By Matthew Albert
“Let’s see…I’m on Short Line Railroad and need cash badly. 5 or higher! Let’s go!”
*rolls a 9*
“Sweet! 1…2…3…4…5..pass Go and take my $200, I’m so buying houses on this turn.
6…7…8…9…INCOME TAX?!”
And just like that, whatever ground you had gained in this game of Monopoly is out the window. Most of us can usually handle this moment once or twice during a game, but it gets really annoying when it keeps happening and you keep putting that $200 back in the bank with no return. At some point, it’s impossible to catch up on the ground you’ve lost (unless you get REALLY lucky later).
Paper invoicing is really similar to this nasty Monopoly situation. Continuing to stay with paper invoices puts you in a never-ending state of catch-up. When you rely on paper invoicing, you are losing ground to your competitors who do electronic invoicing. Compared to your competitors, your paper invoicing makes you slower, less efficient, and more prone to errors. Not to mention, in the event you actually get caught up on your paper invoices, there’s usually a whole slew of new invoicing events waiting for you that’ll put you right back on the defensive.
Switching to electronic invoicing probably already seems like a no-brainer, but we’ll give you a list of benefits anyway in case you’re still unsure. When you shift to electronic invoicing:
- You save money by not having to print and mail invoices. You also save time by not filling envelopes and by not going to the post office.
- You can easily replace an invoice in the event that the original gets lost.
- Replacement happens nearly instantly once you figure out what has gone wrong.
- You can send follow-up invoices just as quickly (if the first ones don’t get paid).
- Invoices aren’t subject to damage while in transit.
- Your processing speed goes up considerably.
- You can keep your contacts updated more quickly. If an e-invoice goes to a bad email address, you know about it on the same day. If a paper invoice goes to a wrong address, you find out about it way after the fact.
As we often preach on this blog, every business has its own needs. Keep these needs in mind as you search for e-invoice software. Do your homework on what each program offers and consult with your team as you make this switch. It may seem like a lot of work up front, but the long-term savings are absolutely worth it.