We have been using invoicing from a lot earlier age than one might actually think. Well actually, the birth of invoices and bill documents came into our civilization long ago and has been presented via various methods & tools such as on a clay pad, animal skin, etc. With times changing, the methods and tools have evolved, however, the basic format of an invoice has remained unchanged.

With recent times, the technological advancements have transformed invoicing into its digital format giving rise to online invoicing. Now for us maybe it has become a day-to-day activity but if we were to take a closer look at the history of invoicing, we are sure to unravel many faces of it. So let’s dive deep to find out about more about online invoicing.

History of Online Invoicing

Online Invoicing or Internet Invoicing came into existence from Electronic Invoicing which wasn’t surprising that new as we have been transmitting document electronically in the past for more than three decades. Yes, of course, it was a tedious process involving old method & equipment and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) which required a dedicated communication system between the two parties. Least to say that this was time-consuming and more expensive.

Desktops and personal computers came along with the growth and presenting more updated and technological advanced solution for invoicing which at the time was ‘Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment’ (EBPP).

In the early 21st Century, large corporations and financial institutions from European Union started feeling a backlash in their operationality and hence went their search in finding ways to streamline payment process with its relative aspects and optimize supply chains. This led to the development of online invoicing. One of the major drive which pushed for fast evolution of electronic invoicing is to decrease traditional invoicing costs and lengthy & tedious process. On the other hand, online invoicing was cost-effective, efficient and paperless, which was intriguing for many large corporations and businesses.

With the steady growth, speed and reliability of the internet in the last decade, an observable surge in the demand for online invoicing made it evolve further. Cloud-based invoicing solutions made it more lucrative to store, validate and transmit data within seconds.

The Present of Online Invoicing

With independent specialist software-as-a-service providers presenting multifarious invoicing solutions to business and SMEs with innovative tools, streamlined process and safest billing option leave us with every reason to believe that digital invoicing will become the necessary norm for every organization.

Since online invoicing is more pocket-friendly, it can help the accounting department to cut down its cost up to 80% by eliminating the use of paper, envelopes, stamps and other associated postage and mailing costs. An e-invoice can be generated, approved, sent and get paid within an hour, proving its efficiency and empowering the clients, customers, sellers & vendors to instantly access invoices even if they are at home or gym or from the beach. Online invoicing saves all the data securely which make it easier to retrieve when in need.

Advances in technology led to developing invoicing app mean revolutionizing the power of invoicing and the ways to access it. Collaborating the invoicing apps with other software and technologies allows it to enhance the web of communication and automatic data updates between such devices and programs. Invoicing platform was once used to perform a limited task such as to write and send invoices, now can be integrated with other software and technologies to manage & record time, handle projects and reports, send emails, track time log, tasks and many more at the same time.

An amazing go-to handy invoicing app is favored by industry professionals as well as entrepreneurs which allows them to have insights of a financial report on a summary page. In addition to that billing & payment, estimates, invoices, expenses, time tracking and many more in one place. Businesses not adapting to the current online invoicing system is going to find themselves left behind as more and more customers, clients, suppliers or vendors are getting accustomed to digital invoices and related modern payment processing.

Future of Invoicing

Unlike now, wherein, so far the major growth trend and initiative related to the evolution of invoice technology and processes have come from government mandates which made online invoicing even more popular among business and large corporations. Because of a large number of presence of small businesses (nearly 30 Million alone in the US) has shown tremendous potential to adopt the online invoicing technology into their business and many have started as well. Though their requirement quite differs from their counterpart large organizations, more often than not are looking for affordable, speedy and easy-to-operate digital invoicing solutions.

There is growing number of apps that serve the growing need especially focussed at freelancers and solopreneurs. But, the future is likely to leave us with fewer but larger online invoicing providers who demonstrate their chance of enhancing technology and customizing according to market needs with an increased level of security, data protection, integration and winning the trust of users.

Moon Invoice is reliable, efficient and multipurpose when it comes to catering to the invoicing needs of customers. We recognize the potential of invoicing platform to work seamlessly across multiple mobile operating systems. Moon Invoice does everything from billing, invoicing, payment, notifications, time tracking, insights & reporting sync and many more.

Recurring Payments Vs Recurring Invoices

Recurring Payments	Recurring Invoices
Recurring payments charge the customer’s credit card account or debit card account on a predetermined schedule for the same amount as preapproved.	Send an invoice to your customer on a regular basis. The client receives the invoice but, money is not paid unless the customer approves.
A business that takes prepayment of money and sells a monthly subscription service and product. Subscription services are excellent examples of this.	A company that provides fixed services with billable hours is an excellent choice for recurring billing. For example law firms and consulting agencies.

Pros and Cons of Recurring Invoices

Pros	Cons
You eliminate the possibility of human error by automating the billing process. If you use a recurring invoice, you will not be concerned about forgetting to charge your customers for the things they ordered.	You must exercise caution while recurring billing to prevent issuing inaccurate pricing. This also holds for price changes that could take place right once an invoice is created.
If you provide your customers with the option for recurring billing, they are more likely to buy products regularly.	It could be difficult to cope with recurring invoices if a transaction fails for any reason.

Net 45	Invoice is due in full within 45 days with no early payment discount offered
2/10 net 45 terms	2% discount if you pay within 10 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days
1/15 net 45 terms	1% discount if you pay within 15 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days
1/10 net 45 terms	1% discount if you pay within 10 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days
1/7 net 45 terms	1% discount if you pay within 7 days; otherwise full payment of the invoice is due in 45 days

Category	Net Method vs. Gross Method	Explanation
Calculation Approach	- Applies tax credits first; reduces taxable income before computing tax liability.	- Doesn't apply tax credits; computes taxable income without considering tax credits.
Tax Credit Eligibility	- Allows for greater likelihood of tax credit eligibility due to reduced taxable income.	- Limits tax credit eligibility because taxable income hasn't been reduced yet.
Itemized Deduction Requirement	- Lowers threshold requirement for itemizing deductions due to decreased taxable income.	- Raises threshold requirement for itemizing deductions due to higher taxable income.
Advantages	- Leads to lower taxable income and increases chances of meeting qualifications for other tax benefits.	- Results in higher taxable income compared to net method.
Disadvantages	- May miss opportunity to reduce tax burden if taxpayer doesn't itemize deductions or take advantage of tax credits.	- Increases taxable income and may result in higher overall tax bill.