due, and which are past the due date.
- Easier client payments
With the help of billing and invoicing software, you can send reminders to clients when payment is due. You can also offer different payment options, such as credit or debit cards, payment apps, etc., making it easier for clients to pay you.
- Integrated Reporting System
You can get important audit information, such as sales data, taxes, and expenses, in addition to basic invoices and bills.
Cloud-Based Billing Software vs. On-Premises Billing Software: Which Should You Choose?
We’re going to analyze the key differences between cloud-based and on-premises to enable us to make a choice of which to go for:
Deployment
On-premises: In an on-premises environment, resources are deployed in-house and within an enterprise’s IT infrastructure. An enterprise is responsible for maintaining the solution and all its related processes.
Cloud: While there are different forms of cloud computing (such as public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud), in a public cloud computing environment, resources are hosted on the premises of the service provider, but enterprises can access those resources and use them as much as they want at any given time.
Cost
On-premises: For enterprises that deploy software on-premise, they are responsible for the ongoing costs of the server hardware, power consumption, and space.
Cloud: Enterprises that elect to use a cloud computing model only need to pay for the resources that they use, with none of the maintenance and upkeep costs, and the price adjusts up or down depending on how much is consumed.
Control
On-premises: In an on-premises environment, enterprises retain all their data and are fully in control of what happens to it, for better or worse. Companies in highly regulated industries with extra privacy concerns are more likely to hesitate to leap into the cloud before others because of this reason.
Cloud: In a cloud computing environment, the question of ownership of data is one that many companies—and vendors, for that matter—have struggled with. Data and encryption keys reside within your third-party provider, so if the unexpected happens and there is downtime, you may be unable to access that data.
Security
On-premises: Companies that have extra sensitive information, such as the government and banking industries, must have a certain level of security and privacy that an on-premises environment provides. Despite the promise of the cloud, security is the primary concern for many industries, so an on-premises environment, despite some of its drawbacks and price tag, makes more sense.
Cloud: Security concerns remain the number one barrier to a cloud computing deployment. There have been many publicized cloud breaches, and IT departments around the world are concerned. From the personal information of employees, such as login credentials, to a loss of intellectual property, the security threats are real.
Compliance
On-premises: Many companies these days operate under some form of regulatory control, regardless of the industry. Perhaps the most common one is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for private health information, but there are many others, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which contains detailed student records, and other government and industry regulations. For companies that are subject to such regulations, they must remain compliant and know where their data is at all times.
Cloud: Enterprises that do choose a cloud computing model must do their due diligence and ensure that their third-party provider is up-to-date and compliant with all of the different regulatory mandates within their industry. Sensitive data must be secured, and customers, partners, and employees must have their privacy ensured.
The Advantages of Cloud Billing Software
- Cost-effective: SaaS products are very cost-effective compared to stand-alone solutions. Thereby solving your budget issues and problems.
- Data safety: Since the whole billing process is happening in the cloud, you don’t need to worry about data loss.
- Flexibility: Cloud billing software gives you complete freedom to use the software from anywhere, as you can log in from any computer and bill on-the-go.
- Improves efficiency: With the flexibility to use the software from anywhere on the go, you can check reports, invoices, and more remotely.
- Secured: In case of a disaster, having a cloud-based solution will allow you to start billing immediately once the business is set up. This avoids any sort of data loss, as everything happens in the cloud.
The Best Billing and Accounting Software Solutions
Slickpie is the best option for small businesses and freelancers, in my opinion. It’s a free online accounting and billing software. Its compatibility with all devices and platforms A multiuser can access it at one time. With this, I can easily handle my personal and business accounting. It has all the core accounting features, such as:
- Online Invoicing
- MultiCurrency
- Automatic data entry tool: MagicBota
- Automatic payment reminders
- Auto-recurring invoices to regular clients
- Financial Reports
- Sale Tax Management
- Online Billing
- Bank Reconciliation
- General ledger and much more
- Patriot
If you are a small business with little to no knowledge of accounting, then I’d suggest Patriot Billing Software for you. It’s lightweight and appropriate for small businesses.
Additionally, they claim that it’s so simple to use that one does not have to be an accounting professional to run this software. In addition to that, it’s cost-effective and, better yet, provides a one-month trial period for accounting and up to a two-month trial period for a payroll solution.
- Xero
Similarly, there is another cloud-based accounting software that has gained popularity in a very short period of time. Over a million subscribers trust this software and use it for their day-to-day accounting needs.
The software name is Xero, and it also provides you with a month-long trial period. Although it’s inherently not good for managing inventory, many third-party applications integrate very well with Xero and overcome the features that this software lacks. So the whole ecosystem around this accounting software helps in creating a full-flash accounting software best suited for small and medium-sized businesses.
So if you are looking forward to signing up for any accounting software, I would recommend you try these two since the trial is free (no credit card required), and it will give you a good amount of time to play around and see if it suits your background.
- FCI-CCM
The best solution for advancement is the FCI-CCM software, which introduces an all-new dynamic and retail billing solution. FCI CCM presents an all-utility solution with advanced software. I will strongly recommend that you go for FCI-CCM. It also adds value to your utility business by decreasing costs and improving workflow.
FCI-CCM provides solutions for the following:
1- Banking
2- Utility
3- Insurance
4- Telecom
5- Healthcare
- HDPOS
More than five million users worldwide use the billing software to streamline time tracking and invoicing. The vendor has recently updated the product to allow easy collaboration between team members and has added a redesigned dashboard where you can prioritize tasks and manage payments. The classic features have not changed, and HDPOS continues to offer top-rate invoice-to-payment functionalities, including direct payment gateways, overdue payment reminders, delay fees, and payment claims. You can use the billing system to collect payments easily and automate the recurring billing process to accept Google Checkouts, Amex, PayPal, and credit card payments.
- Output Books
Output Books is the best accounting and billing software to grow businesses. You can create professional invoices, track dues, and manage your accounts easily.
Some of the key features of output books are:
- One-time payment
- Invoicing
- Billing
- Accounting
- GSTR1, GSTR2, and GSTR3B reports
- Inventory
- Bank transaction
- Multi Companies
- Multi-user login and role-based access
- Works on LAN and Internet.
- Persons without accounting knowledge can use
- Email Integration
- Unlimited Items
- Unlimited Invoices
- Quick Invoice
- Free support and free installation
Output Books offers a 3-day free trial.
- SlickAccount
With SlickAccount, you will get many features all in one place. And to top that, you can also customize the features that you want for your business at a very cheap and affordable price. They also keep on developing and adding new features that make the cloud software easy and extremely user-friendly.
Some of its popular features include:
- GST-enabled invoicing and billing
- POS-mode billing and barcode scanning
- Income and expense management
- All business reports
- Bank integration and reconciliation
- Purchase order and warehouse management
- Inventory management
- Multi-user facility
- Invoice tracking
- Expense Tracking
- Budgeting
- Financial management and many more
SlickAccount provides trial sessions, and most of the time they provide many offers for their new customers. You can sign up here and explore for more details. I’ll suggest you look for software that is built for small businesses, like SlickAccount, which is specially built for small and medium businesses. Like SlickAccount.
- CloudBooks
CloudBooks is a SaaS-based invoicing software that speeds up the tedious process of billing and invoicing.
Small Business, or the billing software introduced by CloudBooks, is the software that is designed to manage time, track bills, and prepare invoices while selling products and services to clients. CloudBooks free small business accounting software is capable of tracking the number of hours the employee is working and the total expenses associated with the clients and projects.
The billing software solution creates billing cycle reports to display information such as expenses incurred, hours worked, and the billing amount to the clients. With the invoicing software, you do not have to prepare the invoice. For small to midsized businesses, the software is best.
- Fusebill
Fusebill provides an automated recurring billing service for subscription-based companies. We have many international customers, and we support over 30 different currencies. And yes, Fusebill accepts payments through credit cards, PayPal, and more!
Fusebill can help simplify your billing processes. Using our service, customers will be able to make payments, place orders, and update their information (credit card, address, etc.) directly. As for reporting, we do that too! Our reporting and analytics give you real-time visibility of key metrics and customer insights.
The software tracks revenue metrics, customer and subscriber counts, customer lifetime churn, average value, ARPU (average revenue per user), and more. You can isolate your reporting data using all sorts of criteria, including source or country, as mentioned in your question. You can even schedule these customized reports to be e-mailed automatically to yourself and/or others.
- InventO Software
InventO is an accounting and billing software for your inventory solutions, and it is recognized in the market for its optimum performance and 100% results. While committed to meeting the client’s requirements, its services are managed by dedicated and capable individuals who have vast knowledge about the subjects. One of their core understandings is their client’s psyche, and they develop long-term relationships with them.
Features:
1. GST compliance inventory management
2. GST compliance billing management
3. Inventory management system with GSTR1 integrated
4. GSTR1 stock inventory
5.Wholesalers management.
- EBizCharge
EbizCharge is a billing and invoicing software that allows your customers to view outstanding invoices, process payments online, and make full or partial payments on single or multiple invoices. Customers simply log in, review their invoices, and submit payments securely and remotely from anywhere. EBizCharge is fully PCI-compliant and provides enhanced data security to protect sensitive customer credit card data.
- Spectrum POS
Spectrum is an accounting and billing software that is most known for its innovative, intuitive, and easy-to-use features, allowing you to spend more time growing your business than managing it. The retail market of today has never been more challenging due to global competition. Today’s customers are more powerful than ever, given the abundance of information available at their fingertips.
Additionally, retailers need to operate across channels as efficiently as possible, which means breaking down organizational silos that prevent profitable multi-channel retailing.
From simplicity in retail management to the complexity of a complete company overview with the mere click of a mouse, Spectrum is the future of your business in retail, delivering the retail experience of tomorrow without the wait. An intuitive, simple, and effective user-friendly interface Spectrum is designed to handle a multi-layered business hierarchy, a variety of business models, and several retail formats. It supports franchisee models spread across multiple geographies through its robust technology architecture and a variety of features and functionalities that are available out of the box. Spectrum POS software is a comprehensive accounting and billing suite solely built for retail businesses.
Spectrum POS Business Management Suite empowers businessmen in their business transformation by offering:
- Billing System (POS)
- Unified Multi-Channel Customer Experience
- Inventory and warehouse management
- Distribution and franchise management
- Customer Management
- Reporting and compliance
- Rapid Mind to Market: Real-time Execution of Complex Retail Strategies
- Multi-Platform, Multi-Device Capability
- Customer Loyalty Program with Central Management and Local Flexibility
- Robust Centrally Managed Pricing and Promotions Engine with Seamless Integration to POS
- Business Intelligence Engine for Dynamic Business Decisions and Strategizing
- End-to-End Value Chain Visibility Configurable and Scalable Architecture Supporting Multi-Layered Business Hierarchy
- eCommerce
- Lower Total Cost of Ownership
- Moon Invoice
Moon Invoice is one of the best apps for tracking business records and creating unlimited invoices.
It is an excellent online expense tracker that comes with many other features, such as time-tracking, recurring payment options, payment reminders, running and feeling the same on multiple devices, adding multiple businesses, and many more.
- Marg Software
If you are looking for the above features in the best billing software, Marg Software is one of the best solutions. It is a proficient and effective tool for billing. Apart from the above features, you also get automated payment reminders, stock reminders, bank integration, and payment modules in the software.
- Fast Billing
- Generating Invoices
- GST Integrated and Complaint
- Auto-Bank Reconciliation
- Efficient Reporting
- Barcode Management
- Cashier and Home Delivery
- Customizable Invoice
- GST: Tax Calculation
Over to you!
The truth is, the software system a business or company uses to solve its needs might not be what your own business needs. More so, it’s as true with billing and accounting software as with prescription glasses. There isn’t a single choice that works for every business.
That people are talking about a particular billing and accounting software, and even to the point, we did recommend it, doesn’t make it the best fit for your business. Check reviews, testimonials, and references; find at least one person you trust who tried it and liked it. And most of all, look for one that has a free demo or trial version and try it yourself. The last thing you want is to have your business held hostage by an unscrupulous billing and accounting software vendor.