The primary goal for any business operations team is to achieve the maximum possible efficiency for their unique business needs. After all, in today’s fast-paced business world, efficiency is vital to success.
Traditionally, invoicing has remained a time-consuming and tedious task until e-invoicing made significant reforms possible. It helped increase the operational speed and automated the entire invoicing process to a large extent. You no longer need to store a large stack of ledgers to maintain sale records.
With the latest technology, you can reduce errors to a large extent and help you cut costs by reducing the manual hours required to process and manage invoices. Using the professional e-invoicing software, you can eliminate repeated tasks.
Why Use A Professional E-Invoicing Software?
Using an e-invoicing app, you can create invoices, send them to customers, and track all payments. Creating and sending invoices electronically helps eliminate the need to print or mail invoices, which can save a lot of time and hassle.
Additionally, e-invoicing software can have accounting features and business management tools due to these benefits. The e-invoicing software can help businesses streamline their operations and boost the efficiency of their business.
With the best e-invoicing software, you can achieve your efficiency goals. You can eliminate time-consuming activities like paperwork and data entry. Here are some reasons why you should use a professional e-invoicing app.
- Enhance Accuracy Significantly:
Professional e-invoicing software can help greatly enhance your invoices’ accuracy by eliminating the risk of manual operational errors. It helps automate repetitive invoicing tasks by providing customised templates with all pre-filled details.
You can also use a free e-invoicing app to track payments and ensure all invoices are paid on time. You can use the e-invoicing app to send payment reminders to customers and avoid payment delays.
- Save Time And Efforts:
E-invoicing can save you a lot of time and effort by automating the invoicing process. You can set up a fully customisable invoice template to save time.
You won’t need to print and mail invoices; you can share them over WhatsApp or email. Further, you won’t have to worry about contacting each customer when payments get delayed, as you can bulk send reminders using the app.
- Reduce Environmental Impact:
E-invoicing is a more environmentally friendly option than traditional invoicing. Invoices created using digital infrastructure do not require a physical storage space. So, by using e-invoicing, you can reduce your paper usage and help protect the environment.
Further, it can help you save up space required for physical storage. Unlike traditional ledgers, which take up much space and require regular attention to keep it safe, e-invoices can be saved in cloud data and accessed from anywhere.
- Improved Cash Flow:
The free e-invoicing software can help you improve your business cash flow by speeding up the entire payment process. You can issue payment reminders to customers and inform them of late fees and charges to avoid delays and provide a better customer experience.
Once you send an invoice digitally, your customers can pay it using multiple payment methods, which will help you get paid faster. By providing the convenience of payments, you can also ensure timely payments to suppliers.
- Boost Business Efficiency:
E-invoicing can help you boost efficiency by streamlining your invoicing process. As you create customised invoices, you don’t need to fill in repetitive and irrelevant information every time you make a sale.
You can create and send invoices quickly. Further, you can track payments in real time using the business dashboard available within the app. The e-invoicing app requires no additional training for employees. Anyone in your team can use the app to help manage your business.
- Reduce Overall Costs:
An e-invoicing app helps reduce costs by eliminating the need for manual work, like adding repetitive details to each invoice, printing and mailing invoices, and manual tracking of each inventory item.
It is great for stores with heavy traffic as it helps reduce waiting time for customers in queue. Further, e-invoicing and management software can help you build a positive brand image by making the entire billing experience seamless for customers.
How Does An E-Invoicing Software Work?
E-invoicing software works by digitising the invoicing process. E-invoice means that invoices are created, sent, and stored electronically rather than on paper. It can save businesses time and money and improve efficiency and accuracy.
E-invoicing software is great at streamlining the invoicing process for businesses. Even though every e-invoicing app works differently, here’s a 5-step process about how e-invoicing software works in general for most software tools available in the market:
Step 1: You can create an invoice from scratch or use the templates available within the e-invoicing software. Generally, templates include all the necessary fields, such as the invoice number, date, items being sold, quantity, price, and payment terms, to help create invoices.
Step 2: Once created, you can share the invoice with your customers. Some popular apps can allow you to share it electronically with the recipient using email and WhatsApp. If a physical invoice is mandatory or the customer requests one, you can print it out and share it.
Step 3: After the recipient receives the invoice in physical or digital form, they can view it, print it, or save it. The sender, too, keeps a digital or physical record of the transaction according to their business needs. Some apps can help create digital backups in cloud-based storage like Drive or physical backups like USB.
Step 4: The recipient can then pay the invoice as per the terms of sale. The seller can use in-built payment collection features of the app they use or offer multiple payment methods (cash, credit, cheque, and digital) to make it effortless for customers to send payments.
Step 5: Finally, once payment is processed, you can use the payment details to mark the invoice is marked as paid in professional e-invoicing tools. Some apps can use the sales data in your database to create tax reports or analyse sales data for creating future growth plans.
If you have not used an e-invoicing tool, you can try them out before making a decision. Some of the best e-invoicing software solutions offer free trials or one-time discounts to help businesses check out the features before subscribing to a long-term plan.
Best Features To Look Out For In A Professional E-Invoicing Software
- Track And Optimise Performance:
A professional e-invoicing software can help you track and optimise your invoicing performance. It can involve template customisation, changes in settings, cross-verifying details, and much more.
Further, tracking helps gather real-time data on your invoices, such as how many invoices are shared, how many were paid back in time, and the average time customers take for repayment.
- Flexibility To Adapt With Business Needs:
A good e-invoicing tool is flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of a business. With the best e-invoicing app, you need not worry about looking for separate tools as your business grows.
For example, if you expand into new markets or start selling new products/services, your e-invoicing software can accommodate it with customisation. It should not require you to make a major overhaul of your system.
- Dedicated Support Team And Customer Satisfaction:
Effortless business management and timely service are essential to businesses dealing with large numbers of customers. With the best e-invoicing software solutions, you get a dedicated support staff. They can help ensure any issue with the system is rectified promptly.
Further, e-invoicing tools can help improve customer satisfaction. It can be done by providing multiple convenient and efficient ways to pay bills, sharing digital records of transactions over email and WhatsApp, and much more.
- Navigate Through Business Compliances:
E-invoicing can help you avoid compliance issues by keeping regulations in check. You can have a secure and auditable trail of invoices with tax details for every product/service sold to customers.
Further, this data can help you create business reports to help you with income tax filing and other compliance activities. You can mention the taxes, discounts, and terms of service within the invoice to avoid future conflicts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can E-Invoicing Software Streamline Business Operations?
E-invoicing software can streamline business operations in several ways, including:
- Reduce the time/cost of processing invoices
- Provide real-time visibility of financial data
- Automate recurring tasks and workflows
- Improve accuracy and avoid compliance issues
What Are The Challenges In Implementing E-Invoicing Solutions?
There are some major challenges that you may face when implementing e-invoicing solutions, including:
- Getting your suppliers on board: Sometimes, suppliers refuse to use e-invoicing solutions, and buyers may have to convince them to switch. It can be challenging, as they may hesitate to change their current processes.
- Training some employees: You must provide basic training to use the e-invoicing software effortlessly. It can be time-consuming, but you must use the software correctly.
- Integrate with existing system: You may need to fetch details about your e-invoicing software from your existing accounting and ERP systems. It can be a complex process, but ensure that the software gets the correct information so that you can get the most out of it.
What Are The Future Trends In E-Invoicing?
The future of e-invoicing is promising. The adoption of e-invoicing is on the rise, and it is expected to continue in the coming years. After all, many businesses realised the benefits of using an e-invoicing app. Additionally, the Indian government is increasingly pushing the use of e-invoicing services, driving further business adoption.
