I stopped using invoicing apps. Here's my whole system now.

#freelancing #productivity #webdev #discuss

I've tried FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Wave, Xero, and about six others.

All of them did way more than I needed. And charged me for the privilege.

So I built my own system. Free. No subscription. Works in my browser.

The problem with invoicing apps

£10-30/month for features I never use
Client portals nobody logs into
"Smart" payment reminders that sound robotic
Locked into their ecosystem

I'm a sole trader. I send maybe 4-8 invoices a month. I don't need enterprise accounting software.

What I actually use now

For creating invoices: A free invoice generator that spits out a PDF. Fill in the boxes, download, send. Done.

For tracking what's owed: A client tracker that runs in my browser. localStorage. No account. No cloud. Just me and my data.

For chasing late ones: A payment reminder generator that writes the email for me. I pick friendly/firm/final, paste the details, copy the output.

For knowing when to escalate: A should-I-chase-this tool that looks at how late, how much, and tells me what to do next.

For calculating interest: A late payment calculator that works out statutory interest + compensation under UK law. Copy-paste into your final demand.

The full flow

Create invoice (generator) → PDF → email to client
Log it in client tracker
Due date passes → generate reminder email → send
Still nothing → firm reminder → send
30 days overdue → calculate interest → final demand
Nuclear option → letter before action

Total cost: £0. Total time setting up: about 4 minutes.

Why this works better

No monthly fee eating into margins
No vendor lock-in
Data stays on my machine
Each tool does one thing well
I can swap any piece without rebuilding everything

The catch

It's not automated. There's no magic "send reminder on day 7" button.

But honestly? I want to manually decide when and how to chase. The tone matters. The relationship matters. A robot sending "PAYMENT OVERDUE" to my best client is not the move.

All the tools are free at landolio.com/tools. No sign-up, no email capture, no catch.

What's your invoicing setup? Anyone else ditched the apps?