It's been a while since I had to concern myself with regularly scheduled invoicing. However, after recently restarting my writing career, I found myself in need of an application that would allow me to easily create and send invoices both electronically, and on paper, with little or no fuss. I wanted to do all of this on my Mac and I wanted to abandon the spreadsheet I was using in Microsoft Excel that I used for casual invoicing.

Initially, I looked at some applications I'd seen reviewed in various Apple publications like iBiz from IGG Software and Billings 2 from Marketcircle. I found the interfaces for these applications to be geared towards experts in the accounting workspace, and not for people that just want to get paid like me. I mentioned this to my new friend Ben and he pointed to in the direction of a web based invoicing system called FreshBooks.

Easy invoicing for me is now the norm, and my editors and clients are already pleased with the results. Freshbooks' web based interface has the work flow I'm used to using, it flows and just works for me. You can use the application to track clients, perform invoicing, create work estimates, track expenses, and do time tracking on a project your working on. They even offer a Timer Tracker Widget for Mac OS X users.

Besides all this, FreshBooks stores my information in a central location so I can use the site from any web-enabled device. They also have a developers API that provides access to their application. I'd say look for an iPhone native widget or application coming soon. Finally, FreshBooks is free for electronic invoicing (paper invoicing is not free) if you have three or less clients, otherwise plans range from $14 to $149. I've discovered a fast way to invoice leaving the learning curve of the other applications in the dust. FreshBooks is definitely worth checking out!

David Martin is a writer and consultant in the Houston Bay Area.