LedgerChat vs A template or form
Invoices, from saying what you sold.
Most invoice tools are a form: type the customer, type the item, type the price, download. This starts from the sale you already made, and the invoice falls out of it.
First, what A template or form is better at
If all you want is one invoice, once, a free form will do it faster than signing up for anything — and you should use one. This is for the case where the invoice is the third thing that should happen: the sale recorded, the customer’s balance moved, and then a PDF to send.
Side by side
| A template or form | LedgerChat | |
|---|---|---|
| How it starts | A blank form you fill in | The sale you just recorded |
| Numbering | You keep track | Gapless, per fiscal year, automatic |
| Behind the invoice | Nothing | A balanced double-entry record |
| Customer balance | No | Updated by the invoice, and visible any time |
| Sending it | Download, then attach it somewhere | Already in the chat, ready to forward |
| Correcting one | Edit and hope | A numbered reversal note; both stay on record |
| A4 for printing | Usually | Yes, on request |
| Design your own template | Yes | No — one clean layout, your business name on it |
| Upload your logo | Usually | Not yet |
| Payment links or card payments | Sometimes | No |
| Recurring invoices | Sometimes | No |
Do not switch if
- You want to design the invoice — fonts, colours, your own layout. There is one layout here and you cannot change it.
- You need your logo on it. That is not built yet.
- You want the invoice to collect payment. There are no payment links and no card processing.
- You need recurring or scheduled invoices. Every invoice here comes from a sale you recorded.
It is worth a try if
- You are invoicing from a phone, between other things.
- You want the sale on the books at the same moment, not typed in twice.
- You have lost track of which numbers you have used.
- Your customers are on WhatsApp, which is where the PDF needs to end up.
Questions
- Do I need to record a sale to make an invoice?
- Yes. The invoice is a view of an entry that exists, which is why the numbering is gapless and the customer balance is always right. If you want a PDF with no bookkeeping behind it, a free form is the better tool.
- Are the numbers sequential?
- Gapless and in order, per fiscal year. A missing number in a sequence is the first thing anyone looks for, so there are none.
- Can I get it as A4 to print?
- Yes — there is an A4 button on every invoice, and asking for it does not use a second document from your allowance.
- What if I got the invoice wrong?
- It is reversed with a numbered reversal note, and both documents stay on record. Nothing is edited away, which is what makes the sequence worth anything.
- Is invoicing included in the trial?
- Yes. Seven documents over three days, invoices included — a trial that hides the main thing is not a trial. After that, invoicing is the Business plan.
Three days, no card.
Seven voice notes and seven documents. If it has not earned a place by then, it never will.