SaaS – Software as a service makes it brilliantly easy to run a cost-effective business, while still having sophisticated tools at your fingertips. Online billing systems are one great example. I’ve selected five options that will enable you to manage your billing, track time and expenses, process online payment and much more. I’m starting with my online billing system of choice – FreshBooks.

FreshBooks offers a feature-rich application that allows you to create, send and manage invoices, track your company’s time and expenses, and receive online payment through a host of different options. You can even brand your invoices and other documents with your logo. FreshBooks also integrates with many of my favorite online applications like SalesForce for customer relationship management, MailChimp for permission based emailing, PayPal for online payment and BaseCamp for project management. They have an API for integration with your own proprietary software and an iPhone application. Their pricing options start with at a free account for limited users and goes all the way up to $149 a month for their largest package – 5000 clients and 20 user accounts.

Blinksale is a close second to FreshBooks. Their plans allow for an unlimited number of clients, but they limit how many invoices you can generate based different pricing options. The downside with Blinksale is its limited support of integration with third party applications. It does integrate with Basecamp and Paypal, but not to many of the programs available to FreshBooks users. Blinksale also doesn’t offer a free version of their app. They offer three different pricing options for $6, $12 and $24 per month.

CurdBee is another online billing system that allows you to you to create, send and manage invoices, receive online payment through PayPal or Google Checkout. Like FreshBooks, you can brand your invoices and other documents with your logo. One of the downfalls to this app is its lack of integration options with other third party programs like SalesForce and Basecamp. They offer two pricing options – free for basic features or $5 a month for the pro version.

Ballpark offers some interesting options with their billing system. They include a bidding and estimating system, analytics on when a client views their invoice, and a commenting system that allows your company to communicate with clients to sort out billing disputes. They also have an iPhone app, integration with Highrise from 37 signals and the ability to accept payment through PayPal. They offer a free account limited to 1 invoice and 3 estimates per month, or you can choose from plans starting at $6 and up to $99 for more users and invoices.

Billing Boss is a completely free online invoicing solution provided by Sage Software. It is a simple system limited to basic options but it’s still a great free tool for those looking to create invoices and accept online payment. Billing Boss works with Paypal as well as Beanstream and Sage Payment Services.

Try managing your billing process using one of the above options and I’m sure you’ll find that you not only get paid faster, but are more organized as well. For my money, I choose FreshBooks. Stay tuned for my next post on accounting where I’ll look at SaaS options for managing the entire accounting process – payables, receivables, reporting, banking and more.

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