Has invoicing become one of your main headaches? Do you know that you have to finish with the paper but you don’t know where to start? In the following post we will show you how to improve the billing process of a company and discover all the advantages it can offer you. So don’t miss the following tips to optimize this process.
Optimizing a company’s billing process is almost a dream for many finance departments. Many times it becomes a task synonymous with a lot of time, dedication and even despair of the workers who carry it out. In fact, when you have in mind a process improvement within the company, surely from the finance department, billing becomes an inescapable issue.
And it is no secret that the difficulties to achieve an efficient billing process are the order of the day for many companies. Although it is the one that is defined as the elephant in the room. An expression, of Anglo-Saxon origin, that refers to an obvious, obvious problem, but which no one dares to address. If you are reading this post, obviously this is no longer your case. To carry out a process optimization of such relevance and magnitude, it is necessary to take into account the following steps:
- Step 1, be aware of the relevance of the process . When managing a company, there are times when the relevance of the billing process is not taken into account. This sentence, although it seems dressed with drama, is true. Production, sales are the tip of the iceberg that everyone sees. But without efficient billing, nothing would be possible. If there is a lot of production but you are not aware of the supplier billing debt or the volume of defaults, nothing makes sense. Therefore, it is essential to bet on continuous improvement of this key pillar of the finance department.
- Step 2, order and registration . In billing, order will be your great ally. Having an up-to-date record of supplier and customer invoices is essential. Today it is a digitized process, although it is true that data entry is still manual.
- Step 3, digitization is a must . Mountains of paper, cluttered filing cabinets are a classic. Especially at the end of the quarters or at the end of the year. The paper invoice that must go from hand to hand to get approval is often a leitmotif in companies. This process usually involves problems such as: loss of invoices, delay in approval and, therefore, delay in payment to suppliers. These problems, which are repeated almost quarterly, as if looping, have a solution. The solution is the comprehensive digitization of the process. Therefore, digital invoice management can have a myriad of advantages.
Advantages of digital invoicing
Billing a business, as discussed above, takes time and effort. It is also one of the pillars of accounting . Clear, transparent, up-to-date billing offers a more accurate accounting view. And, in short, essential strategic information for your business. If this process is done manually and with paper as the main support, it may cause recurring problems. Problems that have become endemic to many finance departments. On the contrary, digitization provides countless advantages such as:
- More control over invoices . If supplier and customer invoices are digitized, the finance department can have more control over expenses. Having a platform or software that facilitates the process is a great help on this path to digitization.
- Supervision in all phases. When the payment or collection of invoices slows down, decision-making in the company also slows down. It is difficult, if not inadvisable, to make strategic decisions with half the information. In addition, there is an erosion of supplier-customer trust, a circumstance to avoid at all costs. Incorporating digitization in all phases of the process will provide control over invoice approvals and payments. Consequently, more agility, more transparency.
- It buys time . Who has not heard the expression of time is money? Having to deal with lost invoices, inquiries about who and when an invoice has been approved or invoices that do not reach the finance department represents a huge amount of work hours. In short, time. Digital invoicing offers the possibility of adding efficiency to the process. An efficiency that has an impact on saving time, hours, to perform tasks with greater added value.
Thus, to improve the billing process of a company, it is necessary to be aware of the problem, give the billing process the relevance it has within accounting and bet on digitization. I hope the post has helped you to reflect on this key process for your business and remember that process improvement is the way to efficient and effective billing.
