Project Title
SmartInvoice.xyz
Note: This proposal is for a “top up” grant from MolochDAO. Our first grant proposal is available here. We are extremely thankful for our original grant and would be super appreciative of MolochDAO’s continued patronage to “complete” this free crypto invoicing tool for the Web3 ecosystem.
Description
Smart Invoice is a free crypto invoicing tool that allows freelancers to easily, and securely, accept cryptocurrency payments for their work.
With integrated escrow and arbitration services, freelancers are able to protect themselves from chargebacks and fraud as they do business with anyone, even if they don’t know or trust them yet.
Smart Invoice is a public good that everyone can benefit from regardless of their geographic location, economic status, or skill set.
Several RaidGuild members built the beta version of this tool for use internally in our DAO.
Since that version, we have expanded its use for all of our client work and it has become an integral tool of our operations.
A new team has since taken over Smart Invoice and are actively working to make it the leading crypto invoicing tool for the general public. After receiving a grant from MolochDAO a few months ago, we’re on track to launch the new & improved version in early September.
Manifesto / Vision
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To improve the overall freelance experience in Web3, for both freelancers and their clients.
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To minimize the risk of hiring a Web3 freelancer online.
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To have a safe and credible way to handle disputes without the burden of a formal written contract with an attorney and litigation.
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To provide a trusted, common solution for the freelancer community.
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To be a foundational pillar to onboarding talent from Web2 to Web3.
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To be the most trusted, and widely used, crypto invoicing tool.
Problem
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Existing cryptocurrency invoicing tools are very much in the MVP stage. They have one or two core features, but are not actually viable for ongoing use by Web3 freelancers. The tools that are furthest along focus on the needs of large organizations, instead of individual freelancers.
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Existing cryptocurrency escrow tools charge fees per transaction, don’t appear trustworthy, or are not designed for freelance services (i.e. for ecommerce products).
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Arbitration is an afterthought (or not on the roadmap until much later) for existing tools.
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No existing crypto invoicing and/or escrow tools are public goods. They are all for-profit entities.
Solution
To develop the free Smart Invoice tool even further so that it fulfills the most common needs of the greater Web3 freelance ecosystem, and includes the functionality Web2 freelancers are used to with their current fiat invoicing tools.
Smart Invoice has a real chance of becoming the “standard” for crypto invoicing.
Product Features
Current features:
- Each invoice is its own contract
- Deposits may come from any address
- Wallet addresses are verified before deposit
- Client can make deposits by milestone
- Milestone payments can be variable in size
- Additional milestones can be added to the invoice later
- Custom arbitration can be set (LexDAO or any Ethereum Address)
- Client can deposit more than the total amount (for gratuity)
- Tokens accidentally sent directly to invoice can be recovered
- Payments can be made in a variety of ERC-20 tokens, including the most common stablecoins
- Invoices can be downloaded as PDF files
- All invoices are displayed in a filterable list
Validation
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Earlier this year, we received a 30 ETH grant from MolochDAO to fund the necessary tasks to move Smart Invoice out of beta and make it more accessible to all freelancers and DAOs.
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Smart Invoice is currently used by RaidGuild for all contract work. We use our own version of it called Smart Escrow (https://smartescrow.raidguild.org/) that integrates with our existing DAO tooling.
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We are currently in discussions with one of the largest, and most influential, organizations in Web3 for potential collaboration, endorsement, and internal use. (Hopefully, we’ll be able to make a public announcement in October).
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We received significant interest from several organizations and DAOs at the Funding The Commons and DAO NYC events in New York (June 2022). Everyone is waiting for the new version of Smart Invoice to release in September before bringing it to their communities for testing.
Progress
We’ve completed almost all of the app feature development work outlined in our previous MolochDAO grant and are in the process of redesigning the app, website, and documentation now.
We’re very close to completion and are on tack to have Smart Invoice relaunched by September 6, 2022 - just in time for MCON so we can tell all the DAO enthusiasts about our tool.
Development work is visible on our GitHub here.
Below are a couple of screenshots of the new app UI.
We’ve also begun outreach for collaboration and partnership opportunities - which will move even faster after we relaunch.
Differentiation (from other project)
Smart Invoice is the only crypto invoicing tool for freelancers that is free to use, and includes escrow and arbitration services. And because it’s built by RaidGuild, it inherits the DAOs existing reputation and trustworthiness.
Most crypto escrow services charge a fee (1-3%) per transaction, don’t appear trustworthy (in other words, are probably scams), target large organizations, or are not built to accommodate the needs of small scale projects freelancers work on.
Smart Invoice is dedicated to be a free tool specifically for freelancers and their clients - regardless of project budget.
Team
We are a team of RaidGuild members:
- launchninja
- plor
- georgeh
- tufnel_enterprises
- spengrah
Grant Request
We are requesting $88,000 to fund 6 milestones that will result in a free tool that completely fulfills the 3 most common use cases for Web3 freelancers.
- Milestone 1: $11,000
- Milestone 2: $8,000
- Milestone 3: $12,000
- Milestone 4: $17,000
- Milestone 5: $22,000
- Milestone 6: $18,000
Total: $88,000
What The Funds Are For
We’ve been very efficient with our previous MolochDAO funding, especially after the value of ETH dropped 25% during the grant payout process. We had to cut out some of the marketing and research work, but have been able to get the core app features development and bug fixes finished.
This top up proposal is to “complete” the free Smart Invoice software, which will be an absolute powerhouse of a crypto invoicing tool.
The total cost of development of this free tool will be a fraction of what startups have raised from VCs to build something similar. Pretty incredible for a public good!
With MolochDAO’s help, we can complete the following 6 milestones by the end of 2022 and have the best free crypto invoicing software for Web3 freelancers.
Milestone 1 - Enhance Escrow Functionality ($11,000)
How we need to flush out the escrow payment systems a bit more so some common situations are handled better.
- Ensure safe payment with multi-sig wallet
- Ensure safe receival of payments to multi-sig wallet
- Allow invoice creation without registering client wallet address
- Allow self registration and verification of client wallet address
- Deploy to Goerli testnet in anticipation of Rinkeby deprecation
- Maintain legacy UI for backwards compatibility
Milestone 2 - Incorporate Invoice Customization ($8,000)
Features we can start with to incorporate better invoicing with escrow payments.
- Enable advanced customization of invoices
- Allow file attachments to invoices
Milestone 3 - Include Invoice Payments ($12,000)
Features that will allow for single payments that don’t require escrow or arbitration.
- Allow single payment invoices with “Pay Now” button
- Addition of invoice due dates with automatic late fees
- Addition of automatic sales tax calculation to invoices
- Allow optional tips post project
Milestone 4 - Enhance Arbitration Process ($17,000)
What we can include to make arbitration easier to understand, and provide more flexibility in how it’s used.
- Allow selection of alternate preferred arbiters
- Allow partial or full refund to client
- Allow extension of contract termination time
- Addition of encrypted and immutable project terms and deliverables for each milestone
Milestone 5 - Enhance User Experience ($22,000)
Features that will make SmartInvoice easier to use and more like the Web2 payment tools most freelancers are used to.
- Addition of enhanced dashboard UI for freelancer and client
- Addition of automated archival of invoice data
- Enable email sending of invoices
- Enable automatic email payment reminders
Milestone 6 - Enhance Payment Flow ($18,000)
Features that will provide more flexibility around paying and receiving payment.
- Enable automated cross currency conversion for display on invoices
- Enable payment with fiat currency, but contractor disbursement in cryptocurrency
- Enable automatic conversion of volatile tokens into stablecoins upon funding escrow
Help Requested
Getting the word out about this free tool, and connections to anyone who might be willing to mention it to their audience / community.
Additional Resources, Links, Portfolio
- Website: https://www.raidguild.org/
Our rebooted app, website, and documentation are scheduled to go live September 6, 2022. The links below are from the beta version.
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Live App: https://smartinvoice.xyz/
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Documentation: What is Smart Invoice? | Smart Invoice FAQ
