It's no exaggeration to say that there are probably more invoicing apps than there are URL shorteners. Having run one for nearly two years, I can say that there are certain key differentiators that customers in this market are looking for. For starters, "simple" and "no bull*" do not have as strong a pull in invoicing as say in project management. When it comes to financial applications, users are going to expect some level of sophistication. I strongly advise the OP against leaning only in simplicity as a key differentiator, since TBH all 20+ competitors in the market could claim the same thing.

To the OP if you're seriously committed, shoot me an email and I can give you some pointers that I've learned over the last 2 years.

>> For starters, "simple" and "no bull" do not have as strong a pull in invoicing as say in project management.

Thanks for the info.

>> I strongly advise the OP against leaning only in simplicity as a key differentiator, since TBH all 20+ competitors in the market could claim the same thing.

Thanks again. Yes, I can see that you are right. Our main* focus is "efficiency" (not claiming that it's a specially god focus, but it is our main) With this I mean speed & and focus on functionality/work-flow and less on decoration / packaging.

As for all webapps, simplicity is a very important factor to, but I can agree with you that it's not a good differentiator.

Invoice.ly doesn't have a goal to become a service accountant would use. But it has more in terms of what a SMB owner would use than invoicing. Invoice.ly is US adaptation of app I made for my (EU based) country. Besides "mini" that you can see there is also a "norm" which will offer a more rich set of features.

I'm definitely serious, where can I find your email? My is janko DOT itm AT gmail.

Hmmm, I have it in my profile, but I guess it's not displayed to the public. It's lwang at you-can-guess-the-rest.

Yes, there are many invoicing apps out there. There is a thin line between being brave and being stupid :) . I am aware I am walking that line here.

I have a hard time to find a good yet cheap alternative to Freshbooks that supports canadian taxes. So i think there's still a sweet spot for the Invoicing web apps that can support these kinds of edge cases.

By the way middayc, your app seems nice. I think you're right to show it early even if it's still not perfect.

One thing about the login validation : http://grab.by/4yIb . I got "Wrong input" error when my password was wrong. I think it would be better like "Invalid Email or Password".

One of initial beta testers is from Canada and I already promissed him version that will be adapted to Canada. From my understanding you have 2 levels of taxes (compounding?) and they must both be visible on invoice.

Yes. Although i don't know for other provinces, in Quebec we have the GST (5%) and the QST (7.5%). Here's how we calculate it:

total = 100$

GST = (total0.05)

QST = (total+GST)0.075

Grand Total = total+GST+QST

For the other provinces i think it depends but instead of QST they have an HST tax. But for your app i think it would be the same algorithm to support all provinces (someone please let me know if i'm wrong).

Thanks a LOT. Would you be interested in being a beta tester when I make the Canadian version?

In case the formula was not clear, i replaced the stars with x instead (HN use stars for italization and i can't edit my previous post):

total = 100$

GST = (total x 0.05)

QST = (total+GST) x 0.075

Grand Total = total+GST+QST

More infos : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_taxes_in_Canada

Yes of course. You can send it to me via the contact form linked in my profile :)

You can easily make a profit in a crowded market, but you have to really stand out. That can mean a lot of things, from support to features to audience to design.

To the OP: no offense, but I don't see, from your site, any reason I would use your site over any of the other, better-designed, more established ones.

About your first scentence ~ I think so too.

Absolutely no offense taken. This is "let's get out" iteration (public release was this weekend). I believe we will produce reasons with future iterations :)