Invoice management is one of the pillars of the foundation of a business. The better the way invoices are managed, the stronger a business will be. But how to manage invoices consisting of sheets of paper is not an easy matter. The manual work of processing invoices, from receiving, verifying, approving, to storing them, requires extra effort so that nothing goes unchecked.
A study by Sapio Research and Wax Digital found that as many as 82% of the finance departments of the 200 companies surveyed admitted that they had trouble handling the many invoices that had to be processed per day. In addition to many, the invoices also vary. But given the importance of the invoice and how much benefit it can bring to the company, the finance team still has to do it.
In general, invoice processing takes a long and tortuous time. After the invoice comes in, the team receives and checks it, then submits it to the supervisor who is authorized to give approval. If approved, the invoice is then processed in the company’s resource planning system and paid.
This process is often colored by errors in entering data and resulting in delays or delays in business processes. Not to mention the scattered or missed invoices during the approval process. It is this problem that underlies the emergence of automation technology for automated invoice processing.
A business usually requires invoices in business activities. These invoices help companies track and pay suppliers or business partners. In simple terms, the process starts from receiving a bill from a third party, verifying its contents, and then processing the final invoice. But that’s just the outline. In practice, managing invoices is a tedious job.
Invoices are usually given to people in the company who handle a particular project or job. The person then forwarded it to the finance team. If there is a problem with the bill, the finance team will return it to the first person to send it. The employee then sends the invoice back to the supplier or business partner for correction and then returns to the initial process.
However, even if the invoice from the supplier is correct, there is still the possibility of problems. For example, the data entry officer mistakenly entered data into the company’s invoice management system. Likewise in the process of paying bills through banks.
Fortunately, now there is a technology for automated invoice processing. This process is not without the risk of errors. But the use of software in the billing system will greatly help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the company, especially the finance team.
Benefits of automatic invoice management
Using automation technology to manage invoices provides a number of benefits. Among them:
Less risk of error
The conventional way to manage bills is by manual means, including data entry. This manual process is error-prone because it is done by humans. Meanwhile, software technology makes invoices more accurate. Automation of the invoice process, among others, can:
- Minimize human error
- Prevent double or more payments
- Making reports, financial planning, and audits much more accurate and practical
- Automatically marks found anomalies
Save Cost
In most businesses, money is one of the prime movers. This is in line with the concept of automatic invoice management, which is to save costs. Through the use of digital technology, the amount of energy required to process bills can be reduced. The risk of additional costs or burdens due to data errors can be reduced.
Save Time
Timing is everything if you want to move your business forward. When the finance team can do their job of managing invoices automatically, they can spend more time on other, just as important, work.
Report wakefulness history
One of the big challenges in managing invoices is keeping each document from being lost or scattered. This challenge is easily overcome by using billing management software that is able to store report history and is easily accessible at any time.
Integrated
Invoicing software generally offers a wide range of services, not just invoicing. Through this technology, companies can not only approve billing submissions but also process disbursements at the same time.
How to automate invoice management
Bills can be managed automatically from the first time they are received. From the second that policies and procedures for billing management are in place, automation can take place. Broadly speaking, this automation means placing the entire process from upstream to downstream in one processing machine. These machines are supported by the technological capability to execute predefined billing policies and procedures.
Create invoices with available invoices as needed. Invoice forms are available online and can be downloaded by anyone who needs them, especially for processing recurring invoices. Invoice management is not an easy job because of many influencing factors. Automation technology through software such as Medius can help ease the work that is very important in building this business.