Paper invoices have traditionally been one of the most commonly used forms of business documentation. However, using non-digital forms of invoices has its downsides. The biggest downside being the cost and time associated with producing, mailing, and processing them. However, there’s been an increasing shift toward electronic invoicing.
Digital invoicing is quickly becoming a staple of modern businesses, offering several benefits that traditional invoicing methods cannot match. Compared to paper-based billing and record keeping, digital systems make it much easier to track important information like payment due dates, costs incurred, and discounts applied.
Additionally, they allow businesses to automate many routine tasks, like generating and distributing invoices electronically or tracking invoices for receipt confirmation. By streamlining these processes, digital invoicing can help businesses work smarter rather than harder by saving valuable time and resources.
How Does Digital Invoicing Work?
Digital invoicing is a fast and efficient way to manage customer billing. These systems typically work by compiling and organizing customers' invoices in one central location through an online dashboard or email accounts.
From here, customers can easily access their invoice data and make payments on their accounts according to their schedules. Additionally, digital invoicing systems often provide additional features such as payment reminders, tools that allow you to track payments in real time, and more.
4 Ways Digital Invoicing Can Help Improve Your Receivables Collection
Here are the four ways digital invoicing can improve your receivables collection:
1. Embed Payments into Invoices For Faster And Easier Collection
In this day and age, convenience is key. By providing payment options embedded right on the invoice, you are bound to keep your customers happy and keep the process streamlined. They will have the option of paying in a couple clicks, and you will see funds in your account within 1-2 business days. By eliminating friction when it comes to paying bills, you will reap the benefits of a streamlined receivables process.
2. Accept More Payment Methods
Digital invoicing gives you the flexibility to provide additional payment methods to your customers. As a business, you can add credit card collection to your receivables process to speed up the collection process. The more digitally configured the customer, the faster the payment.
3. Improved Tracking
Paper invoices take up space and are inefficient to keep track of. With digital invoicing, you can view all your invoices in one place and expand and collapse each invoice to see the details. You will have the functionality of easily filtering out unpaid invoices, resending and stopping invoices or manually entering payment details. You can view your dashboard for real-time snapshots of your transactions by time and place, and track invoices by payment status. This gives you the tools to help you make smarter decisions about your customers, employees and products
4. Harness Automation
Digital invoicing is a modernized flow of payment that reduces the time and costs associated with sending and receiving invoices. Simply put, it is a way to digitize, automate, and simplify the invoicing process. As almost everything happens automatically, there is no need for manually plotting in data, printing, or sending paper via the post—which reduces human error as well as saving time, money, and the environment.
Final Thoughts
Most businesses still rely on old-fashioned paper methods when it comes to invoicing. However, as more and more companies switch to digital invoicing, it becomes clear that doing so has many benefits. The greatest advantage of a digital invoicing system is its simplicity. Unlike traditional invoicing methods, which can be painstakingly slow and complicated, most digital systems offer efficient, streamlined processes.
They are also easier for customers and vendors to use; rather than waiting for paper documents to arrive in the mail or struggling with obscure fax machines, users log in to their online accounts and instantly access their invoices. As more and more businesses switch over to digital invoicing, those that continue to use paper will quickly fall behind their competition in terms of efficiency and productivity.
How Can Merrco Help?
Merrco is a payment processor for CBD, cannabis and other regulated businesses in the US and Canada. Our payment processing solutions are tailored to meet the needs of your business. We offer competitive rates and a team of experts dedicated to helping you grow your business. If you would like to partner with us, contact us at info@merrco.com or call our toll-free number at 1-800-957-0534.