In this digital era, online payment methods are hugely popular around the world, threatening to dethrone cash. But before discussing why online invoice payments are the future of invoicing, let’s see why they are so popular. Essentially, every smart business owner knows that accepting online payments is highly beneficial for the business – it increases the number of potential customers thus increasing sales. Several factors make online payments convenient for businesses, and here are some of them.
- Labor costs are lower
- Transaction speed is faster
- Recurring payments are simplified
- The risk of theft is lower
- Customers can pay in any currency
Online payment is beneficial for both the supplier and the customer.
Moving from traditional to online invoicing
Invoices are crucial for any business. An invoice is one of the most important business documents. Without them, businesses cannot collect money for their products or services. Consequently, they cannot pay their expenses. Invoicing also facilitates tracking and managing invoice payments and serves as evidence in taxation matters. Customers and suppliers exchange millions of invoices per year. Many businesses still do it the traditional way, by printing the invoice and mailing it to the customer. However, online invoicing (e-invoicing), or exchanging invoice documents in an electronic format, is much more efficient than creating paper-based invoices.
Shifting away from paper to online based formats usually happens gradually. The pace depends on the industry and country. Besides, moving completely to electronic invoicing is still hard. While most large organizations have already adopted some kind of electronic solution, small and mid-sized companies are still reluctant to change the old habits. Here are a few reasons why all businesses should move from paper-based to electronic invoicing.
The benefits of online invoicing
It is helpful for the business
If you want your business to succeed, you need to be competitive. Keeping up with the latest trends and the digitization of business procedures is one way to do it. It is proven that switching to online invoicing improves timeliness, safety, quality and efficiency of document processing, which contributes to partner and customer satisfaction. Only satisfied partners and customers will do business with you again and refer you to others.
Minimizing your costs is key to increasing profits, and e-invoicing can definitely help you minimize your costs. Usually, this is the main reason for choosing electronic invoicing rather than paper-based. Invoice processing is faster, paper, ink, and transportation costs are eliminated, which results in significant cost savings. Reducing the possibility of human errors is one of its main perks since they cause financial losses and damage the relationship with the client, which leads to more losses.
You can manage and send invoices yourself, anywhere, 24/7, without accountants or bookkeepers. Also, recurring invoices can be sent automatically by your online invoicing software at chosen times and dates. Invoices arrive in just a couple of seconds, which means no more waiting for them to arrive, or worrying that they won’t arrive at all. This way, not only is the invoice sent automatically, but it’s also possible to know when it is opened by the recipient. Tracking is automatic, thus you can have a better insight on your payment status. Furthermore, customers will feel safe and protected, since reputable e-invoicing software adheres to strict security standards. And the security of financial data will only improve in the future.
Future is in the online invoice payments
Simplifying the paying process for the customers’ convenience is one of the biggest advantages of e-invoicing. Online payment services enable your customers to pay immediately from within the invoice. Instant delivery means faster payment. A cloud-based invoicing service, such as Invoicebus, helps customers pay for your goods and services instantly and safely.
This form of payments goes beyond country borders since customers can choose any currency or language they want. As payment barriers are removed, entering the global marketplace has never been easier. The future of invoicing is in facilitating online payments around the world.
As you know, businesses are required to pay deposit and transaction fees for payment processing. By opting for e-invoicing you can select the fastest payment option with the best transaction rates.
It is also good for the environment
Not only does e-invoicing improve your business operations, but it also reduces the carbon footprint. Eliminating paper from offices is the ultimate future goal. Your e-invoices are sent, archived, indexed and stored electronically – there’s basically no need to print them out. Hence, no more paperwork taking up expensive office space, you are able to locate every document more quickly, and most importantly, you are saving trees and reducing pollution.
It may be a requirement
Both private and public sector are turning to online invoicing. In order to reduce their own costs, they might require their business partners to submit invoices in electronic format only. Therefore, you might be pressured to accept this growing trend.
What invoicing does for your business – example
Let’s say your company is a moving company. Business development for moving companies should be taken very seriously. Payment is the last and most important step towards successfully completing a collaboration. Once you’ve done your job, you want to get paid. The moving company invoice you send contains the list of provided services and sold products, along with their prices. All the prices should be added, and then the taxes should be applied to the total price. The invoice should also include your company’s name, contact information, as well as the client’s information. Payment instructions and expected timeline should be mentioned, too.
The total price should not come as a surprise if the client has used instant moving quote calculator to calculate the approximate moving costs in advance. There are also the binding and non-binding estimates, informing the client about the costs of moving. After opening your professional looking e-invoice, the client will be able to pay you with just a few clicks. This way you have a record of the payment and the service. It will come in handy at the end of the year when filing your taxes and creating a profit and loss statement.
Conclusion
All things considered, online invoice payments are definitely the future. In the future, it will be difficult for small and medium-sized companies not to adopt online invoicing, as governments and large enterprises continue to push. Paper-based business processes and traditional payment methods will eventually be abandoned. Invoice technology will keep advancing, making online payments even more secure and efficient, which is something all businesses strive for.
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