Challenges
The manual work this trade still runs on, what it costs, and what changes.
Clients pay on UPI with no proper invoice behind it
- How it is done today
- Send a UPI ID in chat and make an invoice later, if the client's accounts team asks
- Cost or risk
- Income you cannot prove at tax time, and a client who cannot book the expense
- With Finocket
- A GST invoice with a UPI pay-now QR, shared straight to the client on WhatsApp
The client paid less than the invoice and nobody wrote down why
- How it is done today
- Accept the short payment and hope the TDS shows up in your annual tax statement
- Cost or risk
- TDS credit missed in the return, or an invoice that looks unpaid for months
- With Finocket
- Mark the client as one who deducts TDS, record the deduction on the invoice, and see the year's total in one report
Overseas work is billed in a document template
- How it is done today
- Type a dollar amount into a template and convert at whatever rate arrives in the bank
- Cost or risk
- Income recorded at the wrong rupee value, and invoices that do not match the bank credit
- With Finocket
- Invoice in the client's currency with the exchange rate locked when you issue it
Work starts on a verbal yes
- How it is done today
- Agree the price on a call or in chat and start the work
- Cost or risk
- Scope creep, and a client who remembers a different number when the invoice arrives
- With Finocket
- Send an estimate the client accepts online, then convert it to the invoice with the engagement reference on it
Following up on late payments is uncomfortable
- How it is done today
- Send a 'just checking in' message weeks later, when cash is already short
- Cost or risk
- Weeks of unpaid work, and relationships strained by awkward chasing
- With Finocket
- Payment reminders with the client portal link, and an optional late-fee line
Work receipts get lost before tax time
- How it is done today
- Keep paper receipts in a wallet or photos in the camera roll
- Cost or risk
- Expenses that cannot be found when the CA asks for them
- With Finocket
- Snap a receipt and the expense form fills in; check the date, save, and it is filed against that month and shows in your reports
Long invoices for many small jobs are hard to read
- How it is done today
- Cram dates into the line description, or send a separate sheet
- Cost or risk
- Clients query the invoice instead of paying it
- With Finocket
- Each line carries its own work date and the period it covers
Year end is a scramble to send the CA everything
- How it is done today
- Download bank statements and invoices and forward them in one long email
- Cost or risk
- The CA rebuilds a year of income from scratch, and personal and work money get mixed
- With Finocket
- A Tally XML export and an ITR working sheet on Solo, personal income and investments kept beside the practice, and an accountant role from Starter