Since the earliest days we’ve reached out by phone to survey FreshBooks customers and understand the benefits our service delivers. One of the first things people told us was “FreshBooks has changed my behavior”. To this day this comment scares me - bad software changes behavior. Inevitably though, the next thing they’d say is “now I send invoices as I do my work because it is so fast and easy - I don’t put it off till the end of the month anymore”. This insight still blows me away.

I call this changed behavior “continuous invoicing” and it has some amazing benefits:

1. Get Paid Faster - think about it. If it is mid-month and you just finished a job and you wait until the end of the month to invoice, you are going to send the invoice two weeks later and therefore get paid two weeks later. Contrast this with sending the same invoice right away, and you get paid two weeks sooner.

2. Collect More Money - if you invoice soon after completing your work, your work is fresh in your mind you will invoice for more dollars. When you wait to invoice you tend to forget some details. On top of this everyone undervalues their own services, and this effect increases over time. Between these two things you will wind up billing for less. Everyone will - it’s human nature. So, invoice immediately and you will bill for more money.

3. Improved Client Relations - when a client receives an invoice soon after their job is completed, the value you offer will be fresh in their mind. If you’ve done a great job (and we trust you always do!) that great work will be top of mind in your client’s consciousness. As a result they will get right to the process of paying you. When you send an invoice 2-3 weeks later, the context of your great work is lost and may seem far away to to them. So, invoice early and make them happy to pay you.

These are the benefits of continuous invoicing. Looking for a painfully cheesy catch-phrase that’s worth it’s wait in gold? “Remember folks, invoice early and invoice often.”