Do I need bookkeeping software as a freelancer to send invoices?
No. Sending an invoice asks for a correct invoice and tidy numbering, not for bookkeeping software. Whether you need some anyway depends on three questions. Answer them in this order.
1. Who does your books?
An accountant. Then they already have software the bookkeeping happens in, and with your own bookkeeping suite you pay twice for the same work. An invoicing tool your accountant reads along in, or that delivers UBL files, is enough.
You. Then you want a tool that books bank transactions and prepares the VAT return. That is a bookkeeping suite, and it rightly costs more. Read on at the comparisons to see which.
2. How much do you invoice?
A few times a year. Then even a subscription is too much. Make a one-off invoice without an account: the preview is free, the clean PDF costs €0.50.
Every month. Then you want saved clients, automatic numbering and reminders that go out by themselves. An invoicing tool from €2.50 per month covers that.
Dozens a month. Then recurring invoices, instalments and a bank link that ticks off paid invoices count, and whether you want bookkeeping alongside (question 1) matters more than the number.
3. What do you want to see yourself?
Some freelancers only want to know which invoice is still open. Others want to see each quarter how much VAT they owe, and others again want to follow their profit per month including costs.
- Open invoices: any invoicing tool.
- VAT per quarter: an invoicing tool that shows the invoiced amount and the VAT per rate per period, like factuurmaken, is enough; the return itself is filed by you or your accountant.
- Profit including costs: then you also want to keep your expenses. That works in a bookkeeping suite, or at factuurmaken with the Administration add-on, in which AI reads your receipts and matches them to your bank debits.
The short version
Accountant plus invoicing: invoicing tool. Doing your own books plus the VAT return in one screen: bookkeeping suite. A few invoices a year: one-off invoice without an account. And in every case: make sure the invoice is correct, because that is what the tax office looks at, not the software.