Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an online billing application (see article below), an iPhone app for Shepardizing, a Microsoft Word add-on for creating a table of authorities, a new Twitter feature, and a BlackBerry app that helps you find a restaurant. Don't miss the next issue.
Semi-Automatic Billing
Someday, software will completely eliminate administrative jobs. For example, if a client owes you money, your billing system will hash it out with his banking software. You will only get involved when your software cannot close the deal. You'll then pick up your holographic phone and start yelling at your deadbeat client. Well, not really because none of us will live long enough to witness such smart software. In the meantime, you can at least seek billing software with more automation than what you use now.
Smart Invoice … in One Sentence
Acumantra Solutions' Smart Invoice is a Web-based billing system.
The Killer Feature
The biggest news in billing software this year? Credit card processing. With bankruptcy filings up, suddenly those credit card fees don't seem so bad. They certainly beat not getting paid at all.
Smart Invoice has jumped on this trend. It integrates with Authorize.net, 2CO, PayPal, and Google Checkout. You can embed these payment options in the invoices you send so that clients can click and pay. Smart Invoice notifies you when it receives a payment.
Other Notable Features
Smart Invoice integrates with QuickBooks, which you can use for your general and trust accounting. You can also import client information from Outlook and other programs into Smart Invoice.
Smart Invoice offers a time tracking widget. Once you capture or enter time, you can create an invoice. Smart Invoice also handles other billing methods such as flat fees, and can add taxes and late fees.
You can customize your invoices using CSS, a simple programming language that all Web designers know how to use. You can also use domain mapping to send invoices from your own domain. In addition to emailing invoices, you can export them as PDF files or print them.
In addition to invoicing, Smart Invoice also features estimates, which you may find helpful for flat fee services. As you would expect, Smart Invoice offers a number of reports, which you can customize. Smart Invoice's API enables other companies to develop add-ons for Smart Invoice such as a desktop or mobile application.
What Else Should You Know?
You can select from three versions of Smart Invoice — Free, $14/month, and $39/month (the latter two plans don't have names). The Free plan does not offer domain mapping or PDF invoices, and limits you to three clients. The other two plans offer 25 and 5,000 clients respectively. Learn more about Smart Invoice.
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