I was wondering how you folks kept track of invoices sent as well as payments received. I’ve found it easy to forget about certain invoice payments I’m owed when I’m not tracking it diligently with a spreadsheet.
It may be time to get a small business accounting package that will produce, send, and then track your invoices, PO's, expenses, etc., etc. If you are getting to the point where you are losing track of your finances, it is time to start thinking about a solution. Most, these days, are SaaS, so you pay a monthly fee. Many of the smaller businesses that I have been involved with use QuickBooks, but you may not need that powerful (expensive) of a system at this point. Just google "small business accounting software" or "small business bookkeeping software." I suspect that there will be free trials, too. Good luck.
Thanks this is all really helpful! I tend to lose track of invoices because I find I don't have the time to go chasing down customers for their payments. I also don't have the money to hire someone just for my accounting/finance. Do you know of any solution that follows up with customers about their payments and adds interest to their late invoices, that would save me a lot of time tbh.
We use Xero and it's great. As a customer, I like that I can click on the invoice from email and see the current state (marked as paid etc). The only thing it doesn't do for me (as a customer) is show me a statement of recent invoices so I can't see if I've missed one.
It depends on the number of invoices you receive.....accounting software sure will do the job, but might be too much for you. Start with registering in excel upon receival......invoice date, due date, amount. This way you get view of your expected payments and can't forget any.