Welcome to a world without electronic invoicing. Errors are a part of most calculations and relationship with the vendors is at stake. This is the place ruled by manual invoice processing. In this world, month-end is nothing less than a nightmare for the Accounts Department of any organization as they juggle between vendor payment and processing the employees’ salary. And, the result of this pressure is nothing but MORE ERRORS!
Now, welcome to a parallel universe where the Accounts Department is happy, payment is smooth and the vendors are satisfied. Ironically, they too are involved with AP. Then, what are they doing differently? Thankfully, they have switched to e-invoicing and have conquered the following major pitfalls of manual invoice processing.
The Wonder Called Hidden Price
This may have skipped your eyes, but if you add up the hidden cost associated with manual processing, the figures can leave you spellbound. These are not easy to determine or even if they are identified, no one would normally presume that the impact could be so financially ‘harmful’. Due to multiple entries of same invoices, the labor cost keeps on increasing and then approving the bill without even revising, further escalates the price. The lengthy procedure of manual documentation, data entry, indexing as well as filing the invoices contribute to the expenses.
And that’s not all. In the confusion of managing so many invoices manually, losing or misplacing documents is also very common. How much can that cost to a company? An Association for Information (AIIM) study has the answer. According to AIIM, the cost to locate a lost document can reach as high as $120, and the cost to replace it, as much as $220.
Adopting the automation process is the only way to ward off this burgeoning hidden cost. No points in guessing how any business would benefit from a streamlined system.
Those Long Unproductive Hours
First, you receive the invoices. Then you identify and sort them. Next, you send the invoices to the particular department or person, and finally the AP activities begin. The trouble lies in the fact that the entire workflow is conducted manually, which makes the task not only time consuming but laborious as well. This pre-processing method is actually driving up the labor cost and delaying the invoice process.
Automation has been successful in minimizing this significant portion of manual processes. Whether it is document preparation, sorting or sending the invoices to its receiver, everything is now operated from a single point. So, you no longer need to take the pain of arranging papers of different sizes and shapes because everything is electronically processed.
Those Mistakes that Appear Out of Nowhere
Think about all those invoice-fed files that keep piling on your desk. You are going through each and everyone dexterously. But surprisingly, even after so much of attention mistakes pop up. In many cases, businesses simply don’t check the quality and accuracy before sending the invoices. Moreover, recruiting more than one person to review these invoices can cut down the glitches, but it invariably increases your business expenditure.
E-invoicing saves both your time, money as well as the company’s image. With predefined settings, curtailed-invoicing minimizes the mistakes, proofreading turns strong and you are notified about the glitches before approving the invoices.
The Crisis Called Mismanagement
What happens when an organization do not have the right information about the company finances? Simple, the company sinks! Inability to deal with the invoice processing creates hiccups in the workflow. The vendors stop trusting because manual processing fails to maintain visibility and late payments are rampant. The company remains incapable of taking quick decisions because the Accounts department is not strong or fast enough.
Electronic invoicing helps to deal with this pitfall of manual processing. Information about finances is streamlined. You can keep a note on the financial position of the company and have greater control.
Automation, with the help of electronic invoicing, has helped companies to be more productive and efficient. Is your business living on Planet E-Invoicing yet?