Challenges
The manual work this trade still runs on, what it costs, and what changes.
Retainer invoices go out late or get missed
- How it is done today
- Someone copies last month's invoice in Word or a spreadsheet for each client on the first of the month
- Cost or risk
- Cash arrives a week or two late and a forgotten retainer is often never billed
- With Finocket
- A recurring rule per client drafts each retainer invoice on schedule for you to review and send, with the period covered on the line
Billable hours never reach the invoice
- How it is done today
- The team logs hours in a shared sheet or a separate time app, and the founder retypes totals into the invoice
- Cost or risk
- Unbilled hours and retyping errors on every hourly or overage invoice
- With Finocket
- The timer records time against client and project, and unbilled billable hours become invoice lines at your rate
Scope disputes after the work is done
- How it is done today
- Quotes go out as PDFs on email or WhatsApp and approval is a "looks good" reply
- Cost or risk
- No clear record of what the client agreed to before the first hour was spent
- With Finocket
- Estimates go out as a link the client accepts online, then convert into the invoice
Chasing clients for what they owe
- How it is done today
- Account managers send reminder messages one by one and keep a private list of who has paid
- Cost or risk
- Overdue retainers sit for weeks and nobody has one view of receivables
- With Finocket
- A client portal shows open invoices with a pay link, and the dunning ladder chases overdue invoices on a schedule
Overseas clients billed like domestic ones
- How it is done today
- A rupee invoice with GST, or a hand-edited dollar invoice with no LUT declaration
- Cost or risk
- Wrong GST treatment on exports and invoices a CA has to redo
- With Finocket
- Export invoices in the client's currency, with your LUT declaration printed
Referral partners paid from memory
- How it is done today
- A spreadsheet of who introduced whom, settled informally whenever someone asks
- Cost or risk
- Disputes over commission, and payouts on money that was never collected
- With Finocket
- Commission accrues on collected revenue, with a statement per partner
New business lives in inboxes
- How it is done today
- Pitches and enquiries are tracked in the founder's email and chat history
- Cost or risk
- Leads go cold and nobody can forecast next month's retainers
- With Finocket
- Enquiries become deals with stages and follow-ups, and a won deal becomes the client's first estimate
GST and TDS done in a month-end scramble
- How it is done today
- Invoices are exported to the CA, who rebuilds GSTR-1 and works out the TDS clients deducted
- Cost or risk
- Late filing, mismatched TDS credits and CA hours spent re-entering data
- With Finocket
- GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B are prepared from your invoices, TDS is recorded both ways, and your CA works in the same books