Is it Time for Your Business to Adopt an E-Invoicing System?

Electronic invoicing, or e-invoicing as it’s also referred to, involves the electronic exchanging of invoices between a business or service provider and the consumer or customer. It works much the same way as a conventional paper invoice, but there are many more benefits to making the transition from physical documents to digital ones.

However, before you make the switch, it’s important to understand what the consequences are if the invoice process is managed incorrectly, together with the challenges that could be faced during the transition. These are all factors to consider before making the ultimate decision to go paperless.

Cleardata Group will be on hand to help you pick the right e-invoicing service for you, together with how they can help you to make the e-invoice transition. Not only will this help to save your business money, but it’s also a more environmentally-friendly alternative to paper invoices. As well as that, it’ll also make it easier for both yourself and your customers to track, leading to less confusion overall. 

 

What are the effects of having poorly managed invoice processes?

Although digital invoices seem like a world away, they’re actually not as far off as you might think. By processing your invoices electronically, you’ll never have to worry about physically keeping track of payments again. It will all be automatically processed all without you having to give it a second thought and all of this can be achieved with the right tools and strategies.

However, if you have a wide range of different invoice types and an array of processes to follow, chances are that it may take more time and effort than if you were tackling one particular type of physical invoice. As such, an electronic alternative may well be extremely advantageous for all involved in the invoicing process.

 

How can e-invoicing benefit your employees?

E-invoicing is a much faster and more efficient way of data processing in comparison to manually inputting the data taken from more traditional paper invoices. AP clerks will no longer be required to scan invoices into the system and nor will they have to spend countless hours processing physical invoices. 

By cutting down the time spent processing invoices, your employees will have more capacity to carry out other important tasks, all without feeling too overwhelmed with work. Not only that, but they could find the original invoicing process to be too repetitive, and so by freeing up more time for them to do other things, their day will become more diverse, and therefore, it’ll be far more interesting.

Some of the other tasks that an AP clerk, or others involved in the purchasing system, could undertake include:

• Chasing invoices
• Authorising invoices and payments
• Monitoring prices
• Maintaining supplier relations

 

How can e-invoicing benefit certain departments in the workplace?

Processing invoices can be an extremely involved and complicated process and so it’ll often take up a considerable amount of time. However, due to the complexity of the operation, human error can occur and subsequently, things can be missed. If this happens, then delays can set in which can end up backing up the rest of the system.

An electronic system can help to mitigate those risks considerably, therefore making the entire process as accurate and as transparent as possible.

 

How can e-invoicing benefit your business overall?

You won’t have to worry about a lack of cash visibility, a non-compliance risk, late payments or dented profitability when you implement an electronic system to sort and file away paperless documents. 

Instead, efficiency and productivity will be boosted considerably, resulting in greater customer satisfaction as well as a happy workforce who aren’t overstretched or under pressure to process invoices in a timely manner.

 

What challenges could you face if you don’t adopt an e-invoicing system?

There are a large number of problems associated with processing paper invoices, hence why many business owners today are opting for the more efficient, highly-effective digital alternative. It can be challenging to have to process a considerable amount of paper invoices all in different formats within a decent time frame, and that in itself can create problems, most likely in the form of human error.

 

Having to deal with a high volume of paper invoices

Separate orders and large or complex supplier bases can leave your department drowning in a sea of financial paperwork. Not only would tackling a high number of invoices be incredibly time-consuming, but it could also prove to be very costly. Scanning the invoices you have is one way of creating electronic records, but that too is an inefficient method of digitising the invoices you’ve acquired.

Start implementing an e-invoicing system so as to overcome those obstacles as quickly and as effectively as possible. Not only will it help to cut down the amount of time that’s spent processing paper invoices, but it’ll also be a new, accurate way of dealing with the copious amount of invoices you get, possibly even on a daily basis.

 

Sorting through a variety of different invoice formats

If a business already has a way of automating their invoice processing method, however, they can be issued by a number of different industries, sectors and departments, including Microsoft Word documents, PDF files, emails or financial software, such as Sage or Quickbooks.

With such a wide variety of invoice formats out there, it can be hard to determine whether or not they’re being collected accurately, all as they’re received. This way, approval and eventual payment can be effectively managed to ensure cash flow can be accurately and transparently tracked and viewed, ensuring the records are even more reputable and traceable.

 

How to pick the right e-invoicing approach for you

It’s important that you pick the right process for you, your employees and your business. We have a number of options available for you to choose from, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, including:

 

In-house invoice processing

The advantages:

• The solution will be tailored to specific requirements
• Processes can be tightly controlled and monitored
• Processes and cost can be closely monitored

The disadvantages:

• You become overwhelmed with invoices quickly
• You may need to spend time sourcing people, archives, scanners and data capture software
• It can be time-consuming to use manual processes to find and retrieve invoices
• Your employees may have to deal with a number of issues, all associated with a variety of invoice processing factors, including quality of scanned invoices, re-scanning, repairing scanners or checking for double feeds

 

Digital mailroom and invoice scanning

The advantages:

• Being completely paperless – great for the environment and productivity
• Invoices can be digitised upon its arrival
• AP staff can save time, allowing them to focus on specific AP tasks and activities
• Improved, accurate records management
• Invoices can be searched for and retrieved easily
• Save time and money having to repair and maintain scanners

The disadvantages:

• You’ll still have to deal with matching, validation and data capture
• It’s important that you’re still able to ensure the quality of scanned images
• Ensure that the bureau you have chosen can still meet lead times so that invoices can be scanned
• You’ll still need to check for legal standards and accreditations

 

End-to-end solutions, including digital mailroom, invoice scanning, Cloud invoice management and automated data capture

The advantages:

• You’ll benefit immensely from outsourced digital mailroom and invoice scanning services
• A considerable amount of time will be saved on invoice scanning, validation, sorting, mailroom, matching and exception handling
• Enables you to increase the speed of invoice processing
• Ensures less time is spent manually processing invoices
• Effectively manage peaks and troughs in invoice volumes
• The outsourced invoice processing team can deal with any issues that arise
• Data can be captured and validated automatically
• All AP processes can be captured as one
• Achieve maximum benefit and return 

The disadvantages:

• Make sure you source a reputable digital mailroom or invoice scanning company or service, this will take time but it’s worth carrying out extensive research
• The service you choose must seamlessly fit alongside the existing financial systems you have in place – consult your IT or finance team to discuss this further

 

Adopting an e-invoicing system

The advantages:

• A large number of suppliers can be converted to a single electronic process
• A large volume of paper invoices can be removed from the process
• Invoice processing times will be reduced, thus helping to effectively manage cash flow

The disadvantages:

• Be aware that there may be some companies who aren’t willing to conform with or follow your processes
• You may need more than just an electronic system if you have a large volume of invoices to process on a regular or daily basis

 

Things to consider before you get started

There are a number of questions you’ll need to ask yourself before committing to an electronic system or implementing digital mailroom services, including:

1. What problems need to be dealt with?
2. Do we know the true cost of invoice processing?
3. Are we ready for the implementation of invoice management?
4. Exactly who needs to be involved from the start of the implementation?
5. What will we need for the future?
6. Should we also implement a larger financial programme?
7. Do we have clear and concise objectives for the project?
8. What should I be looking out for when it comes to third party solutions?
9. How do I assess the merits of different, outsourced providers?

 

How Cleardata Group can help you with you make to make the transition

Cleardata Group has a number of different e-invoicing, digital mailroom, automated data capture and Cloud invoice management services available, all with the capability to make processes and everyday tasks and activities, particularly when it comes to invoice scanning, faster and considerably more cost-effective.

 

For more information about how Cleardata Group can help you and your business, get in touch with a member of our friendly, knowledgeable team today – they’re always on hand to give advice and talk you through the available options.