6 best invoicing apps in Australia for a small business

There is no such thing as the “best invoicing app in Australia” for everyone, because the answer really depends on your industry, needs, goals and – frankly – preferences.

That being said, not many brands of invoicing software suit a small business with a limited budget. Costs matter when you sign up for a monthly fee and online card processing rates that vary from 1.7% to upwards of 3%, plus a fixed fee.

Many other things matter in invoicing apps. Does it send payment reminders, overdue alerts, receipts and recurring invoices? Can you customise the layout with colours, logo and tax information? Can you send unlimited invoices or just a few per month? Does it send quotes, estimates and terms and conditions?

Except for one standalone invoicing platform (Invoice2go), the below-featured invoice apps are offered by accounting or payment companies. Most of them also integrate with other business software that could be relevant in your sector.

Compare the best-value invoicing solutions in Australia:

Payments are deposited in your bank account the next day (even on weekends), or sooner with Instant Transfers (applies an extra 1.5% fee). After registering via the simple online form, Square performs identification checks to verify your business and bank account.

It can take a few business days for your bank account to link up, but invoices can be sent straight away.

On the paid plan, the app allows you to send estimates converting into invoices when the client accepts the quote. You can also set up recurring invoices, invoice tracking and deposit requests. If the client does not pay directly through the invoice link, you can mark it as paid with cash, gift card, bank transfer or other method.

Pricing

Monthly cost: $0 (Free plan), or $30 + GST (Plus plan)

2.2% per card transaction

6% + 30¢ + GST per Afterpay transaction

Existing users of Square Reader can already send invoices through the Square Point of Sale app for the same fee. If you have Square Reader, you can even accept invoice payments directly through the invoice app, if the card is physically processed in the card reader, for the lower fee of 1.9%.

Integrated payments: Square (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, eftpos, American Express), Afterpay

Best for: Most accessible solution to receiving invoice payments in your bank account.

Features include basic customisations (like adding a logo), payment reminders, tracking payment statuses and adding customers or suppliers to each invoice. The platform also integrates with Xero and accepts different currencies, not just Australian Dollars.

Funds settle nightly in the complimentary Zeller Transaction account, which can be your main business account for income and expenses. It comes with a free Mastercard so you can spend the funds directly after receiving them.

Alternatively, you can opt to receive transactions in your bank account the following (or so) business day. Regardless of settlement method, these transfers are free to process.

Pricing

Monthly fee: Free

Card payments: 1.7% + $0.25 for domestic cards, 2.9% + $0.25 for international cards

It’s very simple to sign up for Zeller on their website – you just complete an online form in a few minutes. Customer service is available for any queries or support on business days between 9AM – 1AM (AET).

Integrated payments: Zeller (Visa, Mastercard, eftpos, American Express, JCB)

Best for: Merchants using Zeller Terminal who need an easy way to bill clients remotely.

The cheapest plan, Starter ($29/month), lets you send quotes and up to 20 invoices per month from the app, and enter 5 bills monthly. The higher plans, Standard ($59/month), Premium ($76+/month) and Ultimate ($110+/month), give you unlimited invoices, quotes and bills.

Regardless of the plan, you get accounting reports, Hubdoc receipt capture and reconciliation of bank transactions. The Standard plan reconciles transactions in bulk, while Premium also works in multiple currencies.

You can add a button to invoices for accepting card payments via Stripe and bank account-to-account payments via GoCardless.

Pricing

Monthly fee: $29-$190 incl. GST

Stripe card payments: Fees via Stripe

GoCardless direct debits: Fees via GoCardless

Rather than paying transaction fees to Xero, each accepted card payment or direct debit transfer incurs a cost via Stripe or GoCardless. It’s possible to add a payment button on invoices that’s handled by another card processor – Xero is flexible like that.

The system reportedly has a steep learning curve that some only find worth the time if they use it for a larger company. But the interface has improved over the years, and it is generally a solid system for keeping the books in order.

Integrated payments: Stripe (Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay), GoCardless bank transfers

Best for: Xero users who’d like their invoices integrated with bookkeeping.

Invoice2go has four plans that can be paid upfront monthly or annually (the latter work out cheapest per month). The cheapest subscription, Starter, includes 30 invoices for the whole year on an annual plan ($6.67 + GST/month) or 2 invoices per month on the monthly plan ($7.99 + GST/month).

The annual Professional plan ($10.83 + GST/month) includes 100 invoices annually. The same plan paid monthly ($12.99 + GST/month) allows for 5 invoices per month. If you noticed, annual plans come with more invoices when calculated per month.

Premium ($49.99 + GST monthly or $499.99 + GST annually) includes unlimited invoices.

All the subscriptions allow you to have unlimited clients, team members and projects, and send unlimited estimates. The system integrates with Stripe for card processing taking around 3-5 business days to reach your bank account (or up to 7 business days in some cases – quite slow!).

Pricing

Monthly fee: $6.67-$41.67/month for annual plan, $7.99-$49.99/month for monthly plan (excl. GST)

Card payments (Stripe): 1.9%-2.4% + 30¢ per transaction

PayPal: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction

The higher your plan, the lower is the transaction fee through Stripe. You can expect additional fees for cross-border payments and currency exchanges both through Stripe and PayPal.

On the plus side, Invoice2go specialises in invoicing features rather than the general accounting tools that QuickBooks and Xero offer along with invoicing. But many users have said the app is cumbersome to use, that features and saved data may disappear, and that the price is too high for an increasingly problematic user experience.

Integrated payments: PayPal, Stripe (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)

Best for: Those who don’t mind paying more for a reputable, dedicated invoice app.

The MYOB Invoice app is downloaded free on your iOS or Android smartphone after subscribing to a MYOB Business plan. The cheapest of these, Lite ($28 + GST monthly), includes a good range of bookkeeping features like expense and income tracking, receipt capture and GST tracking.

The invoicing and quotation tools included are the same on this and the higher plan, Pro ($53 + GST monthly), including unlimited invoices. Payroll can be added to all plans, which is great news for business teams.

It’s only when you upgrade to AccountRight Plus ($130 + GST monthly) or AccountRight Premier ($160 + GST monthly) that you benefit from certain advanced billing tools.

That is, the AccountRight plans include the ability to bill by time or job, and Premier adds multi-currency features. But you must download special software to activate these on a PC computer only, not Mac, MacBook or mobile device. Billing by time or project through MYOB’s mobile app is not possible.

Pricing

Monthly fee: From $28 + GST monthly for a MYOB Business plan (compulsory)

Transaction fee: 1.8% + 25¢ for cards and BPAY

On the plus side, no commitment is required for any of the plans, and the transaction fee is fair at 1.8% + $0.25 for any credit or debit card payments as well as BPAY. Invoicing apps don’t usually have BPAY integrated, so that’s a key strength of MYOB.

Customer support is available all days of the week, and the sign-up is easy to do online.

Integrated payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BPAY

Best for: MYOB accounting users with access to a PC (for hourly and job-based billing).

To use the app and online account for payment acceptance, you sign up online for a PayPal Business account. If you already have a personal account, this can be converted into a Business account, adding a range of online payment tools in the browser dashboard.

Having personally used PayPal Business to send invoices, we can confirm it’s easy to customise and manage them. Clients will be eased with the familiar brand of PayPal, and the merchant can keep funds in their online business account along with other PayPal transactions received online.

Quotations can be sent and turned into invoices when accepted, and payment reminders are easily sent from the app if the client hasn’t paid.

Pricing

Monthly cost: None

Transaction fees: 2.6% + 30¢, plus 1% for non-Australian cards, plus 4% for currency conversion

Many merchants use PayPal for online payments because of its brand recognition/trust, Seller Protection, reliable app and – importantly – lack of monthly fee. These are good aspects, but the transaction fee is high (2.6% + $0.30) and eye-watering if a client pays with a foreign card for an extra 1% fee.

As standard, you can choose between many currencies to charge your clients in, making it suitable for cross-border business – if you can afford the additional 4% cost of currency conversion. Other fees may be added depending on the type of transaction.

And beware: if you ever need customer support, it can be very difficult to get any helpful answers from PayPal.

Integrated payments: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, others

Best for: Merchants already using PayPal for ecommerce.