Riding on a wave of the global e-invoicing revolution
You’ve probably heard that e-invoicing has become (or is going to be) mandatory in various parts of the world. Italy, France, Germany, Poland – the list of countries in favour of electronic document exchange goes on and on. Some people are surprised that the companies operating within those markets do not express disapproval of e-invoicing. After all, it is not unusual to expect a negative response whenever something becomes obligatory. However, most businesses consider e-invoicing as an opportunity to grow and improve. Why is that?
Because of the list of benefits resulting from utilising e-invoicing, which by the way is much longer than the list of countries that have already joined the so-called e-invoicing revolution. It includes reduced operational costs, fewer manual procedures, enhanced data accuracy, space savings, ease-of-use, state-of-the-art security. And the more e-invoicing features are developed as part of modern data exchange platforms, the more benefits their users gain. Real-time monitoring of transactions is an excellent example of that.
So, what’s the deal with real-time monitoring?
First things first – e-invoicing is not only about sending and receiving digitally signed documents. It is about managing the entire invoice lifecycle, which (of course) involves issuing an invoice, as well as transferring and storing large amounts of sensitive data.
Using a modern e-invoicing platform, you can monitor the invoice lifecycle effectively. It means you can have both a complete overview of all actions in progress and full control over inbound AP (Accounts Payables) and outbound AR (Accounts Receivables) flows.
For instance, you can verify any given invoice registration process as it is performed (no matter the types of document formats or input sources in use). The same applies to monitoring the three-way-matching processes and approval workflows. Of course, you can also make changes to ongoing processes whenever you feel it is necessary.
To provide a high level of traceability and reporting, the platform keeps all the information about operations performed in the past (names, dates, products, document versions, etc.). Thus, it is possible to generate detailed reports based on that data.
And because the platform allows you to monitor all documents that are part of e-invoicing transactions in real-time, it also enables you to reduce the number of human errors that, as you probably know, happen very often (especially in businesses that keep running their invoicing operations using paper documents). Plus, being able to see and correct any mistake before the transaction reaches its final stage helps you reduce operational costs significantly.
Fig. Comarch E-Invoicing Solution
Creating a digital culture at your company
The general idea behind this article was to discuss both the technological and non-technological advantages resulting from e-invoicing. Electronic document exchange is more than an innovative technique. It is actually one of the ways by which you can build a new, modern working environment where many operations and processes are automated. Thus, another value brought by e-invoicing is the introduction of the digital culture at your company. And remember, not only will it beneficial for you, but your business partners as well.
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About Vincenzo Cirillo
Vincenzo Cirillo leads global documents management & Data exchange solutions at Comarch, drawing on his extensive experience in the supply chain and automotive industry in several countries. He has developed a passion for enabling digital business.
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