If your business is like most, you spend a lot of your time creating and sending out invoices to your clients. Of course, this is the basic operation which gets you paid, keeping your business successful and your cashflow high.
Unfortunately, invoicing can be incredibly time-consuming, depending on the size of your business. The problem only grows as your business grows too. So, it’s time to stop the madness by taking your invoicing online. Here’s how this new technology can transform your invoicing operations.
1) Easier for you
It’s an unnecessary pain to fill out all those invoices manually at the end of the month. It’s also a pain that’s easily mitigated.
With online invoicing, all that tedious and time sapping manual work is automatically done for you. You simply input a client’s contact information one time, and then the information is automatically populated into the invoice with just the click of a button.
2) Easier for your clients
Just as you have to send out many invoices, it’s likely that your clients are receiving tonnes of invoices as well.
No matter how important that invoice is to your business and to your client, it’s just another piece of paper in a never-ending pile of to-dos.
With online invoicing, you can help to reduce the amount of clutter on your clients’ desks and increase the likelihood that they’ll get to your invoices more quickly and before they sink to the bottom of the pile.
The easier you can make it for your clients to pay you, the faster you’ll get your money.
3) Send invoices instantly
Gone are the days of waiting for the postman to send out your invoices. Automated invoicing lets you send them out instantly, no matter the time or day of the week.
No more waiting until the end of the month to process invoices; this way, you can get them out as soon as you’ve completed the job so you can get paid sooner.
4) No risk of getting lost
When you send invoices through the regular post, there’s always a small risk that your invoices will get lost. If one does get lost, you’ll be left wondering why that client hasn’t paid you, even though they never received the invoice in the first place.
Even if your invoices do make it through the post to your clients, there’s still the possibility that they’ll lose or forget about the invoices.
Online invoicing eliminates both potential problems and backs up a copy of your invoices for later reference.
5) Enhanced tracking capabilities
This benefit is an extension of the previous one. With online tracking capabilities, you can be alerted when your clients have received your invoices. This is extremely valuable.
There will be no excuses for clients not paying you, as there will be a digital record of when your invoices were sent. You’ll never be left wondering if invoices made it to their destinations as you would with the post.
In the unlikely and unfortunate event that you don’t receive payment, you can also use this data to back up your claim of a bad debt with the ATO.
6) Less paperwork
Just as your clients’ desks are likely cluttered with paperwork, so too is yours. This is not only inefficient, it’s extremely prone to loss and forgetfulness.
Online invoicing eliminates this problem by keeping all your invoices stored as data files on your computer. You’ll have easy access to them whenever you need them, but without the hassle of having to sift through piles and piles of documents.
7) Saves money
This reduction in paper also reduces the cost of invoicing for your business. First, there’s the cost of the paper that the invoice is printed on. Then, there’s the cost of postal envelopes, stamps and postage. Lastly, unless you’re doing all your invoicing personally, you likely have to pay someone on your staff to take care of it for you.
All these costs add up, especially when you remember that you have to pay for them every month and that the need for invoicing will never stop. With invoicing automation, there’s no paper, no envelopes, no postage, and either you or your staff member will need far less time to complete the task, resulting in lower wage requirements (or time savings on your part) to get your invoicing done.
8) Reporting capabilities
With the detailed reporting capabilities that most online invoicing software provides, your invoicing data will be more organised than ever before.
All your invoices can quickly and easily be organised by date, client, job type or any other metric you choose. You’ll also be able to see which invoices have been paid, which are payment pending or are still awaiting payment.
This will give you a much clearer picture of your business’s cash flow projections, making accounting and business management that much easier.
9) Mobile accessibility
With cloud-based software, you’ll be able to access your invoicing system from anywhere, even while you’re on the go.
If you need to travel for a meeting with a client, you’ll be able to send them an invoice right away, without having to wait until you get back to the office. You’ll also be able to get work done from home or to send off a quick invoice on the weekend with minimal disruption to your day.
10) More professional
Online invoices give your operations an important air of professionalism. It also eliminates the potential for inconsistencies and mistakes.
Online invoicing makes your organisation appear more like it’s on top of today’s modern technology. This will instil greater confidence within your client base that your company offers products and services that are just as high-quality.
Here at Reckon One, we are proud to include online invoicing among the capabilities of our business accounting software. With Reckon One Invoices, you’ll enjoy unmatched convenience in sending out your invoices, along with all of the benefits discussed above. You can even accept online payments through PayPal Reckon One, making the process even easier for your clients. Start your free trial of Reckon One today to see just how much we can help your business.
