Another cloud-based application being offered with Office 365 for Business with the new Business Center roll out is Microsoft Invoicing. My last post I wrote about Microsoft Bookings with is one of the last cloud-based services offered by the new Business Center in Office 365 for business premium.

Microsoft Invoicing would be considered another vital part of the business since it’s how you would get paid.

Microsoft invoicing

Microsoft Invoicing is not as good as bookings but it works well for just being rolled out. The one thing that stands out to me is the fact that you can’t create an invoice without creating prices. Prices are broken down into a bunch of different units. Which at times I think makes the process harder and more difficult.

I like how Microsoft breaks down the difference between invoicing and estimate I think that really makes it easy and more companies should do that with there software. Invoicing and Estimates forms look the same for the most part. The one thing again that can be a pain is you must enter all the customer info into your Outlook CRM before you can go any further you can’t just put a name in there. Once they are added the process gets a little easier as you can just pick them from a propogated list.

invoice

The customer tax rate is pretty cool since you can change it easily if the customer is tax exempt or lives in a different state.

Microsoft Invoicing right now you can only take PayPal at the moment which really limits you when it comes to taking customers payments. Many customers like to use Credit Cards and they can’t do that but there is always cash and check like always.

User settings there is a spot to change payment terms 14 days, 21 days, Cash On Delivery (COD) and other options for lead time for payment.Microsoft Invoicing has added two option for QuickBooks y.ou can connect Invoicing with QuickBooks, so you have access to data and contacts in both places.

The Microsoft Invoicing mobile app is just as good if not better then the web version I found the interface very easy to use and was able to get invoice done and sent very quickly without having any hassles when I was on the go with my iPhone. I was VERY impressed with mobile app I think this is where invoicing for small business and service businesses really shines. Service businesses can and will benefit from Microsoft Invoicing using a mobile platform even doing and send estimates onsite via email was super fast and convenient.

I think Microsoft Invoicing is really a required product especially with Microsoft added CRM to Outlook and with the push of the Microsoft Bookings platform. If Microsoft going to offer online booking to businesses they need to offer online billing and Microsoft Invoicing does a great job I was very impressed especially with the mobile app.