DotNetInvoice Hosting: Compare Hosting

What is DotNetInvoice Hosting?

Create invoices for your business with a Web-based invoicing program, so you can enjoy access anywhere you go. DotNetInvoice has support for several gateways and currencies, and a variety of features which make it desirable for full-package financial application.

DotNetInvoice is an ASP.NET system created for flexible invoicing with Web-based access, it is a good solution for small business billing. Invoice generation takes less than one minute. You can mark an invoice as recurring just by checking a box. DotNetInvoice also syncs well with QuickBooks, so you don’t have waste time entering the same data in two places.

About DotNetInvoice

A variety of features exists which are helpful to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and wireless providers. At a high level, here are some of the services that the platform can provide:

• Send fully customizable email reminders
• Setup a timetable and create visual reports
• View detailed summaries of clients, invoices, or payments
• Clients manage their payments and data in their own client portal
• Payments can be made via one of several payment gateways, such as PayPal and Authorize Net
• Several worldwide tax structures are supported. Tax setup is fully configurable.
• DotNetInvoice also supports password recovery for clients and administrators.

Beyond having the option to invoice and bill clients digitally, the platform also works great for archival purposes – allowing for great record keeping and libraries of PDFs. The billing itself is secure, and can either be setup as a one time payment or as a reoccuring charge. There is also a built in email and messaging tool, that allows client communications to be retained and logged into records.

Technical Summary

The DotNetInvoice platform is obviously on the Microsoft toolchain. It is available in both VB.NET and C# versions, and is consistently tested on the newest releases of Microsoft operating systems. The code is fully managed for developers, and all data in the system can be accessed through SQL and stored procedures.

The native code itself can be used to manage invoices, so the platform can be extended. The source code comes with comments, uses enumerations, and has a powerful configuration file. The platform is intended to be customized and is easily expanded on, there is an API for synchronizing with QuickBooks, and architecture allows for single sign-on with existing ASP.NET applications.

Billing & Security

The Web-based administration controls give you access to customize your DotNetInvoice experience the way you want.

Features you can modify include, but are not limited to: Force SSL encryption, country, unique emails for clients, custom invoice header and footer, partial payments, payment gateway test mode, recurring automatic billing, late fees, credit card service charge, simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), card types, and payment types.

Charges can be handled by PayPal or by Authorize.NET. There is support for all major credit cards, and the option to enable or disable certain card types.

Hosting & Setup

Some Web hosting providers offer DotNetInvoice hosting packages. Typically, this means they’ll install it for you. Some provide support for DotNetInvoice as well. However, almost any plan that runs Windows and supports SQL databases should work.

Be sure to check with your hosting provider to ensure compatibility before you attempt to upload anything to your server. Any .NET provider will do, and the application is Azure ready.

Beyond installing the application, the administrator will need to configure it to meet business needs. There are a few key steps to be resolved in order to have the application ready for production:

• General Configuration: Setting up SSL, defining the Application URL, and Selecting the Country of Operation
• Payment Processing: Running the Payment Gateway in Testmode, connecting to Paypal, setting up conditions for billing failures & late fees
• Email Addresses: Adding the contact information and payment details for clients
• Servers & Email: Configuring the SMTP server, port and login information

Comparison with Competition

The climate for this type of invoicing & service software is mainly PHP apps that run on Linux. ASP.NET is perhaps the only Microsoft stack solution that directly covers all of the features of billing, invoicing, and archiving, at least short of a full Enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform like Microsoft Dynamics.

Instead, DotNetInvoice is the platform for a small organization or individual. Here is a summary of similar PHP driven apps:

• Parallels Plesk Billing – Formerly ModernBill – runs on PHP 5 or greater with MySQL. Has strong connection with 3rd party APIs to perform functions.
• ClientExec – focused on support for a hosting company, this is optimized for allowing small to medium size businesses sell web-resources.
• WHMCS – an “automation platform” geared towards total client management and billing support. It can be integrated with WordPress as well.

To summarize – for a small to medium tier business that can or needs to run Microsoft servers, DotNetInvoice is the way to go. A lot of functions found in the application though can also be found in third party tools like Intuit Quickbooks Online, Docusign, and other single point service providers.

DotNetInvoice however keeps that all in once place, and has only a one time charge to gain access to the codebase rather than a reoccuring payment for most web SaaS companies.