[转载]Online Invoicing

January 15, 2014

Not just invoice, managing the entire accounting system, such as payroll, time-sheet, report generation, online will offer a variety of benefits to any business entity.

If you have a flourishing business, keeping a tab on the numerous invoices can be tedious and time-consuming, especially if you are just starting out and do not have the resources of a full-time accountant or bookkeeper. In such a case, you are left with no option but to spend your time managing and sending invoices, and following-up with your customers. You also have to keep a thorough record of all invoices for tax purposes. Not only is this tedious, but it will eat into your productive time, which you would rather employ towards business development. If you are facing a similar predicament, then don't worry. Today, there are several online invoicing software that offer you customized solutions. Not only this, but opting for online invoicing will help you generate and send invoices at a faster rate.

With an online invoicing software, you have the option of tweaking the program to suit your business requirement. For example, if you want to send every invoice with a break-up of costs, it can be managed easily. As the software offers you invoice templates, which can be customized to suit your need, you don't have to struggle with adjusting the word document before printing the file. You really don't need to possess any kind of accounting knowledge to handle it. All you have to do is key in the relevant information for the invoice.

Gone are the days when small businesses were dependent upon mail and courier service to send their invoice, and then wait for another few days for the acknowledgment receipt. Today, you can attach the invoice to an email and send it within a matter of seconds. As the invoice is generated through a software, the need for manual calculation is eliminated, thus doing away with the errors associated with manual work.

The ease of customizing means your invoice will bear your name or company logo. This will help in branding your service or business. Also, all invoices will look uniform and professional since they will be generated using a template. Moreover, following an online method of invoicing can reduce the time spent in follow-up. You don't have to worry about missing the due dates of sending reminders to defaulting customers. In online invoicing, this will be done automatically. Besides, sending invoices online will portray you as an organized and professional businessman.

It can be very difficult to keep a tab on the status of an invoice, whether payment has been received, is pending, or needs to be adjusted. With online invoicing, you can check the status of the bill at a glance. Unlike a paper invoice, an online invoice will be sent directly to the customer's account, leaving little room for a customer or client to make excuses that he/she never got the bill in the first place. Also, adding a read receipt facility will ensure that the customer receives and reads the invoice.

While your CPA will go through your business records before the year end to see if everything is in place, having an online invoicing system is definitely going to be of more help than your regular file of bills. It will tell him at a glance about the bills that are overdue, pending or unpaid for a long time. Invoices are needed for predicting cash flow, mandatory accounts, and finding the aged debtor analysis. These and other financial reports can be accurately generated through the invoicing software by entering the right amount of receivables and payables.

If your work requires you to travel a lot, you don't have to wait to get back to office for sending out invoices. With online invoicing, you are free to send out invoices from any nook and cranny of this world. An invoicing software will not only cut down on the cost of courier, postage, paper, printer, cartridge, etc., but it will also eliminate the need for an accountant to keep a record of your invoices. Apart from this, invoice records will be available to you as and when you require them.

Traditional invoicing methods leave you and your customers with too much of paperwork for managing and record-keeping purposes. Online invoicing will help save a lot of time and effort. Moreover, by saving paper, you will be contributing your bit towards a cleaner, greener environment.

Most online invoicing software provide online support and help via their website, or you can dial their helpline for any queries and problems related to the software.

If you are concerned about the possibility of software failure, loss of data, or system crash, don't worry, most leading invoicing software offer a backup of the data entered by you. Another area of concern can be online hacking and data theft. This issue can be tackled by providing password protection to your invoicing system, wherein the invoice can only be opened by the recipient by keying in the password.