Product Design
Smart Invoicing Tool
The Smart Invoicing Tool transforms how TBC Business clients create, manage, and track invoices - bringing what was once an external Excel workflow directly into the banking platform. This feature addresses a critical gap: businesses were managing invoices outside the system, which meant our analytics couldn't show the full financial picture. By integrating invoicing into the bank across both web and mobile, we enabled accurate cashflow forecasting, faster workflows, and a more complete product experience.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Banking
Client :
TBC Bank
Project Duration :
6 monthes
The Problem & Discovery :
Businesses were managing invoices in Excel. This meant invoice receivables - a critical component of cashflow - stayed outside our system. Our analytics tool couldn't account for expected income, leaving users with an incomplete financial picture. They'd create invoices manually, send them via email, then switch back to the bank to check their balance. It was fragmented, slow, and error-prone.
The problem wasn't just inconvenience. Without invoice data in the system, our Financial Calendar couldn't show accurate cashflow predictions. Users couldn't trust the analytics because they knew half their expected income wasn't being tracked. The bank lost visibility into client financials, and users lost confidence in the product.
Understanding the Users
We talked to business owners, accountants, and internal stakeholders to understand what each group needed.
Business owners wanted speed and simplicity. They're creating invoices multiple times a week - sometimes daily - often while away from their desks. The process needed to be faster than Excel, not slower. They wanted to preview invoices before sending, download professional PDFs without formatting headaches, and see expected income reflected in their cashflow forecasting.
Accountants needed accuracy and structure. Invoices had to include the right fields, follow legal requirements, and export cleanly for record-keeping. They didn't want extra clicks or confusing forms - just a reliable tool that did the job correctly.
Bank stakeholders needed adoption and data completeness. More users creating invoices in the platform meant better forecasting, higher engagement, and a stronger product offering. The feature had to be good enough that users would abandon Excel.
The Core Struggle
Creating invoices in Excel was manual and repetitive. Users had to fill in the same company details every time, format everything correctly, save as PDF, then email it separately. A single invoice could take 15-40 minutes from start to finish. Worse, those invoices never connected to the bank-receivables stayed invisible, cashflow remained unclear, and communication with partner companies was slower and less reliable.
Solution :
We ran weekly workshops with financial consultants and stakeholders, exploring different invoice structures, flows, and field configurations. The principle that guided every decision was simplicity: no extra fields, no heavy forms, just a fast and intuitive flow that works seamlessly across devices.
Early sketches focused on three core elements: a clean invoice form, real-time preview so users could see exactly what they were creating, and automatic connection to the Financial Calendar so every invoice became a tracked receivable.
The Smart Invoicing Tool is built around five key capabilities that work together to replace Excel entirely.
Invoice Generator
A streamlined form for creating professional invoices directly in the bank - whether on desktop or mobile. No Excel templates, no formatting struggles. Users fill in essential details - client information, items, amounts - and the system handles the rest. The form is designed to feel fast: fewer fields than traditional invoicing software, smart defaults where possible, and a structure that matches how accountants already think about invoices.
Real-Time Preview Panel
As users fill in the form, they see the invoice being built in real time. This isn't just a UX nicety - it builds confidence. Users know exactly what the invoice will look like before they send it or download it. No surprises, no reformatting after export. On mobile, the preview adapts to the smaller screen while maintaining the same visual fidelity.
One-Click Download
Professional PDF export that just works on any device. The invoice is formatted correctly, includes all legal requirements, and downloads instantly. No broken layouts, no missing information. This single feature alone saves users the hassle of fighting with Excel's PDF export, and works whether they're at their desk or on the go.
Auto-Sync to Financial Calendar
Every invoice created becomes a receivable in the Financial Calendar automatically, visible across both web and mobile. Users don't need to manually track expected income - it's already there, integrated into their cashflow predictions. This connection is what makes the feature transformative. It's not just about creating invoices faster; it's about having complete financial visibility wherever you are.
Centralized Invoice Management
All invoices live in one place, accessible from any device. Users can track statuses - pending, paid, overdue, canceled-and manage their entire invoicing workflow without leaving the platform. This eliminates the chaos of scattered Excel files and email threads, whether they're working from their office or checking invoices from their phone.
Design Process & Key Decisions :
We started with wireframes exploring different form structures and flows for both web and mobile contexts. The challenge was balancing speed with completeness - users needed invoices to be legally correct, but they also needed the process to be faster than Excel regardless of device. We tested early prototypes with business owners and accountants, iterating based on what slowed them down and what felt intuitive.
The visual design followed TBC's design system while optimizing for clarity and efficiency across platforms. Every field needed a clear label. Every interaction needed to feel responsive. The preview panel needed to update instantly so users never lost context, whether they were working on a big monitor or a mobile phone.
Critical Design Decisions
On web the real-time preview was non-negotiable. In testing, users expressed anxiety about how invoices would look after download. The preview eliminated that uncertainty and became one of the most valued features.
Auto-sync to the Financial Calendar was the strategic unlock. Without it, this would just be another invoicing tool. With it, invoices became part of a larger financial planning system-making both features more valuable across all platforms.
We prioritized minimal fields over comprehensive configurability. Users didn't want customization options - they wanted to create an invoice in under five minutes whether at their desk or on their phone. Removing unnecessary fields reduced cognitive load and sped up the workflow significantly.
Centralized invoice management gave users a single source of truth accessible everywhere. Instead of searching through email or folders, they could see all invoices, their statuses, and take action from one interface - web or mobile.
Cross-platform consistency was critical. The core experience needed to feel unified whether users were creating invoices on desktop or mobile, while still respecting each platform's patterns and constraints.
During development, I stayed close to the implementation across both platforms, reviewing builds and adjusting designs when technical constraints emerged. The goal was a product that shipped polished and performed as designed on any device.
Impact & Reflections :
The Smart Invoicing Tool reduced invoice creation time from 15-40 minutes to 3-7 minutes across web and mobile. By connecting invoices to real financial data, we improved analytics completeness and increased user engagement. Users now have more accurate cashflow forecasting, which leads to better financial decisions. Accountants spend less time managing invoices and fixing errors. The bank gains complete visibility into client receivables, improving internal forecasting and product value.
What I'd Improve
Recurring invoices would eliminate repetitive work for subscription-based businesses. Pay-from-invoice functionality - where recipients get a push notification and can pay instantly - would accelerate cashflow for users. Pre-set company information (VAT number, phone, address) would reduce fields even further and make the process even faster.
These features are on the roadmap, and the foundation we built supports them without requiring structural redesign.
Key Takeaway
This project reinforced that the best enterprise tools don't try to do everything - they do the essential things exceptionally well. By focusing on speed, simplicity, and integration with existing workflows (like the Financial Calendar), and by making the experience work seamlessly across devices, we created something users actually prefer to their old methods. Great design in this context isn't about innovation for its own sake - it's about removing friction, connecting fragmented workflows, and making the complex feel effortless - wherever users need to work.
More Projects
Product Design
Smart Invoicing Tool
The Smart Invoicing Tool transforms how TBC Business clients create, manage, and track invoices - bringing what was once an external Excel workflow directly into the banking platform. This feature addresses a critical gap: businesses were managing invoices outside the system, which meant our analytics couldn't show the full financial picture. By integrating invoicing into the bank across both web and mobile, we enabled accurate cashflow forecasting, faster workflows, and a more complete product experience.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Banking
Client :
TBC Bank
Project Duration :
6 monthes
The Problem & Discovery :
Businesses were managing invoices in Excel. This meant invoice receivables - a critical component of cashflow - stayed outside our system. Our analytics tool couldn't account for expected income, leaving users with an incomplete financial picture. They'd create invoices manually, send them via email, then switch back to the bank to check their balance. It was fragmented, slow, and error-prone.
The problem wasn't just inconvenience. Without invoice data in the system, our Financial Calendar couldn't show accurate cashflow predictions. Users couldn't trust the analytics because they knew half their expected income wasn't being tracked. The bank lost visibility into client financials, and users lost confidence in the product.
Understanding the Users
We talked to business owners, accountants, and internal stakeholders to understand what each group needed.
Business owners wanted speed and simplicity. They're creating invoices multiple times a week - sometimes daily - often while away from their desks. The process needed to be faster than Excel, not slower. They wanted to preview invoices before sending, download professional PDFs without formatting headaches, and see expected income reflected in their cashflow forecasting.
Accountants needed accuracy and structure. Invoices had to include the right fields, follow legal requirements, and export cleanly for record-keeping. They didn't want extra clicks or confusing forms - just a reliable tool that did the job correctly.
Bank stakeholders needed adoption and data completeness. More users creating invoices in the platform meant better forecasting, higher engagement, and a stronger product offering. The feature had to be good enough that users would abandon Excel.
The Core Struggle
Creating invoices in Excel was manual and repetitive. Users had to fill in the same company details every time, format everything correctly, save as PDF, then email it separately. A single invoice could take 15-40 minutes from start to finish. Worse, those invoices never connected to the bank-receivables stayed invisible, cashflow remained unclear, and communication with partner companies was slower and less reliable.
Solution :
We ran weekly workshops with financial consultants and stakeholders, exploring different invoice structures, flows, and field configurations. The principle that guided every decision was simplicity: no extra fields, no heavy forms, just a fast and intuitive flow that works seamlessly across devices.
Early sketches focused on three core elements: a clean invoice form, real-time preview so users could see exactly what they were creating, and automatic connection to the Financial Calendar so every invoice became a tracked receivable.
The Smart Invoicing Tool is built around five key capabilities that work together to replace Excel entirely.
Invoice Generator
A streamlined form for creating professional invoices directly in the bank - whether on desktop or mobile. No Excel templates, no formatting struggles. Users fill in essential details - client information, items, amounts - and the system handles the rest. The form is designed to feel fast: fewer fields than traditional invoicing software, smart defaults where possible, and a structure that matches how accountants already think about invoices.
Real-Time Preview Panel
As users fill in the form, they see the invoice being built in real time. This isn't just a UX nicety - it builds confidence. Users know exactly what the invoice will look like before they send it or download it. No surprises, no reformatting after export. On mobile, the preview adapts to the smaller screen while maintaining the same visual fidelity.
One-Click Download
Professional PDF export that just works on any device. The invoice is formatted correctly, includes all legal requirements, and downloads instantly. No broken layouts, no missing information. This single feature alone saves users the hassle of fighting with Excel's PDF export, and works whether they're at their desk or on the go.
Auto-Sync to Financial Calendar
Every invoice created becomes a receivable in the Financial Calendar automatically, visible across both web and mobile. Users don't need to manually track expected income - it's already there, integrated into their cashflow predictions. This connection is what makes the feature transformative. It's not just about creating invoices faster; it's about having complete financial visibility wherever you are.
Centralized Invoice Management
All invoices live in one place, accessible from any device. Users can track statuses - pending, paid, overdue, canceled-and manage their entire invoicing workflow without leaving the platform. This eliminates the chaos of scattered Excel files and email threads, whether they're working from their office or checking invoices from their phone.
Design Process & Key Decisions :
We started with wireframes exploring different form structures and flows for both web and mobile contexts. The challenge was balancing speed with completeness - users needed invoices to be legally correct, but they also needed the process to be faster than Excel regardless of device. We tested early prototypes with business owners and accountants, iterating based on what slowed them down and what felt intuitive.
The visual design followed TBC's design system while optimizing for clarity and efficiency across platforms. Every field needed a clear label. Every interaction needed to feel responsive. The preview panel needed to update instantly so users never lost context, whether they were working on a big monitor or a mobile phone.
Critical Design Decisions
On web the real-time preview was non-negotiable. In testing, users expressed anxiety about how invoices would look after download. The preview eliminated that uncertainty and became one of the most valued features.
Auto-sync to the Financial Calendar was the strategic unlock. Without it, this would just be another invoicing tool. With it, invoices became part of a larger financial planning system-making both features more valuable across all platforms.
We prioritized minimal fields over comprehensive configurability. Users didn't want customization options - they wanted to create an invoice in under five minutes whether at their desk or on their phone. Removing unnecessary fields reduced cognitive load and sped up the workflow significantly.
Centralized invoice management gave users a single source of truth accessible everywhere. Instead of searching through email or folders, they could see all invoices, their statuses, and take action from one interface - web or mobile.
Cross-platform consistency was critical. The core experience needed to feel unified whether users were creating invoices on desktop or mobile, while still respecting each platform's patterns and constraints.
During development, I stayed close to the implementation across both platforms, reviewing builds and adjusting designs when technical constraints emerged. The goal was a product that shipped polished and performed as designed on any device.
Impact & Reflections :
The Smart Invoicing Tool reduced invoice creation time from 15-40 minutes to 3-7 minutes across web and mobile. By connecting invoices to real financial data, we improved analytics completeness and increased user engagement. Users now have more accurate cashflow forecasting, which leads to better financial decisions. Accountants spend less time managing invoices and fixing errors. The bank gains complete visibility into client receivables, improving internal forecasting and product value.
What I'd Improve
Recurring invoices would eliminate repetitive work for subscription-based businesses. Pay-from-invoice functionality - where recipients get a push notification and can pay instantly - would accelerate cashflow for users. Pre-set company information (VAT number, phone, address) would reduce fields even further and make the process even faster.
These features are on the roadmap, and the foundation we built supports them without requiring structural redesign.
Key Takeaway
This project reinforced that the best enterprise tools don't try to do everything - they do the essential things exceptionally well. By focusing on speed, simplicity, and integration with existing workflows (like the Financial Calendar), and by making the experience work seamlessly across devices, we created something users actually prefer to their old methods. Great design in this context isn't about innovation for its own sake - it's about removing friction, connecting fragmented workflows, and making the complex feel effortless - wherever users need to work.
More Projects
Product Design
Smart Invoicing Tool
The Smart Invoicing Tool transforms how TBC Business clients create, manage, and track invoices - bringing what was once an external Excel workflow directly into the banking platform. This feature addresses a critical gap: businesses were managing invoices outside the system, which meant our analytics couldn't show the full financial picture. By integrating invoicing into the bank across both web and mobile, we enabled accurate cashflow forecasting, faster workflows, and a more complete product experience.
Year :
2025
Industry :
Banking
Client :
TBC Bank
Project Duration :
6 monthes
The Problem & Discovery :
Businesses were managing invoices in Excel. This meant invoice receivables - a critical component of cashflow - stayed outside our system. Our analytics tool couldn't account for expected income, leaving users with an incomplete financial picture. They'd create invoices manually, send them via email, then switch back to the bank to check their balance. It was fragmented, slow, and error-prone.
The problem wasn't just inconvenience. Without invoice data in the system, our Financial Calendar couldn't show accurate cashflow predictions. Users couldn't trust the analytics because they knew half their expected income wasn't being tracked. The bank lost visibility into client financials, and users lost confidence in the product.
Understanding the Users
We talked to business owners, accountants, and internal stakeholders to understand what each group needed.
Business owners wanted speed and simplicity. They're creating invoices multiple times a week - sometimes daily - often while away from their desks. The process needed to be faster than Excel, not slower. They wanted to preview invoices before sending, download professional PDFs without formatting headaches, and see expected income reflected in their cashflow forecasting.
Accountants needed accuracy and structure. Invoices had to include the right fields, follow legal requirements, and export cleanly for record-keeping. They didn't want extra clicks or confusing forms - just a reliable tool that did the job correctly.
Bank stakeholders needed adoption and data completeness. More users creating invoices in the platform meant better forecasting, higher engagement, and a stronger product offering. The feature had to be good enough that users would abandon Excel.
The Core Struggle
Creating invoices in Excel was manual and repetitive. Users had to fill in the same company details every time, format everything correctly, save as PDF, then email it separately. A single invoice could take 15-40 minutes from start to finish. Worse, those invoices never connected to the bank-receivables stayed invisible, cashflow remained unclear, and communication with partner companies was slower and less reliable.
Solution :
We ran weekly workshops with financial consultants and stakeholders, exploring different invoice structures, flows, and field configurations. The principle that guided every decision was simplicity: no extra fields, no heavy forms, just a fast and intuitive flow that works seamlessly across devices.
Early sketches focused on three core elements: a clean invoice form, real-time preview so users could see exactly what they were creating, and automatic connection to the Financial Calendar so every invoice became a tracked receivable.
The Smart Invoicing Tool is built around five key capabilities that work together to replace Excel entirely.
Invoice Generator
A streamlined form for creating professional invoices directly in the bank - whether on desktop or mobile. No Excel templates, no formatting struggles. Users fill in essential details - client information, items, amounts - and the system handles the rest. The form is designed to feel fast: fewer fields than traditional invoicing software, smart defaults where possible, and a structure that matches how accountants already think about invoices.
Real-Time Preview Panel
As users fill in the form, they see the invoice being built in real time. This isn't just a UX nicety - it builds confidence. Users know exactly what the invoice will look like before they send it or download it. No surprises, no reformatting after export. On mobile, the preview adapts to the smaller screen while maintaining the same visual fidelity.
One-Click Download
Professional PDF export that just works on any device. The invoice is formatted correctly, includes all legal requirements, and downloads instantly. No broken layouts, no missing information. This single feature alone saves users the hassle of fighting with Excel's PDF export, and works whether they're at their desk or on the go.
Auto-Sync to Financial Calendar
Every invoice created becomes a receivable in the Financial Calendar automatically, visible across both web and mobile. Users don't need to manually track expected income - it's already there, integrated into their cashflow predictions. This connection is what makes the feature transformative. It's not just about creating invoices faster; it's about having complete financial visibility wherever you are.
Centralized Invoice Management
All invoices live in one place, accessible from any device. Users can track statuses - pending, paid, overdue, canceled-and manage their entire invoicing workflow without leaving the platform. This eliminates the chaos of scattered Excel files and email threads, whether they're working from their office or checking invoices from their phone.
Design Process & Key Decisions :
We started with wireframes exploring different form structures and flows for both web and mobile contexts. The challenge was balancing speed with completeness - users needed invoices to be legally correct, but they also needed the process to be faster than Excel regardless of device. We tested early prototypes with business owners and accountants, iterating based on what slowed them down and what felt intuitive.
The visual design followed TBC's design system while optimizing for clarity and efficiency across platforms. Every field needed a clear label. Every interaction needed to feel responsive. The preview panel needed to update instantly so users never lost context, whether they were working on a big monitor or a mobile phone.
Critical Design Decisions
On web the real-time preview was non-negotiable. In testing, users expressed anxiety about how invoices would look after download. The preview eliminated that uncertainty and became one of the most valued features.
Auto-sync to the Financial Calendar was the strategic unlock. Without it, this would just be another invoicing tool. With it, invoices became part of a larger financial planning system-making both features more valuable across all platforms.
We prioritized minimal fields over comprehensive configurability. Users didn't want customization options - they wanted to create an invoice in under five minutes whether at their desk or on their phone. Removing unnecessary fields reduced cognitive load and sped up the workflow significantly.
Centralized invoice management gave users a single source of truth accessible everywhere. Instead of searching through email or folders, they could see all invoices, their statuses, and take action from one interface - web or mobile.
Cross-platform consistency was critical. The core experience needed to feel unified whether users were creating invoices on desktop or mobile, while still respecting each platform's patterns and constraints.
During development, I stayed close to the implementation across both platforms, reviewing builds and adjusting designs when technical constraints emerged. The goal was a product that shipped polished and performed as designed on any device.
Impact & Reflections :
The Smart Invoicing Tool reduced invoice creation time from 15-40 minutes to 3-7 minutes across web and mobile. By connecting invoices to real financial data, we improved analytics completeness and increased user engagement. Users now have more accurate cashflow forecasting, which leads to better financial decisions. Accountants spend less time managing invoices and fixing errors. The bank gains complete visibility into client receivables, improving internal forecasting and product value.
What I'd Improve
Recurring invoices would eliminate repetitive work for subscription-based businesses. Pay-from-invoice functionality - where recipients get a push notification and can pay instantly - would accelerate cashflow for users. Pre-set company information (VAT number, phone, address) would reduce fields even further and make the process even faster.
These features are on the roadmap, and the foundation we built supports them without requiring structural redesign.
Key Takeaway
This project reinforced that the best enterprise tools don't try to do everything - they do the essential things exceptionally well. By focusing on speed, simplicity, and integration with existing workflows (like the Financial Calendar), and by making the experience work seamlessly across devices, we created something users actually prefer to their old methods. Great design in this context isn't about innovation for its own sake - it's about removing friction, connecting fragmented workflows, and making the complex feel effortless - wherever users need to work.