Electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) allows a business to automate their invoicing process, bringing benefits to not only the issuer but also the receiver. As a result, buyers and suppliers gain a number of strategic benefits. With cost savings, and the ability to automate the full invoicing process, e-invoicing allows the invoicing process to integrate with other business systems providing efficiency and generating opportunities.
Poll results
In our most recent LinkedIn poll, we asked our social media followers what they thought the biggest advantage of e-invoicing was for their organisation.
Advantages of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing): what we found
Reduced errors
32% of respondents selected reduced errors as their biggest advantage of e-invoicing.
Human errors are the cause of a large percentage of invoice mistakes, and back and forth between businesses. The elimination of errors through automation and integration of invoicing save not only time but help businesses save money. Reduced errors mean less employees’ time is spent fixing mistakes and chasing incorrect invoices that haven’t been paid.
Shorter payment cycles
32% of respondents picked shorter payment cycles as the biggest benefit of e-invoicing.
Electronic invoices result in shorter invoice reception and payment times for a business. With e-invoicing comes a lot of efficiency. The immediacy and elimination of errors in the creation and logging of invoices, combine to reduce overall turnaround times meaning businesses are getting paid on time a lot more often.
Greater compliance
32% selected greater compliance as the biggest advantage for their organisation from e-invoicing.
The compliance regulations from invoicing vary from country to country meaning organisations that are dealing with businesses further afield often have to spend time and money ensuring they’re compliant with not only their countries regulations, but others too. If your company fails to meet the various country-specific requirements it can lead to sanctions including fines and repayments. By moving to e-invoicing it allows an organisation to eliminate the paper trail and track electronically, and more securely, the trail organisations need to maintain to comply with laws.
Other
Finally, 5% selected ‘other’ as the greatest advantage of e-invoicing.
While other could represent many advantages, one of those could be the reduced environmental impact. The use of electronic invoicing reduces environmental impact through the elimination of paper and CO2 emissions during transportation. It also eliminates the risk of losing paper documents.
More information
B2BE’s experience in the supply chain sector allows our customers to build, expand and adapt successfully, enabling greater effectiveness. To engage with B2BE and offer feedback on what matters most to you and your business, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and across social media. You can also vote in our latest LinkedIn poll. If you’d like to discuss your supply chain strategy, get in touch with us.