According to a CNBC report, private companies and government agencies alike, can save a lot of money by opting to transition to e-invoicing. The report states that the U.K. government sends approximately 100 million invoices every year, each costing £40 in processing. Sending invoices electronically would reduce this processing cost per invoice to £4 (cnbc.com, Electronic INVOICING COULD SAVE STATE GOVERNMENTS BILLIONS IN COST AND EFFICIENCY, 2015). These savings in costs are complemented by increased revenue generation and identification of cash flow potential. These are just some of the benefits of opting to transition to an e-invoicing system. Given below are other reasons why e-invoicing is important for any organization.
Eliminates Paper Invoicing
Paper invoicing can leave margin for human error, requires huge space for storage, and involves a great deal of effort and expense. Transitioning to e-invoicing can result in huge savings. According to the European Association of Corporate Treasurers, companies can save up to 80% of their costs by shifting to electronic invoicing (eur-lex.europa.eu, COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT IMPACT ASSESSMENT ACCOMPANYING THE DOCUMENT PROPOSAL FOR A DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL ON ELECTRONIC INVOICING IN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT, 2013)
Improves Process Automation
While reducing the costs of paper being used does save companies money, the efficiency that e-invoicing brings in makes it essential for organizations. Shifting to electronic invoicing systems eliminates time, cost and data errors that manual input can cause. It increases visibility across the system, thus, reducing the time spent in chasing payment status and improving accuracy.
Assists Compliance to EU Directives
Countries in the European Union are actively promoting the adoption of e-invoicing. This is in a bid to create a community where trading with partners in EU nations and nationally becomes simple and straightforward. As per directives, since January 1st, 2013, all EU countries treat e-invoices and paper invoices equally (einvoicingbasics.co.uk, EU DIRECTIVE AND OTHER COMPLIANCE ISSUES, 2016). In fact Norway, which started its public sector e-invoicing project in 2009, made efaktura i Norge a mandatory requirement in 2012 to great success (peppol.eu, ELECTRONIC INVOICING IN NORWAY, A STORY OF SUCCESS, 2014).
Encourages Going Green
According to some estimates it takes approximately 12 million trees to create 30 billion paper invoices that are exchanged in Europe each year. Transitioning to e-invoicing and the removal of these invoices will eliminate 3 million tonnes of CO2 from the environment (einvoicingbasics.co.uk, GREEN INITIATIVES, 2016). Being environment-friendly is one of the main reasons why EU has been an active proponent of the shift to e-invoicing.
A relatively stress-free, error-free process, electronic invoicing is a more efficient system and providers like Basware which connect organizations to central e-faktura aksesspunkt, can help companies make this transition in the most optimized manner.
