If you are wondering which invoicing software is easiest to move to from a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet has probably started to cost you. It worked for years. Every invoice is a copied tab or a duplicated file, the numbers are in a column you keep by hand, and a second sheet tracks who has paid. Then one month the paid column is out of date, an invoice goes out with last month's number, or you spend an evening working out who still owes you.
Moving feels like a big job, and that is usually what stops people. It is smaller than it looks, as long as you know what actually has to move and what can stay where it is.
The short answer: the easiest tool to move to is one that imports your clients and your items from a CSV file, lets you set the next invoice number so your numbering carries on, and lets you export everything back out. Your old invoice history can stay in the spreadsheet as an archive. Only open, unpaid invoices need re-entering.
Is this you?
- You make each new invoice by copying the last one and changing the details.
- Your invoice numbers live in your head or in a column you update by hand.
- Knowing who has paid means checking the bank against a second sheet.
- You have sent an invoice with the wrong number, date or client details on it.
- Chasing late payers depends on you remembering to look.
- Only you can find anything, so billing stops when you are away.
Three or more, and the spreadsheet is no longer free. It is costing you time every month and some money every time something slips.
When a spreadsheet is still fine
If you send a few invoices a month to the same handful of clients, and you have never lost track of who paid, a spreadsheet or a template can be perfectly good enough. It is free, you control it, and nothing about it will change without you. Moving makes sense when the volume, the number of clients or the chasing has grown past what you can keep straight by hand, not before.
What actually has to move
Most of the worry is about moving everything. You do not need to. Four things matter:
- Your clients. Names, contacts, emails and addresses. This is the part worth importing rather than retyping.
- Your items and rates. The services or products you bill, with their prices. Import them too if you have more than a few.
- Your open invoices. Anything sent and not yet paid. Re-enter these so reminders and payment tracking work from day one.
- Your numbering. The next invoice number, so the new invoices carry on from the old ones rather than starting again at 1.
What does not have to move is your paid history. Keep the spreadsheet as a read-only archive for past years. Your accountant already has what they need from it, and a clean start with open invoices is easier to trust than a bulk import of everything.
How to judge how easy a tool is to move to
Every invoicing tool says switching is easy. Test it instead. On a free trial, before you commit:
- Import your real client list. Export it from the spreadsheet as a CSV and import it. Does the tool give you a sample file with the columns it expects? How many rows came through, and what happened to the ones it rejected?
- Import your items. Same test, with your services and rates.
- Set the next invoice number. Check you can make it follow on from your last one.
- Send one real invoice. To yourself, then to a friendly client. See what they receive and how they can pay.
- Export it all back out. If you cannot get your clients and invoices out as a file, moving in was the easy part and moving on will not be.
An hour of this tells you more than any comparison, including this one.
What our own tool imports, specifically
Since this is our blog, here is exactly what our own tool does, so you can check it against the list above. Billbooks imports clients from a CSV file, needing a client or company name, a primary contact and an email, with addresses, phone, currency, tax ID and website as optional columns. It imports items from a CSV too, and offers a sample file with the columns laid out. You set the invoice number in your invoice settings, so numbering carries on. It cannot import past invoices from a spreadsheet file. It can read an old invoice from a photo or PDF into a real, editable invoice, using prepaid scanning credits at one credit per page, which suits a handful of open invoices better than years of history. Clients, items and invoices can all be exported back out as CSV. Plans start at $7.95 a month with a 30-day free trial.
What does the spreadsheet cost you now?
Enter how many invoices and quotes you make a month, how many minutes each one takes, and what an hour of your time is worth. You get what invoicing by hand costs you in a year, and what getting part of that time back is worth. Free, no signup.
Moving in an afternoon
- Tidy the client list first. One row per client, one column per field, duplicates removed. This is where most import errors come from, and it is easier to fix in the spreadsheet than afterwards.
- Save it as CSV with column headings matching the tool's sample file, then import it and check the count.
- Do the same for your items and rates.
- Set your next invoice number to follow your last one.
- Re-enter your open invoices, with their original numbers and dates, and turn on reminders for them.
- Mark the spreadsheet read-only and file it with your records. From today, new invoices go out from the new tool only. Running both in parallel is how invoices get missed.
Free tools for the move
If you are still deciding whether to move at all, invoicing software vs manual invoicing sets out the trade-off, and what an invoice number is for covers why the numbering is worth carrying over carefully.
Frequently asked questions
Which invoicing software is easiest to move to from a spreadsheet?
The easiest is one that imports your clients and items from a CSV file, lets you set the next invoice number so your numbering continues, and lets you export everything back out. Test those three on a free trial with your real data before you commit.
Can I import my old invoices into invoicing software?
Some tools can, so check before relying on it. Either way, it is often simpler to keep past, paid invoices in the spreadsheet as an archive and enter only the open, unpaid ones in the new tool. Billbooks, for example, imports clients and items by CSV and reads individual invoices from a photo or PDF with paid scanning credits, but does not import invoice history from a spreadsheet.
How do I keep my invoice numbers the same after switching?
Before sending your first invoice from the new tool, set its next invoice number to follow the last one in your spreadsheet. Invoice numbers should be unique and in sequence, so check this setting exists before you move.
How long does it take to move invoicing off a spreadsheet?
For a small business, usually an afternoon. Most of the time goes on tidying the client list before importing it. Importing clients and items, setting the numbering and re-entering open invoices is quick once the data is clean.
Should I keep using the spreadsheet alongside the new tool?
Not for new invoices. Keep the old spreadsheet as a read-only record of past invoices, but send every new invoice from the new tool only. Running two systems side by side is the most common way invoices get missed or numbered twice.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for invoicing?
For a few invoices a month to regular clients, often yes. It becomes a problem when tracking who has paid, chasing late payers or keeping numbering straight starts taking real time, or when billing stops whenever you are away.
