Freelancers and consultants
Invoicing and accounting software for freelancers and consultants
Send a tax invoice in two minutes, see which client still owes you for last month's milestone, and keep anything your clients withhold from slipping out of your books.
In short
SimpleERP is invoicing and accounting software for freelancers and independent consultants. It raises tax invoices with the right rate for each client, tracks advances, milestones, tax withheld by clients and business expenses, and adds payroll when you hire.
Illustration of tax invoice INV-2026-0213 to Northside Retail with tax 10% and the amount in words.
A day as a freelancer
When you are the whole business, every hour spent on invoices and spreadsheets is an hour not billed, so the books have to keep up without a bookkeeper.
Maya Lindqvist runs a one-person UX design and training practice from a co-working desk in Auckland. This month she is finishing the second milestone of an app redesign for a Sydney fintech, running a two-day design workshop for a Wellington company, and keeping a small monthly retainer with an Auckland hospital group.
Her invoices live in a document she copies each time. The Sydney client paid a 30 percent advance in August that she has to remember to take off, the Wellington client paid two weeks late with a short payment nobody explained, and her Figma and Adobe receipts sit in an email folder waiting for her accountant to ask for them at year end.
SimpleERP keeps that month in one place. The tax invoice charges her local rate to the Auckland and Wellington clients and none to the export work for Sydney, the advance sits on the client's account until the milestone bill uses it, and each software subscription is an expense with its tax already split out.
Billing
A tax invoice for each kind of work, at the right rate
Save each service you sell once, with its tax rate. On the invoice you pick the client and the service, type the fee, and the tax follows; for a client abroad you pick the zero or out-of-scope rate on the line.
- Services carry no stock, so there is nothing to count and no warehouse to set up.
- Free-text lines for a one-off piece of work that is not in your service list.
- Bank details on the A4 print, so the client can pay from the page.
- One invoice series per financial year, numbered for you, such as INV-2026-0042.
| Work you do | Client in your country | Business client abroad |
|---|---|---|
| Website, app or software development | Your standard rate | Often zero-rated or outside the scope |
| UX, UI, graphic or product design | Your standard rate | Often zero-rated or outside the scope |
| Management or strategy consulting | Your standard rate | Often zero-rated or outside the scope |
| Training run in person | Your standard rate | Usually taxed where the training happens |
| Writing, research and other professional work | Your standard rate | Often zero-rated or outside the scope |
Advances and milestones
Take an advance, bill by milestone and know what is still owed
Agree the scope in a quotation, record the advance as a payment kept on the client's account, and turn the accepted quote into an order you bill in parts. Each milestone invoice can use the advance, and the order shows what is left to bill.
- Quotation to order to invoice without retyping the scope or the fee.
- Advances stay on account until you allocate them to a milestone invoice.
- Receivables ageing by client shows who is 45 days late before you start the next phase.
- Credit notes when a client drops a deliverable after it was billed.
Illustration of receivables ageing: 2,441 to collect across 5 buckets, with customer totals.
Tax withheld by clients
Keep the tax your clients withhold as money you are owed
In some countries a company paying a professional fee withholds part of it as tax and pays you the rest. Record the amount that reached your bank as the receipt, then post a journal that moves the withheld part from the client's balance to a tax receivable account. At year end that account is the number to match against the client's certificates before you claim the credit.
- Manual journals for the withheld portion, naming the client so their ledger agrees.
- Customer statements show every invoice, receipt and withholding entry in date order.
- The tax receivable ledger lists what each client withheld, ready for your accountant.
Expenses
Software, travel and the co-working desk, with the tax split out
Record a business expense from your phone with a photo of the receipt. Pick the category, and the expense posts to its account with the tax kept apart, so what you can reclaim is visible each month.
- Categories for software subscriptions, travel, internet, co-working rent and bank charges.
- Supplier bills for the bigger purchases, such as a laptop you depreciate as a fixed asset.
- P&L on any date shows what the practice earned after its costs, not just what was invoiced.
Illustration of an expense claim on a phone with a receipt photo and Approve and Reject buttons.
When you hire
When one becomes three, payroll is already there
Many freelancers never hire, and SimpleERP does not make you set up people screens you do not need. When a junior designer or a second consultant joins, add them, give them a salary structure and run payroll from the same books.
- Salary structures with basic pay and the deductions your country requires.
- Self-service on the phone for attendance, leave and payslips.
- Roles so a junior can raise invoices without seeing your P&L.
Illustration of a payslip with Basic salary, Allowances, Bonus and net pay of 4,440.
By job
Freelancers and consultants by job
Inventory for freelancers
Most freelancers can skip stock. For the few who sell workshop kits, printed workbooks or merchandise, a count per shelf at average cost.
Read moreAccounting for freelancers
A ledger that keeps itself from your invoices and expenses, tax withheld by clients as a receivable, and a P&L your accountant can read.
Read morePayroll for small consultancies
For the freelancer who has hired one to three people: salary structures, deductions, attendance on the phone and salaries posted to the books.
Read more
One system
The modules that do this work
The invoice posts the receivable and the output tax, the receipt clears it, a journal moves withheld tax to its own account, and expenses post with their tax split out.
Invoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
See howPayments & receivables
Receipts and payments allocated oldest first, receivables and payables ageing, and statements.
See howCRM
Leads, a deal pipeline, today's follow-ups and conversion to customer and quotation.
See howExpenses
Business expenses with receipts, and staff claims from submit to approve to reimburse.
See howAccounting
A double-entry ledger with journals, bank registers, statements and a lock date.
See howPayroll
Salary structures, monthly runs and payslips with your earnings and deductions, posted to the books.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do for freelancers yet
Said plainly, because several of these decide whether it fits you at all.
- One currency. There is no multi-currency, so a client abroad is billed in your base currency.
- No time tracking or timesheets; invoice lines are fees you type, not hours logged.
- No proposals with e-signature. A quotation is the closest document, and the client accepts it outside SimpleERP.
- No withholding tax computation. Tax your clients withhold is recorded with a journal, not worked out for you.
- Recurring invoices do not raise themselves; a monthly retainer is raised by hand.
Getting started
Start with your first invoice
Sign up with your email
Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.
Tell us about the business
Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.
Add what you sell
Add each service you sell, such as design, development, consulting or a training workshop, with its tax rate. There is no stock to load.
Post your first invoice
Pick the customer, add lines and save. Your first invoice can be out within 10 minutes of signing up.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Do I need to register for tax as a freelancer?
In most VAT and GST countries you must register once your turnover crosses a threshold the government sets, and many freelancers register earlier because company clients ask for a tax number. In the US, many states do not tax services at all. SimpleERP asks whether you are registered when you sign up, and your invoices follow that choice.
Which tax rate do I charge on design, development or consulting?
For a client in your country, usually the standard VAT, GST or sales tax rate. Set the rate on each service once and every invoice applies it, then change the line for a client abroad. Rates differ by country and change, so confirm the rate for your goods with your accountant or tax authority before you rely on it.
My client is in another country. Do I charge tax?
Often not. Services sold to a business abroad are zero-rated or outside the scope in many VAT and GST countries, though training given in person and some digital services follow other rules. Pick the rate on the line and say why in the invoice notes; ask your accountant if you are unsure.
Can I invoice a client in their own currency?
Not yet. Every invoice is in your base currency, and there is no multi-currency. If most of your income is billed in other currencies, it is not the right fit today.
Related
Keep reading
Invoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
Read moreProfessional services
Service invoices with the right tax, quotations, a CRM pipeline, expense claims and payroll.
Read moreAccounting for freelancers
A ledger that keeps itself from your invoices and expenses, tax withheld by clients as a receivable, and a P&L your accountant can read.
Read moreCollect payments faster
Seven practices that shorten the time between invoice and payment, with the mechanism behind each and a worked example.
Read more
Run your whole business from one simple place.
Seven days free. No card. Your first invoice in minutes.