Best Invoicing App for Virtual Assistants in Australia (2026): 8 Apps Compared

The best invoicing app for virtual assistants Australia-wide in 2026 is InvoiceSonic, because a monthly retainer is the same invoice twelve times a year and it should send and chase itself. If you bill one client occasionally, the free freelancer invoice template on this site builds a compliant PDF in the browser. If most of your money comes from tracked hours rather than a fixed fee, a time-tracking app such as Harvest fits better. We put all eight through one test: can it bill a fixed monthly retainer automatically and add the hours that ran over, on the same invoice?

Quick comparison

"Not listed" means exactly that: the tool's own pricing or feature page did not state it at the time of writing, so we have not marked it a yes. Confirm recurring billing on a trial first.

How we tested: the retainer-plus-overage test. Three questions per tool. Can it send a fixed monthly retainer on a schedule, without you opening the app? Can it count the hours that ran past the retainer, tracked rather than guessed? And can both land on one invoice, carrying an ABN and the right GST treatment?

The third question is the one that costs money. A 20-hour retainer at $65 an hour is $1,300 a month, and six overage hours is another $390. Split those across two invoices, or leave the extra to an email at month end, and you have put 30% of the month's revenue into a conversation the client did not budget for. Over a year that overage is 72 hours and $4,680, on top of $15,600 of retainer.

Who fails the test. Every tool fails at least one question, and none of the eight publishes a confirmed pass on all three. Only InvoiceSonic states recurring invoicing, on Pro; only Harvest and FreshBooks state time tracking; no tool says a scheduled invoice will pick up tracked hours before it sends. Every workable setup is one app for the retainer, one place to count hours, and a minute of typing a month.

1. InvoiceSonic — Best overall

InvoiceSonic automates the half of VA billing that never changes. On Pro, recurring invoices and automatic reminders are both included, so a $1,300 retainer goes out on the first and chases itself if the client is slow.

It passes question one and fails question two: there is no timesheet in it, so six overage hours are counted elsewhere and typed in as a line. Online quote acceptance turns a scoping call into an invoice in one click, and open tracking shows when a client reads it. For overseas work, localised tax labels, tax ID formats and currency symbols across 19 countries mean a UK client sees a familiar document. Australian clients pay by bank transfer or PayID with no InvoiceSonic transaction fee.

Pros

• Recurring invoices and automatic reminders on Pro, so the fixed part of a retainer bills itself twelve times a year.
• Localised tax labels, tax ID formats and currency symbols across 19 countries, which matters when clients are overseas.

Cons

• No timesheets or time tracking, so overage hours are counted in another tool and typed in by hand.
• The free plan stops at 3 saved invoices, 1 tracked email send and 1 automatic reminder a month, the 7-day Pro trial asks for a card, and there is no native Android app.

Price: at the time of writing, the free plan is A$0 and the first invoice needs no sign-up or card; Pro is A$19 a month, or A$168 a year billed annually, which is A$14 a month, saves A$60 and is price-locked while the subscription runs. Best for: VAs on monthly retainers who want the fixed fee billed and chased untouched.

2. Invoice-Generator.com.au — Best free tool

Invoice-Generator.com.au is a free tax invoice generator that builds a finished PDF in your browser with no signup, no watermark, no ads and no invoice limit. It suits a first client, a one-off project, or the month you are still deciding whether this is a business yet.

The freelancer invoice template carries an ABN field, a 10% GST line you can switch off for a GST-free supply, and a live compliance checklist that flags a missing ABN before you send. It fails the first two questions flatly, but it is the only tool here where the retainer line and six hours of overage sit on one document with no configuration, because you write both. There are free tools for a quote, a receipt and the GST maths, plus our guide to the best invoice generators for freelancers.

Pros

• Free forever, no signup, no watermark, no invoice limit, and the data never leaves your browser.
• The compliance checklist catches a missing ABN or GST line before the client's bookkeeper does.

Cons

• No sending, tracking or automatic reminders, so a retainer means rebuilding the same invoice every month.
• No saved customer list and no payment collection, so long-term clients are re-entered each time.

Price: free, always. Best for: new VAs, one-off projects and anyone under the GST threshold sending a handful of invoices a month.

3. Harvest — Best for tracking the hours that run over

Harvest is a timer first and an invoicing tool second, which makes it the strongest answer here to the second half of the test. If your arguments with clients are about hours, this app produces the evidence.

Track time against a client and the overage is a report, not a memory. Harvest does not publish an automatic recurring retainer invoice, so question one is unconfirmed, and GST handling is generic. The free plan is the catch: one seat and two projects, so it runs out on your third client. Team pricing is in USD: a natural hedge if you bill American clients in USD, exchange-rate risk if you do not.

Pros

• Time tracking is the core product, so overage hours are recorded as you work, not reconstructed at month end.
• A genuinely free tier for one user, enough for a client or two.

Cons

• Two projects on the free plan is very few for a VA, and no recurring retainer invoice is listed.
• Priced in USD and weak on GST, so an Australian tax invoice takes manual setup.

Price: at the time of writing, free for 1 seat and 2 projects; the Teams plan starts from US$9 per seat per month on annual billing. Best for: VAs billing mostly by tracked hours.

4. FreshBooks — Best for hours, expenses and invoices in one app

FreshBooks puts invoicing, time tracking and expenses in one place, which covers more of a VA's month than a pure invoicing tool. If you rebill software or ads, the expense sits next to the timer.

It half-passes. Time tracking is stated; an automatic recurring retainer is not, so check question one on a trial. Plans are in USD and the lower tiers carry client limits, an odd constraint for a business built on a few long clients. GST is generic rather than ATO-shaped. Lite at US$23 a month is roughly the order of InvoiceSonic Pro billed monthly at A$19 at the time of writing, but only one of the two publishes recurring invoicing.

Pros

• Invoicing, time tracking and expenses in one subscription, which suits a VA who rebills costs.
• Well established for service businesses, so client-facing invoices look the part.

Cons

• USD pricing and client limits on the lower tiers, with no free plan to test a month on.
• GST is generic rather than ATO-shaped, and recurring retainer billing is not listed.

Price: at the time of writing, Lite US$23, Plus US$43 and Premium US$70 per month. Best for: VAs with several clients and billable expenses who want one app.

5. Rounded — Best Australian-built option for sole traders

Rounded is built in Australia for sole traders and freelancers, and it does invoicing, expenses and tax estimates together. For a VA who has never put money aside for tax, the estimate justifies the subscription on its own.

It sends invoices and treats Australian tax as the default rather than an afterthought. Recurring retainer billing is not stated, so question one is unconfirmed, and no time tracking is listed. There is no free plan. Note the price against our number one: Solo is $99 a year regular AUD at the time of writing against A$168 for InvoiceSonic Pro billed annually, with expenses and a tax estimate included. If you track hours in a separate timer, that is a real reason to pick it.

Pros

• Australian-built for sole traders, so ABN, GST and tax estimates are shaped for the ATO.
• Solo is $99 a year regular AUD at the time of writing, cheaper than most paid apps here.

Cons

• No free plan, so there is no way to run a quiet month for nothing.
• Recurring invoicing and time tracking are not listed, and promotional pricing varies.

Price: at the time of writing, Solo $99 per year regular and Pro $70 per month regular in AUD; promotional pricing varies. Best for: Australian VAs who want invoicing, expenses and a tax estimate locally.

6. Zoho Invoice — Best free app that actually sends

Zoho Invoice is free — Zoho states no cost and no contracts — and unlike a PDF generator it sends the invoice, saves the client and keeps the history. It is the strongest free option here.

It formats an Australian invoice properly and will bill a client in another currency. What we could not confirm on the Australian page is an automatic recurring retainer send, so question one is unconfirmed, and no time tracking is listed. The trade-off: it is the front door to a very large suite, the interface is dense, and support is aimed at paying suite customers.

Pros

• Genuinely free with no contract, and it sends, stores and tracks rather than only building a PDF.
• Multi-language invoicing across 19-plus languages, useful for clients who prefer another language.

Cons

• A dense interface and constant pressure toward the wider paid suite.
• Support is really for paid-suite customers, and recurring retainer billing is not listed.

Price: free at the time of writing. Best for: VAs who want sending, tracking and a saved client list for A$0 and can live with a crowded screen.

7. Bonsai — Best for the contract before the retainer

Bonsai is a freelance all-in-one: proposals, contracts and invoicing in one account. It earns a place here for the contract, since the most useful document in a retainer relationship defines what happens when the hours run over.

Get that clause right — hours past 20 billed at the same rate, invoiced with next month's retainer — and the overage stops being an argument. Bonsai is unconfirmed on questions one and two: neither recurring billing nor time tracking is stated in what we could verify. It is also priced and shaped for United States freelancers, from USD $24 to $89 a month at the time of writing, with no AU GST specialisation.

Pros

• Proposals and contracts alongside invoicing, so overage terms are written down before the work starts.
• Four plan tiers, so a solo VA is not forced onto an agency-sized subscription.

Cons

• USD pricing built for the American freelance market, and no free plan.
• No Australian GST specialisation, and neither recurring billing nor time tracking is listed.

Price: at the time of writing, USD $24 to $89 per month across four plans. Best for: VAs who sell scoped packages and want the contract and the invoice together.

8. Square Invoices — Best if the client insists on paying by card

Square Invoices gives you unlimited free invoices, estimates and automatic reminders, and the client pays by tapping a card link in the email. When a finance team will only pay by card, that removes the argument.

It half-passes: automatic reminders are on the free plan, a recurring retainer send is not stated, and estimate auto-convert and milestone schedules sit behind Plus. The cost is the card fee. At 2.2% on online card payments, a $1,300 retainer costs $28.60 each time, or $343.20 a year. Add 72 overage hours at $4,680 and the year's billings of $20,280 carry $446.16 in fees.

Pros

• Unlimited free invoices with automatic reminders, and no monthly fee on the free plan.
• Card payment from inside the invoice, which shortens the wait with corporate clients.

Cons

• 2.2% on online card payments is $446.16 a year on $20,280 of billings.
• No time tracking, recurring retainers are not listed, and milestone schedules need Plus.

Price: at the time of writing, free, or Plus at AUD $30 per month; 2.2% on online card payments. Best for: VAs whose clients pay by card.

What to look for in an invoicing app for virtual assistants

VA billing has a shape most invoicing software was not designed for: one fixed amount that repeats forever, plus a variable amount nobody agreed in advance. Judge tools on that shape, not on feature counts.

• Recurring invoicing, not a saved template. A saved template still needs you to open the app, change the date and press send twelve times a year per client.
• A place the overage hours are counted. In the invoicing app or a separate timer, the number has to come from a record. Six hours reconstructed from memory is six hours you will discount when challenged.
• Written overage terms, on the invoice. State the included hours, the rate past them and when the extra is billed; our guide to invoice payment terms in Australia covers the wording and a fair due date.
• Multi-currency handling you understand. Plenty of Australian VAs bill in USD or GBP. Agree the currency in writing and reconcile the AUD that actually landed, not the figure on the invoice, because the rate moves between sending and settlement. InvoiceSonic carries tax labels and currency symbols for 19 countries; the conversion half is your bank's.
• Correct GST treatment on overseas work. Exports of services to a client outside Australia are often GST-free, but the rules carry exceptions and turn on where the service is used. Check your circumstances with the ATO or your accountant before switching GST off, and read the GST registration threshold if you are near A$75,000.
• Invoice numbering you will not regret. Retainers plus ad-hoc jobs across several clients get messy fast; how to number invoices sets up a sequence you can explain to an auditor.

Which one should you choose?

Run the numbers on four retainer clients: $62,400 a year of retainer at our worked rate, plus the overage. At the time of writing that costs A$0 with the free generator or Zoho Invoice, A$168 a year with InvoiceSonic Pro billed annually, $99 a year with Rounded Solo, from US$9 per seat per month with Harvest Teams, US$23 a month with FreshBooks Lite, from USD $24 a month with Bonsai, and $446.16 a year in card fees with Square on one client's billings.

• If you are one or two clients in and testing the water → the free Australian tax invoice generator, emailed as a PDF.
• If you run three or more monthly retainers → InvoiceSonic on Pro, with the overage added as a line each month.
• If most of your income is tracked hours rather than a fixed fee → Harvest, and accept the two-project free cap.
• If you want an Australian app that also estimates your tax → Rounded Solo.
• If a client will only pay by card → Square Invoices, with the 2.2% written into your rate.

When not to use InvoiceSonic or a free generator. If the bulk of your billing is hours rather than a retainer, InvoiceSonic is the wrong shape: it has no timesheets, and Harvest or FreshBooks record the work as you do it. If you want a tax estimate and expenses alongside the invoicing, Rounded is Australian-built for sole traders and Solo is $99 a year regular AUD at the time of writing, less than InvoiceSonic Pro billed annually. If your problem is the contract rather than the invoice, Bonsai puts proposals and terms in the same place. And a free PDF generator, ours included, is the wrong choice the moment the same invoice goes out every month: it builds the document, it never sends one.

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