E-Invoicing Solutions And Platforms to Boost your Buying and Selling Process

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By STS Staff Writer On Mar 19, 2021

E-Invoicing Solutions And Platforms to Boost your Buying and Selling Process

Often times, there has been huge confusion among both sellers and customers about the difference between an e-invoice and a digital invoice. In the present times, it is vital for every customer-facing business to start the process of e-invoicing and get accustomed to the various aspects of it. The digital era has transformed the habits of every business, and if any business does not evolve with technology, it cannot keep up with the modern world. So, if your company has not switched to e-invoicing yet, then it is better to start the transition as soon as possible to help ensure an easier buying and selling process.

Intricacies of an e-invoice

An e-invoice (also known as an electronic invoice) is generated by the online invoicing system of any business entity, financial institution, or other online entities. After generating the e-invoice, the file can be easily sent to your customer’s system. An e-invoice is always a better choice than the regular paper invoice or any other digital invoice that your customers receive in the form of pdf or excel. An e-invoice contains structured invoice data in the format of either XML or EDI. Your e-invoice will be sent through your invoicing operator, or you can use a subscription-based e-invoicing software as there are many choices available in the market.

The ease of switching to e-invoices

The process of generating an e-invoice and sending it to customers is extremely convenient and hassle-free than creating an excel sheet and then converting it into pdf and sending it to your customers. There are several tools available in e-invoicing software that makes the process less time consuming and simpler. Most of the information is filled out automatically, and you also do not need to toggle between windows to gather any information.

When you are sending your customers a digital invoice in the form of a PDF, then they have to download it and open it to copy the information in any payment app and then pay it. But, in the case of an e-invoice, it will appear directly from where they can review and pay and also archive within the software. So, e-invoice clearly has a lot of advantages over digital or paper invoices.

Benefits of e-invoicing

E-invoicing has many benefits, which are essential for the growth and sustenance of a business. Some of the noteworthy benefits are listed below: –

The biggest benefit is the amount of time and money that can be saved by the company. Having a common template of an invoice saves a lot of overheads required for creating multiple invoices, which in turn helps to reduce human error. Thereby increasing the billing efficiency and accuracy as well.
Having everything electronic means less usage of paper. This is a big benefit considering the challenging times with respect to ecological conditions. An estimated 90% of the processing costs can be saved when an e-invoice is used.
As far as the customers are concerned, they are more likely to be satisfied when an invoice is generated and sent to them as quickly as possible. This is not possible in a normal paper invoice method, which sometimes can take days for processing.
E-invoices are easier to maintain for future reference as the soft copy is stored in the software. Moreover, these software suites make the tracking of cash flow very easy. This, in turn, makes accounting easy. Also, the template can be modified at any time with very little effort. This makes the process future-proof and scalable.
It has also been observed that e-invoices result in a higher number of digital payments, which means that the payments will be much faster and transparent. There is a greater degree of security, as the chances of a fraudulent transaction are minimized. The authenticity of an e-invoice can be validated by a digital signature.

E-invoices have become the norm, and almost every big and successful business is using them. Although paper invoices are still used, their usage is decreasing with each passing day and is now mainly restictred to smaller businesses. Using an e-invoice ensures greater acceptability and standardization across several industries and payment norms.

A few of the Best e-invoicing software in the recent years

Here are some of the most popular e-invoicing software that is extremely popular with users across the world: –

FreshBooks: Provides double-entry accounting and detailed client records. It also has the feature of inventory tracking and many more. This is the best choice for exceedingly small businesses.
Zoho Invoice: The Zoho Invoice has a very user-friendly UI, which is simple and visually dynamic at the same time. It has an excellent report system and a lot of customizable options.
BQE Core: BQE core also has excellent customization and comes at a very affordable rate. But the price of this software can go up as new modules are constantly added.
Wave: You can use this software for free, and it works out perfectly well for small businesses. It has excellent transaction management features, great UI, navigation tools, and various user-friendly features.

Apart from these software suites, you can also try Scoro, QuickBooks, Xero, OneUp, etc.

The main goal of switching to e-invoicing is to make your invoicing system abd buying/selling journey as efficient as possible. You must identify a suitable software suite that meets your e-invoicing and selling requirements and incorporate it into your invoicing process as soon as possible.