What are the benefits of E-invoicing?

In the paper-laden trenches of traditional invoicing, battles with lost documents, manual data entry, and glacial payment cycles sap precious time and energy. But fear not, weary finance frontiersmen! A digital cavalry charges to the rescue – the mighty benefits of e-invoicing. Imagine invoices leaping through cyberspace, automatically populating systems, triggering swift payments, and minimizing errors. This futuristic battlefield isn’t a fantasy; it’s the exhilarating reality of e-invoicing.

According to the latest Billentis report, ‘the use of electronic invoicing is estimated to grow by 11% this year in the B2B2G area, and 7% in the B2C APAC market’. Various APAC governments are well ahead on their journey with introducing e-Invoicing compliance norms. Australia & New Zealand, Singapore leading the pack with introducing mandates by 2019 – Singapore introduced the nationwide InvoiceNow initiative in 2019.

Hong Kong and Malaysia have also made significant progress on this front already, and nations like Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea are planning to launch their e-Invoicing mandates by the end of 2022. India & Taiwan implemented an e-Invoicing mandate in 2020, and in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia is taking steps towards an E-Invoicing by the end of this year, and it will be mid-2021 for Kuwait and Turkey.

But the benefits of e-invoicing extend far beyond mere time savings and digital glee. Join us as we unearth this treasure trove of advantages, from fortifying your bottom line to nurturing supplier relationships and planting the seeds of sustainable practices. Ditch the paper chase and hop aboard as we journey through the vibrant landscape of e-invoicing. Buckle up, prepare to unlock hidden efficiencies, and discover how this powerful tool can catapult your business towards a future of streamlined workflows, financial clarity, and a competitive edge. Let’s dive into the benefits of e-invoicing and conquer the battlefield together!

What is E-Invoicing?

Electronic invoicing (e-Invoicing) is the invoice document exchange between a supplier and a buyer in an integrated electronic format. It fully automates the process of invoice capture with data being read and routed straight from the supplier into the buyer’s AP system regardless of the format of the invoice. Both suppliers and buyers can manage invoicing data on a central cloud-based platform.

Read our blog on: Unlock The Value of Digital Transformation by Adopting E-Invoicing

What are the main benefits of E-Invoicing that procurement and AP-finance teams can leverage?

1. Streamlined & efficient processes that reduce the turnaround time

   Due to e-Invoicing, organizations can receive invoices in any format from different suppliers, including image-based invoices. Electronic invoicing provides a single platform for managing all accounts payable information and processes. Business users can easily access, sync, and aggregate information between various systems and devices, with no duplication of content.

   E-invoicing is important in helping organizations streamline their invoice processing cycles, reducing the man-hours required for invoice processing, approving, tracking, and chasing invoices and human errors. Implementing it ultimately results in a much faster turnaround time. Enabling the team to leave behind tasks that are often repetitive and time-consuming by nature makes room for strategic tasks that add value. Overall efficiencies thus result in greater savings for the organization in terms of optimal utilization of resources and increased productivity. 

   Read our Whitepaper- How to Plan for AP Transformation Success

2. Better Visibility and Transparency

   Electronic invoicing uniquely improves visibility into invoices, purchase orders, supporting documentation, and contracts. It tracks invoices and provides detailed audit trails. All of the functionality is available through an end-to-end native mobile e-invoicing application.

   Learn more: 7 Steps of an Effective Procurement Process

3. Increased Accuracy

   You can ensure accuracy due to improved visibility and end-to-end tracking. You can also track invoice validation, approvals, and payment in real-time. This significantly reduces the errors and issues, ensuring no more accuracy issues, leading to overpayments and duplicate payments. E-Invoicing is thus an important factor for enabling a closed audit trail to simplify tracking and settlement.

4. Higher Compliance

   An e-Invoicing system is more than just a platform for filing digital invoices. E-Invoicing enables a higher level of compliance with ease. It is especially necessary when it comes to regulatory compliance, e.g., Peppol being the norm in Europe and Asian countries like Singapore.

   Download our Whitepaper- Accelerate e-Invoicing Compliance with PO to Payment Automation

5. Reduced Risk

   Greater visibility into trade and transactions also means a reduced risk of invoice fraud, human error, duplication, oversight, etc. Organizations can save countless hours and resources in time taken for cross verification and due diligence when an efficient system is in place that does not leave much scope for such risks to enter the processing cycle.

   

6. Insights into spend and savings

   E-invoicing enables efficient tracking of every last dollar spent and saved. This essentially helps the leadership and procurement teams to track and gather strategic insights on cost centers and identify opportunities to save more, like early payment discounts. The data available on hand thus helps in better and more informed decision-making, saving both time and resources.

7. Green initiative

   By making the switch to e-Invoicing, you can eliminate the requirement of paper-based invoices. In addition to being energy-efficient, you can reduce both the wastage and costs associated with paper-based processes used within your supply chain processes. 

   Download our Whitepaper- Charting the Course for Global E-invoice Compliance

AI Unleashes the Hidden Benefits of E-Invoicing

Artificial intelligence is injecting e-invoicing with superpowers. Imagine robotic minds meticulously extracting data from invoices, automatically matching them to purchase orders, and even flagging potential discrepancies before human eyes can blink. AI accelerates verification, minimizes errors, and streamlines approval processes, turning invoice processing from a mundane chore into a lightning-fast waltz of efficiency. This frees up valuable human resources, unlocking strategic focus on deeper supplier relationships and cost optimization. Buckle up, because AI-powered e-invoicing is the express lane to financial agility and a competitive edge in today’s data-driven world.

Read our blog on: Artificial intelligence in Accounts Payable

Zycus’ Merlin Experience Center takes AI in e-invoicing to the next level. Its powerful Invoice Reader uses AI to automatically extract data from invoices with lightning speed and uncanny accuracy, minimizing errors and slashing processing times. Plus, Merlin’s AP Smart Desk leverages AI to understand email intent, automate responses, and guide customers through every step of the e-invoicing journey. Experience the benefits firsthand through interactive demos and discover how Zycus’ AI-powered solutions can transform your e-invoicing landscape, one invoice at a time.

In conclusion:

E-Invoicing has become one of the most strategic steps companies are taking towards digitization of processing cycles. With governments worldwide, especially in Asia, introducing mandates and working on implementing the frameworks to enable e-Invoicing such as Peppol, for example, it is the right time to invest in e-Invoicing if you haven’t already and take your business to the level. 

Explore how Zycus’ E-invoicing solutions can simplify your transition to electronic invoicing.

Talk to our AP Experts today!

Related Read:

1. Reduce the invoice processing time to less than 5 days with Zycus’ AP Automation Software
2. Unlock the value of digital transformation by adopting e-invoicing
3. Explore how E-Invoicing is changing the role of today’s Accounts Payable
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5. Setting Up Internal Controls in Accounts Payable Processes
6. Top 7 reasons to Digitize Accounts Payable
7. 5 Key Benefits of Enhancing Your Business with an e-Invoice Generation Tool
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