Show HN: Invoicing directly from WordPress

[fbu2017]

Why would I want to send an invoice from wordpress? Why turn a CMS into a CRM, if it lacks all required features?

[chatmasta]

You obviously haven't spent much time in internet marketing. People who are somewhere in betweeen a non technical user and developer are productive because they use Wordpress for everything. There are entire ecommerce stores built around Wordpress. At this point Wordpress is like an operating system for web apps; it doesn't matter what the apps do, only that they're easy to install/run/customize for semi-technical users.

[pdog]

Wordpress is effectively the operating system of the web. It's much more than a run-of-the-mill CMS.

[nkkollaw]

It doesn't lack all required features.

If you install WooCommerce you'll see that it's a full-blown e-commerce that can do receipts, track orders, and just about everything else.

I recently used it for a client website, developing all the stuff that they got for free would've cost 20,000.

I don't love WordPress, but it's extremely convenient if you don't like to waste time rewriting stuff that is already available as free, debugged software.

[claudiulodro]

Another angle: Why wouldn't you want a CRM you can host in the backend of your landing page for no extra cost or on its own for $4/mo? :)

[Justin_K]

What are the benefits over something free like https://www.waveapps.com? I've had success with their invoice and accounting for many years.

[peacemaker]

A lot of people run their entire business directly from their WordPress website. Having a plugin that allows quotes, invoicing and payments in the same place is quite convenient for them.

I built this because people were asking me for it before I sold my previous software business. I know tools like WaveApps (and countless others!) are really useful but I think invoicing built into WordPress does meet a need.

[thedangler]

How does wave make money if most of it's services are free? Do they sell your data?

[ezequiel-garzon]

I may be wrong, but I feel that making this website https-only could only add potential customers. Making matters worse, trying https://invoicingplugin.com gives you a warning and redirects you to https://woodenracks.co.uk.

[peacemaker]

Hey thanks for pointing that out. That other site is a side project for a friend and I used letsencrypt certbot to auto-configure it. Assumed it was fine but obviously not! Will fix.

[peacemaker]

That issue is fixed now. Thanks again.

[peacemaker]

Happy to hear any feedback and suggestions

[msumpter]

Just some random feedback, all of course my personal opinion:

1) Editing paid invoices shouldn't be allowed after a payment has been made.

2) Quotes should have an accept or sign option, the quote list should reflect the status.

3) Quotes should also have templates similar to invoices

4) Dashboard widget reflecting outstanding payments, recent payment stats, etc. Could be handy.

[mstolpm]

Site mentions "Free Lifetime Updates" but Codecanyon sales page says "6 months support from QuipCode" with a paid option to extend to 12 months. That seems somehow misleading and may potentially damage trust and cost customers.

[handzhiev]

A bit offtopic, but I don't understand why plugin authors are so happy to give 30%-60% of their revenue to Codecanyon. What value are they providing to charge so much?

[kentt]

Would love to know as well. I'm selling a plugin from my own site and had wrote of Codecanyon once I saw their pricing structure. I'm a bit curious if a big part of the reason is that doing the payment & plugin delivery is difficult for average WP dev. Would be interested to here success stories and comparisons.

[peacemaker]

It's a good point... I've gone back and forth on this a lot and I guess it just comes down to the sheer number of customers I can get via Codecanyon compared to selling directly.

Believe me I've tried on many occassions over the last few years to setup direct sales of my various plugins and software. But I can't seem to drive enough targeted traffic to match the income via marketplaces like Codecanyon.

[zapt02]

As someone who did a lot of market research before launching a paid plugin, the main reason is exposure. There is no other marketplace that comes close to the number of potential customers. Of course, you can roll your own solution but since almost nobody publishes numbers on how their business is going it's hard to see if it's more or less profitable.

[ilamont]

Within the WooCommerce universe there are plugins or extensions that have some overlapping functionality, drawing directly from sales and the product database. WooCommerce PDF Invoices is one of the free ones.