Invoicing for freelancers
Freelance invoicing software
Web and PDF invoices your client opens from a link, with no login, and pays by card once you connect Stripe, while automatic reminders and late fees chase the late ones.
Free plan: 1 client and 3 active projects. No credit card.
- No login for your clients
- Web and PDF invoices
- Automatic invoice reminders
What your client sees
A page, not an app to learn. Your client opens the invoice from your email or a link you copy, reads the line items, and pays by card once you have connected Stripe. No account to create, no login required.
- Download PDF, for their accounts team
- “Received so far” and “Balance due” once part of it is paid
- A Pay button that charges the balance, never the full total again
How it works
Step 1
Connect Stripe once
In Settings, choose Connect Stripe and finish Stripe’s own sign-up. Card payments land in your Stripe account and pay out to your bank. On every plan, Free included.
Step 2
Write the invoice
Line items, tax and discounts, in your currency, with totals worked out in whole cents. Bill a deposit, the balance, or an approved change order.
Step 3
Send the link
Your client gets an email with the link. The invoice shows Sent, then Viewed when they open it. Your own previews never count.
Step 4
Let the reminders chase it
By default reminders go three days before the due date, on the day, then three and seven days after. Change the days, pause one invoice, or nudge it now.
What invoicing includes
Every feature below is in PaloWorks today. Each one names the plan it is on.
- Web and PDF invoicesEvery plan
- Every invoice is a page your client opens from a link and a PDF they can download or print.
- Clients pay online by cardEvery plan
- Connect your own Stripe account and every invoice gets a Pay button. Your plan is what you pay PaloWorks. Pay-through-PaloWorks takes Free 1%, Pro 0.5%, or Studio 0.1% of the charge. Stripe's own processing fees apply. Payments you mark paid outside PaloWorks have no take.
- Deposit and balance invoicesEvery plan
- “Create deposit invoice” bills the deposit percentage you set; “Create balance invoice” bills the rest of the fee.
- Automatic invoice remindersEvery plan
- Choose up to twelve reminder days, before and after the due date. They go at 9am in your timezone, and you can pause them on an invoice when a client has promised a date.
- Late fees on overdue invoicesEvery plan
- A yearly percentage, a flat fee, or both, with grace days. Each invoice keeps the late-fee terms it was sent with, and reminders include the fee.
- Track sent and paid invoicesEvery plan
- Every sent invoice shows its progress: Sent, Viewed by the client, Reminded, and Paid.
- Record partial paymentsEvery plan
- Log a bank transfer or a part payment and the invoice asks only for what is left. You cannot record more than the balance.
- Invoice approved change ordersEvery plan
- Save a change order with an amount and a linked invoice is drafted at the same time, or invoice an approved change order from the project.
- Statements of accountEvery plan
- One link per client with every invoice and payment, a running balance, and a PDF for any period.
- Multiple tax ratesPro
- State sales tax, GST, and a local levy, named and stacked on the same invoice. Free keeps 1 named tax rate.
- ReportsPro
- Your week, invoiced against collected month by month, cash coming in, work earned but not invoiced, the tax you collected, and exports to take to your accountant.
- Time trackingPro
- Log hours per project and see your real hourly rate against the scope price.
Plans
- Free
- Free covers 1 client and 3 active projects: intake links, scopes, revision tracking, change orders, invoices, and card payments through your own Stripe account.
- Pro
- Unlimited clients and projects, plus contracts, time tracking, calendar, reports, planner, intake templates, multiple tax rates, draft from intake, and api and assistant access.
- Studio
- Studio adds team workspaces, priority support, and document branding, and room for 3 teammates beside the owner.
Questions people ask
- Do my clients need an account?
- No. Every document is a link your client opens in their browser, with nothing to sign up for and no password. A client who would rather see all their projects in one place can sign in with a one-time code sent to their email, but nothing requires it.
- Is invoicing on the free plan?
- Yes. Invoices, PDFs, card payments, reminders and late fees are on every plan. Free is capped at 1 client and 3 active projects; Pro has unlimited clients and projects.
- What does it cost to take card payments?
- Your plan is what you pay PaloWorks. Pay-through-PaloWorks takes Free 1%, Pro 0.5%, or Studio 0.1% of the charge. Stripe's own processing fees apply. Payments you mark paid outside PaloWorks have no take. The money goes straight to your own Stripe account.
- What happens when a client pays part of an invoice?
- Record what arrived with “Record payment”. The invoice then shows “Received so far” and the “Balance due”, the Pay button charges only the balance, and reminders ask only for the rest.
- Can I bill a deposit first?
- Yes. “Create deposit invoice” bills the deposit percentage set in Settings → Invoicing, and “Create balance invoice” bills what is left of the fee. You can also split a fee into a payment schedule of up to twelve payments.
- Does it send recurring invoices?
- No. New recurring schedules are not offered. Duplicating an invoice opens the same amount, notes and currency as a fresh draft under a new number.