How to Invoice Without Paying Fees

Run a search for Invoicing apps and you’ll find no shortage. However, you need to be vigilant else your profits can be eroded with transaction and platform fees, especially from card processors like PayPal & Stripe.

Fortunately there is good news. You can still invoice professionally and avoid most of these fees both legally and effectively. Here’s some top tips to invoicing without paying fees.

So how do you invoice clients without paying fees—legally and effectively?

Understand Where the Fees Come From

Before we look at how to avoid them, it’s important to understand what you’re paying for: Many fees are applied to payment links (that many invoicing apps are endlessly pushing).

• Paypal UK charge (at time of writing) 2.9% + 30p per transaction (meaning the whole invoice total).
• Stripe slightly cheaper at 1.5% + 20p (UK cards) / 2.5% (EU cards)
• Some platforms also charge a subscription or flat charge
• Doing business abroad, they’ll be SWIFT/IBAN charges & fees.

Platforms make a lot of money from these fees and for many small businesses it’s just another fee for doing business…or is it?

Step #1 - Bypass payment links & use direct bank transfers

Fees can for the most part be totally avoided by employing a savvy strategy and by using existing resources

Whilst it might sound appealing to have the invoice/payment process under one roof, its rarely the cheapest or best option. 

Why not send you customers PDF invoices attached to an email. Many apps like MS Word or even google docs can output PDF invoices. Better still apps like Envoyce can create the invoice and email it with a PDF attachment to you customer in one go. As a rule of thumb, make sure you provider allows you to add your own banking details to the invoice.

The cheapest way to receive payments is via your own business bank account. The downside is that your customer needs to add your business as a payee, and send the payment. Just like the old days. Its an extra step that (if you believe the invoicing firms with payment links) is a serious hurdle to getting paid on time. We think that's hogwash. 

I'm an IT contractor for over 20 years and always been paid direct into my business bank account.

Before payment links existed, all businesses got paid either by cheque or direct payment transfer (BACs then Faster Payments). Many larger businesses employing contractors may only be able to process payments through a payroll system, effectively bypassing payment links altogether. 

I’m not anti-"payment links" per see, but it seems fundamentally counter intuitive to “pay to get paid”.  My personal view is that if there is a free & safe option to get paid the full amount, then it should be used.

So try and get paid via your own bank account whenever possible to avoid the fees. 

Step #2 - Use a fully free invoicing app

The second part of this strategy is to use an invoicing platform that doesn’t charge to use their service. Sounds obvious right, but remember to have your wits about you. Here are some of the UK friendly options

• Envoyce– totally free and customisable
• Wave – Free invoicing; fees apply only if using their card payment feature
• Invoice Ninja – Free plan with no payment requirements

Whilst only Envoyce is completely free to use without restrictions, all these tools can create & send invoices,  direct to customers with pay via bank transfer instructions. 

If you are an international seller a good bet would be to look at Wise, Payoneer or Revolut for SWIFT transfers. These platforms help you receive international payments with minimal fees, often faster than SWIFT or IBAN transfers, but make sure to check the fees beforehand.

The risky strategy 

If you are obliged to use a payment platform you could ask your customer to stump up the processing fee and put it on the invoice, but that’s not likely to go down very well with your customer.

If your customer insists on paying by card (which incurs a fee) offer an incentive to use a fee-free method instead

“Save 2% when you pay by bank transfer (no card fees!)”

This rewards your customer and saves you money.

Takeaway

If you're in the UK, you have plenty of options to invoice without being penalised by fees. Whether you’re a freelancer, contractor, or small business always:

• Stick with bank transfers for UK clients
• Use a free invoicing tool
• Avoid unnecessary payment platforms unless essential
• Be upfront with clients about preferred methods

Every pound saved in fees is a pound earned. Keep it simple, legal, and professional.

Envoyce can be found from their website: https://www.envoyce.co.uk/