Like any finance process, invoice management has become a challenge. 82% of the finance departments find processing piles of invoices with multiple formats overwhelming. Despite good intentions, firms created billing processes that added complexity rather than facilitating invoice management. The processes were short-term solutions, the only suitable option available at that time. 

As the world embraces digitisation, It has become a crucial time to move beyond conventional data entry processes. Businesses must opt for the best practices to streamline the billing process.

What is Invoice Management?

Invoice management is the process firms use to monitor and pay supplier bills. To simplify, the procedure involves receiving the bill, verifying it, paying the supplier, and recording the payment. The process might seem uncomplicated and error-free. However, there are many parties involved, which increases the chances of mistakes.

Invoice management is the internal function of the procurement process, managed by the Accounts Payable (AP) department and issued by the accounting system. To avoid heavy fines, a business can regulate its payment method with invoice management software.

The Different Types of Invoices

1. Interim Invoice: In cases where orders or projects span an extended duration, vendors send invoices periodically, specifically when the work has begun but has yet to be completed.
2. Proforma Invoice: Vendors issue this type of invoice before any service or product has been rendered. It is to notify the buyer about the due date for paying the bill.
3. Final Invoice: The service provider issues the final bill detailing all the purchases made, services provided, and goods dispatched. It also includes the final balance due once all the transactions are made.
4. Recurring Invoice: The vendor issues this invoice at specific intervals for projects extended over a long duration.
5. Debit Invoice: This is a notification to make slight adjustments to existing invoices. When the vendor underbills the customer, they will get a debit invoice showing the balance due in detail.
6. Credit Invoice: Like a debit invoice, it also changes a previous payment. They show the amount owed to the customer and that they should prepare for a refund. This occurs in case the client was charged extra mistakenly or made duplicate payments accidentally.
7. Collective Invoice: A vendor issues this invoice when taking multiple customer orders. A collective invoice represents the total of all the individual invoice amounts.
8. Overdue Invoice: Customers receive an overdue invoice when they default on their payment. When someone is “defaulting on a payment,” it means that they did not send the vendor money within the due date.

The Common Challenges of Invoice Management

Although small businesses get a few invoices monthly, large companies receive hundreds and thousands of purchase invoices. Managing invoices in bulk is impossible, as every bill must be verified and vetted individually. Thus, businesses face many invoice management challenges like:

1) Invoice Management is Time-consuming

Manually processing invoices is a lengthy and time-consuming procedure. Every bill must be analysed, authenticated, and reconciled against invoices before approval. It takes weeks for a large business to process only one invoice.

Suggested Read: 8 Ways to Use Invoice Automation Software for an Efficient Billing Process

2) Delays in Payments Can Lead to Penalties

Manually managing invoices can result in human errors and cause payment delays. This can lead to heavy penalties depending on the vendor. Moreover, late payments cause vendor dissatisfaction and may lower a service’s quality standards.

3) Irregular Payments Make You Lose Credibility

Goodwill and credibility are two important things in any supplier-customer relationship. Irregular payment habits or several missed deadlines can make you lose your credibility as a client and result in a bad reputation. This can lead to losing the best deals with established suppliers or vendors.

4) Unclear Invoices Can Disrupt Cash Flow Management

Managing different invoices from multiple vendors takes a lot of work. Even if the accounts are up to date with payments, many vendors may need to send the bills on time. Another issue that arises is receiving bills twice for the same order. You may pay double for a single order, which brings the challenge of recovering the extra money. Such unprecedented payment outflow disrupts the firm’s cash flow. Furthermore, having an unclear overview of orders and exact costs can also disrupt the cash flow management in the firm.

Suggested Read: Maximise Financial Management with Online Accounting Software

5) Data Retrieval Complexities Can Lead to Data Contamination

Businesses process thousands of invoices every month. Several data points within the bills consist of numerical values spanning different categories. Retrieving this data traditionally can result in data pollution. Even a few minor mistakes can cause ongoing confusion, delayed payments, excessive expenditures, and missed transactions.

Best Practices for Invoice Management 

1) Prioritise Invoices

The accounts payable department should set invoice priorities, ensuring the bills are paid within the due date. Emphasising the significance of prioritising bills based on their timings helps avoid late payments. Moreover, if credit cards are used, directing payments toward individuals having the highest interest rates can result in long-term savings. 

2) Identify Bottlenecks for Streamlined Workflow

Having complex systems is what are the main reasons for payment errors. It is crucial to check the existing workflows and identify where the bottlenecks arise to mitigate their effects. Streamlining invoices promotes a centralised and standardised process throughout the company. Moreover, invoice automation can reduce the processing time and ensure accurate and timely payments. 

3) Create a Robust Fraud Detection

Dealing with finances always comes with a huge risk of fraud. There is even the possibility that your own team member will be involved in committing fraud. When paper checks were used as the only payment source, the fraud risk was even higher. The invoice processing automation will help mitigate the risk of fraud through approval systems and accurate audit trails. Showing a real-time status of the bills indicates errors and discrepancies that help the accountants see if there’s any fraudulent activity going on. 

4) Settling Disputes with Vendors

Failure to pay bills will create cash flow issues and damage your relationship with the vendor. Furthermore, settling disputes is essential to see if the vendor still fulfills your requirements. If you feel the vendor needs to fulfill your demands, consider finding a new vendor. Even if you have to end the relationship, it is good to end on good terms to keep your good reputation intact. 

5) Use Invoice Automation Process 

Automation removes the burden of accountants in generating and manually monitoring the movement of bills. It also eliminates several bottlenecks that arise due to traditional invoice management methods. 

Here’s how automated invoice processing is beneficial:

• Transparent invoice movement
• Improves relationships with vendors
• Streamlines procurement process
• Enhances employees’ productivity 
• Saves time and money

How Can RecordMe Help?

RecordMe, the AI-powered Financial Bot, offers invoice management software that revolutionises how your business handles financial operations. With RecordMe, you can unlock many benefits to enhance your invoice management processes significantly. Here’s how:

• Efficiency and Time Savings: Ensures quicker and error-free handling of invoices
• Accuracy and Compliance: Ensures accurate invoice processing and compliance with due dates to avoid penalties 
• Prioritisation: Helps you prioritise invoices based on due dates to avoid late fees
• Cost Savings: Offers an invoice automation software that eliminates the need to hire accountants to process invoices, helping you save costs
• Streamlined Workflow: Identifies bottlenecks in your workflow, optimises your processes, and reduces errors
• Fraud Detection: Real-time monitoring of financial transactions to mitigate the risk of fraud
• Invoice Automation: Removes the burden of manually tracking invoices, enhances transparency, and improves supplier relationships

Still, trying to understand how to generate and manage your invoices with greater accuracy and efficiency? Contact us!