In a changing business world, medium-sized businesses need to use new technology to be successful. One such innovation that has transformed traditional business processes is eInvoicing.
We will uncover its advantages, share real success stories, lay out best practices and forecast its role in shaping the future of invoicing.
What is eInvoicing?
The Evolution of Invoicing: From Paper to Digital – Digital to Electronic Invoicing
Invoicing has come a long way in recent years. In the past, invoices were typically created and sent on paper. This was a slow and inefficient process that was prone to errors.
With the advent of digital technology, invoices began to be created and sent via email. While this process was more efficient than paper invoices, it still required manual tasks. Emailed invoices faced challenges like landing in spam folders, reaching obsolete email addresses, and falling prey to scams.
Why switch to eInvoicing?
eInvoicing is the latest evolution in invoicing. It is a fully electronic process that eliminates the need for manual tasks of sending or receiving invoices via email. eInvoices are exchanged instantly in a standardised format via the eInvoicing network (Peppol), from one accounting system to another, which makes them easy to process, eliminates the risk of errors and avoids payment redirection scams.
Benefits of eInvoicing for Medium Enterprises eInvoicing?
There are numerous eInvoicing benefits for medium sized organisations. Key benefits include:
- Enhanced efficiency and time savings: eInvoicing reduces manual tasks and streamlines the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable workflows, speeding up the entire process of invoicing. Also, eInvoicing provides real-time visibility into the status of an invoice, making it easier to track and manage them.
- Cost reduction and improved ROI: A recent study from Ardent Partners shows that automated invoicing processes can cost between 40% and 90% less compared to paper-based processing methods and improve processing times by 81%.
- Reduced errors and disputes: eInvoices have fewer errors than traditional mediums as the data is entered once and automatically transmitted to the recipient, resulting in less errors and invoice disputes.
- Faster payment cycles: BOC Gas, a company that has been recognised as an early eInvoicing adopter, recognises eInvoicing being a success with a 50% increase in on-time payments and a more satisfied customer base.
- Strengthened supplier relationships: eInvoicing offers an efficient and reliable way to exchange invoices making life easier for both sides, enhancing business communication and minimising dispute risks.
Real-world Success Stories
There are many real-world success stories of businesses that have benefited from eInvoicing. In this instance, we refer to the Case Study undertaken by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on BOC Gas who joined the eInvoicing network via Link4.
- Faster Payments – eInvoicing simplified the invoicing process for BOC Gas and made it easier for their customers to process invoices. This resulted in faster invoice processing and immediate reductions in payment times.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction – eInvoicing (invoicing automation) enabled invoice information to be directly sent into the customers’ accounting system avoiding manual steps. What’s more, BOC customers started requesting eInvoices instead of emailed PDFs as they were more satisfied with using eInvoicing technology.
- Easy Adoption and Implementation – BOC Gas customers found the invoicing process to be easy to adapt to. The company found the implementation to be simple and accommodated their existing workflows, which made the overall transition smooth for both parties.
Best Practices for Medium Enterprises
If you are a medium enterprise considering implementing eInvoicing, there are a few best practices that you should follow…
Start small, scale smart
Don’t try to carry out eInvoicing with all suppliers and customers all at once. Start with a small group of trading partners and gradually expand the programme over time.
Collaborative onboarding of suppliers
Make it easy for your suppliers to onboard to the eInvoicing network.
This will help to ensure that the process goes smoothly for everyone involved.
The Future of Invoicing
eInvoicing represents the future and it’s already here. Efficiency, security, and reliability of the invoicing process have been proven. With increasing numbers of businesses welcoming this new invoicing technology, traditional methods will become obsolete. As such, eInvoicing will become even more widespread as it is used by businesses of all sizes across all industries.
What’s more, eInvoicing is more than a passing trend; it functions as a strategic asset for medium-sized enterprises. Embrace the change today to instantly benefit from the results of eInvoicing and secure your business as a leading, progressive entity in the market.
With a wealth of experience in eInvoicing services within Australia, Link4 is your go-to partner to provide your business a customised solution that aligns with your enterprise requirements. Our team of experts is here to support you every step of the way and ensure all your invoicing goals are met. We can help you onboard the Australian eInvoicing network (Peppol) without any disruption to your current operations. Discover more about Link4 eInvoicing at www.link4.co.
Footnote: In this article, “eInvoicing” and “e-invoicing” are used interchangeably to refer to electronic invoicing.