When it’s at its best it’s a long monotonous process. When it’s not it’s a nightmare with late payments, lost invoices and endless games of phone tag.
The positive side? There’s a way to relieve yourself from the hassle of online invoicing.
Online invoicing can simplify your business in 7 crucial ways.
1. No more snail mail
The 21 century. It’s the 21st century, yet some companies still mail invoices through snail mail.
It isn’t efficient to use snail mail. Each time you send an invoice out, you need to print it, place it into an envelope and then stamp and mail it. This procedure is feasible for small-sized businesses however if you’re distributing dozens of invoices each day, it’s not feasible.
It’s not even getting them out of the way.
Invoices that are sent by mail are often lost and you’ll never know when they’ll reach the mailers of your customers.
Online invoicing eases the stress by providing electronic invoices. Each invoice contains an online record of when you made it available, making sure you never forget, and invoices are delivered instantly, meaning you don’t have to rely for the post office send them.
2. No more paper invoices
If your mail is still sent by snail mail you’re likely still using paper invoices that are accompanied by many challenges of their own.
Paper invoices are easily lost or discarded on a desk. Moreover, they can be a pain to keep and keep.
Online invoices move you away off paper into the clouds which allows you to access your invoices in digital format on any device connected to the internet. You won’t have to worry about losing invoices, keeping them in a file, or looking through files to locate the correct invoice.
3. No more searching for contact details
Each time you draft an invoice, you need to locate the contact information for your company. It is possible to locate the contact person within a particular department, or you may browse through a directory or browse the company’s website.
It’s unsettling and takes away your time.
Online invoicing helps you avoid the hassle of searching for the information needed for contact and storing it within your accounting system and then automatically putting it into the invoice. It is not necessary to search for anything.
4. No more follow-up
The most grueling and difficult aspects of invoicing is following-up on payment. It is important to find the right equilibrium between sounding professional and a bit too friendly. You’re looking for to receive your money but you don’t want ruin the relationship. The search for the perfect phrases can be a challenge.
You may even not complete the task completely. It’s a task that you have in your to-do list, but don’t do because of your busy schedule. After a couple of months have passed and you realize you require a payment.
Online invoicing takes the hassle out of chasing up on payments by sending reminders via email to your clients. Send them the invoice and an email reminder template that reminds customers to pay. You could also schedule recurring reminders to be sent out once a one or two weeks following.
There’s no need to linger over your keyboard, thinking about what to write and also you don’t need to be reminded to follow up on your messages. The system will automatically send email reminders, meaning you don’t need to think about it.
5. Facilitate the process of paying (and accept payments)
The process of paying off an invoice isn’t always simple. Your customers must check for their records ensure that everything is correct, follow the specific payment process you have in place, and then, finally, make the payment.
If they become lost and confused, at any time they may stop the procedure for a couple of weeks or days before they realize that you’re in the process of paying.
Invoicing online makes it simpler for your clients to pay you and it is easier for you to collect payments. Your clients receive an email with a link and, when they click it they’re directed to a secure online form that allows them to pay immediately.
A shorter payment process mean less friction, and fewer opportunities for your customers to become lost or confused. This means that you are faster paid and have less time to collect.
6. Less time spent on data entry/administration
Online invoicing leverages the power of cloud to sync automatically to your software for accounting. You don’t have to enter the same data over and over again or manually reconciling invoices. You just create an invoice using your accounting software and then upload your invoice to an online invoice portal. When your client makes a payment the invoice, it is automatically added onto the invoice which means you don’t need manual reconciliation of your accounts.
7. Fewer errors
There are many elements in the process of invoicing which are susceptible to mistakes. Invoices can get misplaced in the post, or left on the desk. It is possible to enter incorrect details for the contact or misspell the information in you reconcile the invoice.
Online invoices can’t completely remove every error but it does make them less likely.
Digital invoices are less likely to lose than physical invoices and leave an electronic tracker on a cloud-based platform that each of you as well as your customers are able to access. This means that there is a less possibility of losing or stealing duplicate invoices, and you won’t need to search through the files in search of the invoice you lost.
The integrated automation of online invoices means that you don’t need to manually reconcile invoices, or perform double data entry, two more possibilities for errors creeping into.
Invoicing on the internet reduces the likelihood of making mistakes in the process of invoice and provides assurance that everything is working without a hitch.
Conclusion
Invoicing is an essential part of running a business however, it’s not always smooth or easy. Numerous mistakes and issues can hinder your process and take away your business’s resources and time.
Online invoicing eases the stress by removing some of the biggest hurdles. If you’re looking to get rid of the paper and snail mail invoices and automate your invoice reconciliation or simply want an easier method payment for customers, internet invoices will streamline your business, and allow you more time and focus on the most important things.