Zoho.com offers a HUGE set of online Office, Productivity and Business applications that are very full featured and affordable if not free. I’ve been using Zoho Invoice mostly and would like to sing its praises as an affordable (from €3 per month!) and professional online invoicing system here.

Firstly, a quick explanation of what Online Invoicing actually is as opposed to traditional methods. Zoho online invoicing is actually a website ‘cloud’ service that you sign up to. To manage and send out invoices, you need to login to a website. The benefits of this are:

• Login and do some invoicing wherever you have access to the web either via phone PC, Laptop or Phone,
• Security,
• Backup,
• No large up front software costs,
• Flexible pricing depending on your usage levels,
• Constant updates and support.

I’ve been using Zoho Invoice for about a month now and am pretty impressed with it. Previously I’d been using a spreadsheet for the business finances with entries linked to crudely formatted word invoices – a bit inefficient! I also recently downloaded a free application that is a cross between a database and an email program but that was a bit cumbersome to use and it crashed a lot. I’d also used other online systems but found them a bit expensive.

On first signup Zoho invoice takes you through a step by step setup process that lets you define all your necessary business and invoice parameters and choose/edit invoice templates.

Here is a list of the main features:

• Add company details,
• Add company/country tax settings,
• Add customer and recurring product/service details,
• Choose Estimate and Invoice templates,
• Convert Estimates to Invoices,
• Add your Business Logo and details to Invoices,
• Setup Automated Payment overdue email reminders (very handy!),
• Email, Print or Remotely Post invoices and estimates,
• Use Paypal, Google Checkout or Authorize.net to receive auto payments,
• Send thank you emails for payments received,
• Add a standard signature to all outgoing emails,
• Add terms to outgoing Estimates,
• Set up Interest fees for late payments,
• See Invoice Reports and totals by time or customer,
• Import and Export invoices in Excel format,
• Track Businesses Expenses,
• Quick home page stats on Payments received, Due, etc.

The system is pretty easy to use and the service is well supported with Forums, Blogs and excellent email support.

Signup here – Zoho Invoice

Leon.