As soon as you have a web design project and a customer, you should send them an invoice totaling at least 50% of the estimated project quote in advance. In this article, I will show you how to send an invoice through email, with an online payment option, as a beginner Web Designer—or for whatever online business you’re doing. Being professional in this manner will get you paid faster, with happier clients.
Update October 2024:
I currently use Fiskl.com for my accounting and invoicing system. And since I dropped useless traditional banks and moved to Revolut, I have a very nice integration with that. I use Fiskl to send invoices through email to clients for both single and recurring invoices.
Just note, when I talk about sending an invoice through email to clients, I’m not talking about sending a PDF invoice from your email app. But instead, I’m referring to using an online service with invoice templates and an online payment option. The email will still come from your address.
(Fiskl currently doesn’t support this, but it’s coming)
Make clients trust your request for payments
First, I want to make sure that you understand the importance of setting up your tools to send your customers professional-looking invoices. If you have a good trust bond with your clients, hacking up some invoice in Word, or some other software that makes it look cheap, can work. But…
It’s not really showing your level of standards and professionalism. Looking good online is easy. And handling selling and money affairs with clients should be done with clarity, style, and simplicity for the payer.
If you just need a PDF invoice to look good, at least try a tool like Canva and use one of their invoice templates. Then in the invoice, you could add both your bank account number and a payment link to some online payment service you use.
Your customers will experience you as more professional and serious, and you’re taking much better care of them by handling the payment for your services in this manner.
By creating your own branded invoices, you stand out as a freelancer with an identity and seriousness. Someone who has their act together compared to many others who don’t.
What I recommend is not sending any manual emails from your computer. Instead, choose one of the suggested online invoicing tools or accounting services.
This is how you send an invoice through email. With a properly configured tool, your customer or client will even see your own business email as the sender, even if you use these invoicing tools.
How to send an invoice through email
Here are my three top suggestions for you to pick from. Any of the following services will allow you to send an invoice through email to your customer.
In the email they receive from you, they will have the option to pay with their credit card, PayPal, or use the automatically attached PDF invoice for a regular online bank payment—as long as you have added those details.
And as I mentioned, I would recommend combining getting paid with staying up to date with charges and incoming money using CashNotify app for Mac and Windows computers.
1. FreeAgent invoicing and accounting tool
I will mention this one first since I have been using it myself for many years. FreeAgent is intended for freelancers, small businesses, and online business owners.
They have several free invoice template options, which will help you look good as a freelancer or business owner.
You don’t have to fiddle around trying to figure out how to send invoice through email with PDF attached, because FreeAgent will send directly to your client with attached invoice PDF from your account.
When setting up FreeAgent, you can also connect with your Stripe or PayPal accounts, and by using CashNotify, you will get desktop notifications for Stripe or PayPal payments instantly.
Sum up:
- Supports Stripe and PayPal integration
- Supports automatic recurring invoices
- Available mobile app (iPhone)
- FreeAgent is also an accounting system
Pricing: $11 monthly for six months. Then $22 monthly.
FreeAgent is not necessarily my first suggestion for you. I would recommend one of the two options below if you just need an invoicing solution.
2. WaveApps invoicing and accounting service
If you go for a WaveApps account, you can also track your personal finances in the same app.
As with FreeAgent, you will have the option to integrate with Stripe and PayPal, so when you send an invoice through email, your customers can pay online in the browser, and you will get notifications from Stripe right away.
That means your customers will receive a nicely formatted email from you with a link to pay online (in the browser) by choosing Stripe or PayPal. Or your client can simply download the PDF invoice and pay from their online bank if that is what you prefer.
Sum up:
- Supports Stripe and PayPal integration
- Supports recurring invoices (recurring billing)
- Supports Invoicing on iOS and Android apps
- WaveApps is also an accounting system
Pricing: Free (Yes!)
WaveApps is completely free. And it is pretty easy to use.
3. Invoicely invoicing and accounting service
Another very nice looking service I can recommend is Invoicely. This service is also for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
They have a very slick and simple interface, similar to WaveApps. They do, of course, support Stripe and PayPal integration, but also provide a few other integrations for online payments.
You can manage more than one business in Invoicely, just like with WaveApps. It supports tracking of time, expenses and have other features like some of the other services mentioned in this article.
Sum up:
- Supports Stripe, PayPal, WePay +
- Supports recurring invoices
- Currently does NOT have a mobile app
- Invoicely is also an accounting system
Pricing: Starts with a free plan, then $9.99 monthly (and up)
If you like things to look simple and clean, I think this will be a nice choice.
Conclusion for Your Evolving Needs as a Web Designer
I recommend you pick either WaveApps or Invoicely as your choice as a beginner Web Designer. Usually, at least for beginners, the most important thing is to get yourself set up with a proper tool that you enjoy using and find easy to spend time on. And also a tool that levels up your professionalism.
Both services are free, but with Invoicely, you have more options when paying a few dollars for the service.
If you’re looking for an invoice system for freelancers that offers a mobile app, then I would choose WaveApps or FreeAgent.