Billing is one of the most important parts of the business. On the one hand it can give us a lot of joy, but at the same time it can be the cause of more than one headache.
Often, those who run a business do not have accounting knowledge. Suddenly they find themselves having to deal with numbers, taxes, withholdings and defaults without knowing how to do it.
This is something too important not to give it the time and attention it deserves. In addition, forgetfulness or errors in billing can be very expensive for us.
Therefore, even if you think that you have already mastered the fine art of billing and everything in your company is done correctly, surely you still increase billing efficiency going forward. And there’s no better way to ring in the new year than by bringing your billing up to date.
5 Tips to Increase Billing Efficiency in your Company
Below you will find several types of tips to make your company’s billing more efficient. They can be specific tools or healthy habits and behaviors that you can adopt on a daily basis to start seeing better results.
1. OCR Software
OCR is the ace up the sleeve of companies that keep their accounting and billing digitally. When we talk about billing, we are not only referring to issued invoices. Those that we receive and pay also enter.
If we want our accounting to be 100% digital, we cannot have documents and invoices that are posted on paper. That would be hybrid accounting, since even if we had many files online, the physical documents would either not be accounted for together or would have to be stored separately.
That is why the solution is to digitize the physical invoices to be able to count them together with the digital ones. However, scanning an invoice simply does not make it digital. On the contrary, it becomes an image that we can barely work with.
Using an OCR software for invoices makes all this work easier. We simply have to attach the image file of the invoice, and in a few seconds the program will convert it into a 100% digital file, editable, clear, and with all its original data.
But the OCR for invoices does not stop there, it also analyzes, reads and detects important information. It automatically collects the data of the company, the product, the payment, the date and all the important elements.
If we implement it together with our accounting program, we will see how it automatically dumps the invoice data into the program without us having to do anything else.
In this way we save a lot of time and money, but we also avoid possible human errors, since it is all automatic, or duplicates; since the system also recognizes duplicate data or fraud.
OCR software for invoices is definitely a necessary tool to increase the billing and accounting efficiency of our company.
2. Billing Software
In the previous point we have talked about digital invoicing and we have assumed that all companies in 2022 already carry out invoicing in this way. If this is not your case, you should not waste any more time.
Online invoicing and the use of billing software, although they sound like state-of-the-art technology, have been implemented by all types of companies for a long time.
Its benefits are so many that today it is almost imperative to use them. Thanks to these programs, invoices (whether proforma, rectifying or standard) and budgets can be made in a semi-automated way in a few seconds.
Default templates can be used to give a touch of distinction to our company, or create our own template. All this through simple tools that anyone, without prior knowledge, can use.
But it is not only about the appearance of the invoices, they also allow us to create specific invoices in a few clicks.
The invoice editing and modification tool is very intuitive and has everything you need. From the different types of applicable taxes, to a database of each client that we can customize to our liking.
Many of these billing programs also have the option of synchronizing bank movements to automatically assign those that match the invoices. In this way, if the payment of an invoice is made, the system will recognize it and notify it automatically; in addition to changing the status of the invoice to “collected”.
If we want to go a step further, many of these programs have the option of running in the cloud. In this way we can have all our billing available from anywhere.
It is no longer necessary to have to use a certain computer in an office. We can control or create invoices through a mobile device no matter where we are.
3. Clear payment terms
When creating an invoice, whether through software or not, it is important to make it clear and agree with the customer what the payment method and term will be.
For that, it is necessary that we also be clear about the terms. If we agree to a 90-day payment, we must make sure that it will be in 90 days and no more.
We all know how annoying it is to have to go after customers who don’t pay on time. That is why it is necessary to place a lot of emphasis on this topic.
Offering many payment options is a good way to facilitate the customer and avoid payment problems. Credit or debit card, transfers, PayPal, Bizum or other popular tools or applications may be a good idea. The important thing is to get the customer to pay the invoice.
Not always the most modern solutions are the best. Something as classic as a prompt payment discount can be as effective as it is useful. It works for both parties: the client receives a discount on the final price and we ensure payment quickly.
Although having established and fixed terms is ideal, we know that depending on the invoice and the client, sometimes it is necessary to make exceptions. For a very large invoice for a service that will last over time, we can offer the option of paying in installments or paying a percentage up front and the rest when it is finished.
In these cases it is important to study the situation and the client well, to ensure their solvency and if they will really be able to pay within the pre-established terms. We must have the same demand that is demanded of us as clients also when we are the ones who are on the other side.
4. Follow up
We cannot be unconcerned with an invoice once we issue it. On the contrary, it is there where we have to be more aware if we really want to receive payment.
The same goes for received invoices. The ideal is to pay them at the moment and thus be able to forget, but this is not always possible and the fact that the expiration date is in the future also makes us relax.
It is important to periodically review the status of all invoices, but especially those pending payment and collection.
In the case of those that we must pay, verify their maturity and calculate when we will make the payment and if we will meet the established deadlines.
In the case of those that we must collect, try to find out what state the client is in. If the expiration date is very close and we have not heard from the client, contacting them through a message or email, reminding them and attaching the invoice for convenience can be a good option.
Without sounding threatening, obviously, but reminding them that there is an invoice pending payment that is close to its due date.
If, for any particular reason, we have invoices with special circumstances, we must pay particular attention. In the case of a discount for prompt payment, verify if the discount has been made, or in the case of payment in installments, verify if the installments have been paid regularly.
5. Organization
The last point, but definitely not the least important, is the organization of everything related to billing.
Using software to help us with billing is a very good way to have documents and invoices in order, but if we decide not to use them, we must pay equal attention to ensuring that everything is accessible and in its place.
If there is a lack of organization, it is much more likely that mistakes will occur, dates will be missed and we will end up paying extra fines or taxes for something that could have been easily avoided. That is, disorganization is diametrically opposed to increasing billing efficiency.
This does not only apply to documents, having an established routine can greatly optimize our billing process. If we study the process, we can surely find solutions to make it work in the best possible way.
In short, it is necessary to study and get to know our billing process in depth to be able to find bugs and improvements and, above all, to be able to apply all the tips we have talked about to increase billing efficiency.
