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Can you make your business 70% less expensive? And increase productivity?
Who doesn't want to have a process running on its own with only occasional checks?
Efficient business processes mean:
- Improved cash flow
- More time for strategic work
- Reduced stress
But there's a problem
Nearly all companies still waste time with inefficient invoicing processes. Staff are doing manual entry of invoices, the wrong calculations are being done, invoices are lost, paperwork errors occur. Payments are delayed, and cash flow is a huge headache.
Your current invoicing practice is likely holding your business back.
This guide will show you exactly how you can build an invoicing software business and offer details on why the automated invoicing market was worth $24,084.09 million in 2023 (Statista), while this number is set to increase to $51,534.64 million by 2030.
In this guide, you will learn:
- Why offline invoicing is the wrong choice
- How to choose an invoicing provider for your business
- The difference between invoicing systems vs. invoicing software
- What your company can expect
Why Offline Invoicing Is the Wrong Choice
Here is a fun fact which very few business owners have learned yet…
Offline invoicing is a sinkhole for any organization. Here is the calculation of all related costs:
Companies which are processing invoices in the traditional way, have been found to spend $6.20 per invoice, in comparison with invoicing with online automation solution costs of $1.83 only. As a result, the adoption of a traditional method of invoicing causes a burden of 70% of additional expenses for your business.
The problems come even before that…
Offline invoicing gives rise to many downstream problems which the majority of entrepreneurs never connect to their invoicing tools:
- Payments are delayed (invoices are lost and late for delivery)
- Cashflow suffers (unable to track payments)
- Customers are losing patience (unclear pricing)
- Staff are exhausted (endless rekeying of data)
If your business issues 100 invoices a month with a traditional invoicing solution, you are losing $437 each month in comparison to companies which use a simple online invoicing tool solution. In a year, this would add up to a 5,244$ unnecessary cost. Sounds unbelievable? Think about it twice.
How to Choose an Invoicing Provider for Your Business
Invoicing software isn't just about generating fancy bills…
It's about revolutionizing how money flows through your business. Here's a breakdown:
Automated Invoice Generation
The invoicing software you work with must be adaptive to your business. It should learn and automate all your repetitive tasks. An invoicing software which generates the invoices for you based on the below instead of manual entry:
- Recurring client agreements
- Project milestones
- Time tracking data
- Products or services catalog
Automating your invoicing means 75% of your time would be saved in processing. This is recent data we found for this subtopic.
Real-Time Payment Tracking
Advanced invoicing tools would give you a 360-degree view of your finances. You will be able to see at the touch of a button:
- Overdue invoices (and how overdue they are)
- Payment trends per client
- Cash flow forecasts
- Average payment period
Visibility gives you the power to make informed decisions about everything from client relationships to inventory management.
Smart Payment Reminders
Wait, it's not the best part yet…
The leading-edge invoicing tools have an intelligent reminder system in place, which means your software will be automatically sending reminders on overdue invoices for you. They would be able to do everything from sending out personalized reminder emails to escalating communications based on payment history to offering multiple payment options and tracking client response patterns.
And your business would see faster payments and better relationships with your clients.
Difference Between Invoicing System Vs. Invoicing Software
While both invoicing systems and invoicing software serve the primary purpose of facilitating billing and payment processes within a business, there are notable differences between the two:
Invoicing System
An invoicing system refers to the overarching framework or methodology implemented to manage invoicing and related financial processes. It may encompass both software-based and non-software-based components, such as manual invoicing procedures, paper-based record-keeping systems, or a combination of software solutions. An invoicing system is more concerned with the structure and organization of the invoicing process rather than the specific tools used.
Invoicing Software
Invoicing software, on the other hand, is a specialized software application or tool designed to automate and streamline invoicing and payment-related tasks. It typically includes features for creating and sending invoices, tracking payments, managing accounts receivable, generating financial reports, and often integrating with other financial or accounting systems. Invoicing software is a subset of invoicing systems that heavily relies on technology for its implementation.
What Can Your Business Expect From This?
Here’s what happens when businesses take this on…
Time Savings: Businesses typically recover 10-15 hours per week in billing and payment activities.
Accuracy: The software virtually eliminates calculation and duplication errors.
Faster Payments: Professional invoices reduce payment cycles by 5-10 days on average.
Cash Flow Improvement: Better tracking means more predictable cash flow and fewer shortages.
Scalability: Automated billing scales with the business without extra staff costs.
Want the best news? These benefits compound over time. Improved cash flow means more investment in growth, and growth means more revenue, and more revenue means improved business health all around.
Invoice Management Best Practices
Switching to invoicing tools doesn't have to be an overly complex project. Here's how to get it right:
Start with the Basics
Don't try to implement all features at once. Start by covering the basics:
- Invoice creation
- Payment tracking
- Simple automation rules
Add features gradually as the team becomes more comfortable.
Clean Up Existing Data
Audit your current client and payment data before you migrate. Ensure it is:
- Complete and accurate
- Consistently formatted
- Properly categorized
Clean data = better results
Train the Team
Don't expect your team to figure out an invoicing software solution on their own. Invest in training and create clear process documentation.
Track the Metrics
Define key metrics for invoicing and payments before the project and measure them after:
- Average payment time
- Invoice processing time
- Error rate
- Customer satisfaction
Tracking results will prove ROI and point to further improvement opportunities.
Put Everything Together
Billing and invoicing solutions are one of the highest-ROI business investments out there. With the global billing and invoicing software market growing at 6.98% annually, it is highly likely that companies which are not adapting to it might get left behind in the future.
The benefits of making a switch to invoicing software solutions are not only about increasing your efficiency, it is about running a more professional and scalable operation which can keep growing.
Wrapping Everything Up
Streamlining your invoicing is not an option anymore, but rather a necessity for any business which wants to stand out against its competitors.
The combined impact of cost-savings, time efficiency, and improved cash flow would be a bedrock for long-term sustainable growth.
The numbers speak for themselves:
- 70% less expenses per invoice
- 75% less time required for invoicing
- Dramatically improved error rate
- Improved client satisfaction
When you buy the invoicing software, you are not only investing in a tool, but also in saving your time, reducing your stress, and making space for the work which would grow your business.
Don't get left behind. The sooner you do it, the sooner you'll be seeing the snowball effect of these systems in all the aspects of your business operation.
