Knock vs manual invoicing
Hand-made invoices work until the tenth customer.
Manual invoicing means making each invoice yourself from a word-processor or template and sending it by email. It needs no tooling and gives you total control. Its cost is time every cycle and errors that scale with the number of customers.
Feature matrix
| Capability | Manual invoicing | Knock |
|---|---|---|
| Creating an invoice | Fill a template per customer, per cycle | Generated from the subscription on its due date |
| Numbering | Typed by hand, gaps and repeats are easy | Sequential numbers from a counter |
| Tax arithmetic | Calculator or formula, by hand | Computed per line from the tax rule |
| Due dates and terms | Remembered or typed | Set by payment terms: immediate, Net 15, 30 or 60 |
| Knowing who has paid | Search email and the bank statement | Payments recorded against invoices, balances tracked |
| Chasing overdue invoices | A reminder you remember to write | Overdue list, and Pip can find them and draft a note |
| Customer view | Whatever you emailed | Portal with quotes, invoices and payment history |
| Quote to invoice | Retype the quote | Quote becomes a confirmed subscription and invoices follow |
| Effort per extra customer | Grows with every customer | Close to none once the plan exists |
Who each fits
Manual invoicing fits when
- One-off projects rather than recurring billing
- Fewer than about five invoices a month
- Contracts where every invoice is bespoke
Knock fits when
- The same customers are billed every cycle
- You spend billing day copying and adjusting last month's invoices
- You want an invoice history you can trust at tax time
The honest take
If you invoice rarely and each invoice is different, a good template is enough and Knock would be overkill. Knock helps when the same invoices repeat. It is also a hackathon project, so keep verifying invoices and tax with your accountant.
Migration steps
- List your recurring customers and what each is billed
- Create the products and plans that match those charges
- Set up GST or other taxes once and mark the default
- Import customers, then create one subscription each with the correct next invoice date
- Switch off your manual reminders for them after the first generated invoice matches what you would have sent
- Keep one-off invoices manual if you prefer
Try Knock on a few customers
Import a handful, create a plan and run a dry run of billing. It is free to try.
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