A small business owner can profit significantly from being more flexible with payment and invoicing options. It’s a brilliant concept to offer this flexibility through interim invoices. Businesses that offer interim invoicing allow their customers to make smaller, easier-to-manage payments, guaranteeing a steady flow of revenue for your organization.
Before establishing a payment schedule to accept payment from the customer to submit interim invoices, small businesses must first develop an accurate project cost estimate. Interim invoice allows small businesses to be paid regularly during a large, lengthy project, allowing them to retain a continuous cash flow.
What is an Interim Invoice?
The goal of interim invoices is to break down large project payments into more manageable chunks. This accounting strategy comprises regularly billing the client. The portion of the project that has been finished is invoiced at a percentage of the total amount. The buyer and seller usually agree on this estimate before proceeding.
How to Make an Interim Invoice?
To create an interim invoice, and send interim invoices you details of the client’s pay, partial payment details, an initial estimate, total project estimate, total hours, total cost, accounting method used in a company, payment structure, account details, project timeline, etc. But for any long project, most businesses use interim invoices to keep the flow of enough cash in the business, maintain working capital and foresee extra critical costs as you and your client agree.
Here are the simple steps to create an interim invoice for any small or big project.
Provide an Estimated Cost
Before you create an invoice for a project in the right invoice format, you should estimate how long it will take to complete it, either in hours or in some other format. You must also factor in any unforeseen project costs, such as the need for more labor or equipment to finish the work.
If you bill by the hour, add up all necessary costs after dividing the total number of hours needed by the hourly rate you charge. Throughout an extended project, circumstances can change. Just be sure that any adjustments to the total sum are approved in writing in advance. Before starting the assignment, provide a copy of your estimate to your client to make sure it has already been accepted. Send a cost report to your client so they can concur with you. Your interim invoice will be built based on the estimate.
Confirm the Schedule
First, a timetable for the recurring billing system must be established. You can choose whether to deliver interim invoices or partial work after the client confirms the project estimate, depending on the parameters of the new agreement. The length of the project will assist you to decide how much to charge when you offer the interim invoice to your client.
If the project is projected to run for several months and you choose monthly interim billing for the client, the total project cost could be divided into six equal pieces and invoiced as one-sixth each month. Six bills will be issued as a result of the project’s completion. To put it another way, it streamlines your payment schedule.
Sending the Interim Invoice
The interim invoice is transmitted similarly to a standard invoice. It is crucial to keep track of what has been paid, what is still due, and the expected remaining schedules if separate account statements are not offered. If you and the client have agreed to create one invoice type on time, don’t change the date.
Send a Final Invoice
It must be as thorough and informative as the interim bills. Any project-related changes and price changes must be included. Once the job is completed, it can be produced and sent. Include an itemized list of services, the due date, payment amount, invoice number, and payment method. You can use an interim invoice system like Moon Invoice to automate the most important administrative tasks and for submitting interim invoices for larger projects.
Create Quick Interim Invoices
Moon Invoice allows you to create interim invoices and duplicate them too for maintaining records.
When is an Interim Invoice Issued?
Send the client a final invoice once the task is completed on time. It must include the same details and information as the interim ones. Include any cost revisions and project changes. It can be prepared and distributed once the project is completed. Your comprehensive list of services should include payment method, invoice number, payment due date, payment amount, and payment due date.
The main benefits of using interim invoices are steady cash flow, a healthy amount of capital to invest in the project, financial relief for the client because they don’t have to pay a sizable sum of money upfront, and an incentive for you to meet your tasks and quotas, and it also helps you spot any payment red flags.
Interim billing allows small businesses to maintain a consistent cash flow throughout lengthy projects. Until the project is completed, interim bills are sent regularly and need lesser payments based on negotiations between the buyer and supplier. Because of this, small businesses may simply retain cost control throughout the process.
How are Interim Invoices Beneficial for Business Owners?
The cash flow of a firm can make or ruin it. When financial expenditure surpasses revenue input, even seemingly prosperous organizations face the risk of failure.
After that, you can continue to send the invoice until it is completed. Keep in mind that this invoice requires more specific details to be filled out than prior invoices.
Delivering progress invoices provides several advantages, some of which are described below:
Steady Cash Flow
The capacity of organizations to maintain a steady cash flow is one of the main benefits of using intermediate invoicing. Interim invoicing enables small businesses to be paid frequently rather than waiting for the project to be finished, providing a steady flow of money into your bank account. A large project may benefit from interim billing because cash flow problems are among the most frequent accounting problems that small firms have.
Lower Risk of Non-Payment
If your client routinely pays you for your progress bill, you may be more certain that you will get paid in full for the total hours worked. If the first several interim invoices aren’t paid on schedule, you might contact your client to explain the problem. If you are concerned that they will not be able to reimburse you for your services, you might withdraw from the project before spending additional time and effort.
More Flexibility for Clients
Your business attracts new clients and keeps hold of current ones. Because clients do not have to pay the full large project cost upfront, which can be prohibitively expensive for smaller enterprises, interim invoices give them flexibility. Since submitting work by predetermined milestones, clients are more sure that the project will be completed following the conditions and dates agreed upon.
Makes Budgeting Easier
Interim invoicing can help with predicting and budgeting. It can help guide future revenue, expense, and profit predictions as a result of the demand for thorough large project completion monitoring.
Easily Spot Payment Irregularities
Vendors can keep track of when and how much money is due to them. This reduces the possibility of missed or incorrect payments and makes it easier to detect and correct errors.
Conclusion
Your initial goal as a business should be to do the best job possible. Managing payments, bills, and spending, on the other hand, also consume a major portion of your working hours. Using different types of invoices can help your business achieve specific requirements and business needs. Create and distribute interim invoices to expedite business operations and eliminate the time-consuming invoicing process. This keeps you on track and ensures your payments are made on time.
FAQs
Jayanti Katariya is the founder & CEO of Moon Invoice, with over a decade of experience in developing SaaS products and the fintech industry. He holds a degree in engineering. Since 2011, Jayanti's expertise has helped thousands of businesses, from small startups to large enterprises, streamline invoicing, estimation, and accounting operations. His vision is to deliver top-tier financial solutions globally, ensuring efficient financial management for all business owners.
