7 Quick Wins of Invoice Automation Adopters
Published: 04/08/2020
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This article is for operations teams and business owners. We strongly encourage the adoption of invoice automation software if you want to scale your business. Regardless of the industry, manual invoicing is neither cost nor time efficient. Now is the best time to make a switch.
Although invoicing is an essential process, no one likes it. It’s a mundane manual task that consumes a lot of time. And even then, it’s prone to errors that may rack up huge costs. Additionally, mistakes can seriously damage the relationships with the invoiced party, your reputation and your credibility. In other words, when it comes to manual invoicing you are faced with some serious risks.
There is, however, a way to reduce them. As well as to never raise another invoice again. If these two factors don’t sound convincing enough to begin automating the process of invoicing, we have a couple more benefits listed below. Whether you are toying with the idea yourself or looking for a way to get the stakeholders to buy in, we recommend you give this list a read.
Before we jump into listing the benefits invoice automation bears, we feel the need to emphasise you will need a SaaS (software-as-a-service) solution to accommodate this approach. The type of software you should turn to largely depends on your business needs. Most frequently, invoice automation is one of the features rather than the entire platform itself. So, don’t go after the first solution to have this module if the rest of the functionality is not aligned with your goals. There is a better-suited solution for you, you will just need to look for a bit more.
Automated invoice processing offers some great benefits for any business, no matter the industry. Here are some of them:
Accuracy
Auditing
Integrations
Better cash flow
Supports productivity
Smoothens communication
Consistent branding
However, these are relatively broad terms. So we will look into each of them separately to explore where would they fit in your strategy.
Humans are prone to making mistakes, even if they can potentially cost a lot. As we’ve discussed in the opening, errors in invoices lead to both financial and personal damages. An automated process, on the other hand, minimises the risk. Instead of keying the numbers in manually, they will be pulled and then injected into the invoice from the original source. Not only is this approach safer but also quicker.
Please note that both accuracy and depth of automation will increase if you integrate the invoicing software with other solutions you have, eg accounting, project management and others.
Another benefit of an automated invoicing system is that it makes document management easier, in turn contributing to auditing processes. It allows you to easily link the documents such as receipts and purchase orders with the invoices they’re related to. Reducing the amount of physical paperwork also minimises the risk of it going missing. In other words, it’s easy to stay on top of your expense management.
Our recommendation is to look at solutions that come with centralised document storage alongside the automation tool. This way you will have everything stored in one place, streamlining the process only further. And we are sure you will find this feature useful for a plethora of other things.
Having briefly touched on the integrations, we feel it’s a topic that needs more expansion. Apart from the few advantages we’ve already listed, integrations also enhance the functionality of tools and take away the need to repeatedly keying the same data across different solutions.
To give a more specific example, let’s assume you integrate the invoicing tool with the accounting one. If they’re separated, you would need to pull the invoice data and then manually add it to the accounting software. If the two are integrated, the invoice information is automatically added to the operations and/or reports of the accounting solution. There are many more examples as to how you use integration or what tools you connect depending on your strategy.
The most common reason behind adopting invoice automation is that it aids cash flow management. It’s pretty logical: the longer it takes to generate and send out an invoice, the longer it will take to get paid. Automation of invoicing takes you straight to the final step within a few clicks.
It’s easier and faster to produce and send an e-invoice. Reducing the time between the work being carried out and receiving payment can be especially beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses with limited cash flow. Whether you are invoicing or clearing the invoices, automating the process adds significant speed to it. This leads us directly to the next point.
Shorter pay and bill processes result in better productivity. There is less back-and-forth that can be preventing you from taking the next steps. Naturally, once you have more time freed up, in this case from carrying out repetitive manual tasks, you can re-invest it into progress-driving processes.
There is another productivity-driving aspect to automation. Let’s face it - day-to-day tasks like data insertion, especially in high volumes, can be soul-crushing. Not only does it get boring, but it does not give your staff the feeling of achievement. It can lead to a loss of motivation and eventual burnout. Happy employees that feel and see the weight of their contribution are usually prone to put in extra effort and therefore excel in performance.
Your clients are bound to appreciate getting their invoices promptly after the work is complete. As well as the ease of being able to pay those invoices online, securely and with ease. It’s a more streamlined transaction that’s bound to boost the customer experience. This alone will organically build the trust they have with you, which is a powerful driver of future relationships.
It works in a similar way with the contractors. Whether you work with them on the client’s behalf or have them hired to aid your business, a quick and accurate invoicing process leads to nothing but benefits. It establishes you as someone who’s easy to work with, therefore your projects are likely to be prioritised. A long-term relationship with the contractor also leads to overall better results and quicker completion as you become increasingly more aligned with one another’s needs, demands and limitations.
Similarly to how you want to ensure your communication style, message and branding are consistent across the platforms, you want that to be in relation to your documentation too. This gives your business a reputation and adds a layer of trustworthiness. For example, would you sign a document that has a different logo from the one that has provided it? It would raise some suspicions. Even if you chose to research the matter further before eventually signing - think of the time you’ve wasted confirming it was, indeed, the same company.
It’s important that all documents you send out are branded with your company name, logo and colours – invoices are no exception. A good e-invoicing function, like the one at Timesheet Portal, will provide your business with bespoke templates that match your corporate colours and layouts.
Gone are the days when invoicing was one of the dreaded manual tasks you just wanted to be done with. The technology of today is capable of taking the labour of putting together and distributing invoices off your hands. In addition to that, it offers a plethora of other benefits that both speed up your business processes and offer valuable insights for future development.
It’s worth remembering that invoice automation software is normally a module included in a more specialist platform. For example, in a pay-and-bill or project management solution. Therefore you should always thoroughly research the full functionality and price model of the software. And make sure it aligns with your overall business.
Why not start with Timesheet Portal?