Paperless is a definite buzzword in the hire industry. In an effort to become greener, more efficient and more productive, we are all looking for ways to reduce the paper trail and go 100% paperless.
When you think of paper in your business, what’s your first thought? Tackling lost invoices that have been mislaid in the post? A never-ending invoice archive of ‘must keep for HMRC’ paper storage? Endless hours at the printer? You will be delighted to hear that there IS a solution!
Hire companies across the nation have been steadily adopting electronic invoicing into their day-to-day rental operations. Whilst going paper-free in your invoicing is of course beneficial to your business, the benefits don’t end there.
Getting your invoices paid on time
As with any business, rental or not, speedy invoice processing is key to managing your cash flow and ensuring nothing gets missed. Not only does manual paper invoicing have a tendency to be error-prone, but it also carries an element of uncertainty. Once an invoice leaves your office in an envelope, you are out of control. Will it get there on time? Will it get there at all? If it does get there, will it be delivered to the correct person?
By switching to electronic invoicing, you can completely cut out any worry. You can guarantee that your invoice will get to the right person almost immediately. With a faster turnaround on payments, less lengthy invoice queries and fewer active credit notes, you can monitor your financials closely and accurately.
Saving your own valuable time
How long does it take you to prepare sort and dispatch your paper invoices? Does it feel excessively time consuming and labour intensive? Sometimes, your end of month invoice run can go on for days: visually checking invoices, printing them, stuffing envelopes, getting them in the post…it can feel never ending, not to mention costly! If a client has many contracts ready to invoice, you also face the task of trying to batch up multiple invoices. Just imagine having a more effortless way of doing this…
Automating or digitising part or all of your invoicing process and getting it done electronically, not only makes the end of month jobs far less daunting, but also means you can focus your team’s efforts elsewhere in the business in key revenue-generating roles!
Reducing costs
Once you’ve adopted electronic invoicing in place of your manual paper based processes, you will soon witness a reduction in cost to your business. Not only is the printing itself costly with paper, ink, postage, resupplying invoices that get lost in the post and everything else that comes with manual invoicing, but also the endless hours spent processing them!
Fitting-in with your clients
Flexibility and customer service is important to any business wanting to grow. As technology improves, you are more frequently expected to use e-invoicing in XML format by your key clients. This helps to smooth out the invoicing process and gets invoices paid as soon as possible. XML consolidates your data into an internationally recognised consistent feed. You will be able to trade with larger corporations all over the world, as if they were next door. Electronic invoicing is even a requirement for many organisations to accept a new supplier. Of all the benefits, this can give you the edge to win new client contracts.
Electronic invoicing can really transform your business. Whether you want to be greener, more efficient, more productive, save time, reduce hassle, increase revenue, improve customer loyalty, electronic invoicing is the answer. If you would like to find out more about electronic invoicing for your business, contact us today to find out more about our rental software and electronic invoicing options and solutions.