Did you know that 39 percent of invoices in the United States of America are paid late? Collecting the money that you’re owed for your goods and services is a difficult and frustrating task, but it doesn’t have to be. Choosing to automate invoices will make the lives of your employees much easier and it will ensure that you have strong cash flow each month.
One thing that often gets overlooked when it comes to invoice automation is the role that invoice software can play. If you haven’t considered getting an invoice system for automatic invoices that get sent to your customers then it is time to think again.
The good news is that you’re in the right place to learn more about how to automate invoices for your business needs. Keep reading to learn more!
Email Reminders When Invoices Are Coming Due
The first thing that you should look into doing when you automate invoices is having automatic email reminders that get sent out to your customers. These email reminders will get sent in the days leading up to the invoice coming due so that your customers are more likely to pay you on time.
It doesn’t make sense to send reminder emails after the payment is already past due. You’ll have much better odds of getting the money that your customer owes if you remind them well in advance. The best approach is to purchase invoice software that gives you the option to send reminders 14 days before it is due, 7 days before the payment is due, and three days before the payment is due.
It is a friendly way to give them a bit of a nudge about the money that they owe you in case they forgot. You can get pricing information for a great invoice system for your business.
Email Reminders When Invoices Are Due
The next thing that you should automate when it comes to invoicing for your business is emails when the invoice is due. Sometimes customers forget to pay, which is why you’re using automated invoice processing to remind them that they still owe you money for your goods or services.
Having automated invoice processing will not only let you send the customer a reminder but will also make it much easier for the customer to pay.
Reminders When Invoices Are Past Due
When you’re running a business you’re bound to encounter late payments at some point or another. Even with invoice software that sends automated reminders, you’ll still have customers that forget to pay. Still, it is a waste of your valuable time to spend hours trying to follow up with customers about missed payments.
Automated emails and invoice automation go a long way towards saving you valuable time and money when running your business. These emails will get sent to customers as soon as the system recognizes that payment is late. You can even set reminders in the days following the late payment so that the customer has better odds of paying.
Recurring Invoices
You can also consider going with recurring invoices for customers that you do a lot of business with. No one wants to create the same invoice over and over at your company. With invoice automation, you can automate the generation of your invoices for these recurring customers to save yourself time and money.
A good invoice system will generate a unique invoice identification number each time you make an invoice for a customer. You’ll have a much easier time tracking these payments and staying organized when you use invoice software and start to automate your invoices.
Automatic Payment Options
If you want to let automation provide even more value for your business then you can allow for automatic payments with your recurring customers. You won’t have to contact the customer since the payments will happen at the same time and on the same day each month.
It is advisable that you avoid doing this unless it is with a business or customer that you’ve got a great deal of trust in. Your customer will also need to trust you because they’ll be linking their credit card to your business for these recurring payments. Still, it makes life much easier for both you and your customer since the entire transaction is automated.
You can also link their account with your company to their corporate bank account. No credit card information is required and the monthly payment of whatever they owe gets charged directly to their account.
Scheduled Automated Invoices
If you’ve managed to generate a sale with a new customer but you’re not at a point where you’re ready to send them the invoice then you can use invoice software to schedule an automated invoice. Doing this will allow you to email the customer a copy of the invoice for them to pay without you needing to create a reminder.
It is great when you’ve taken on a new client but you won’t start doing business with them for a few weeks or months. If you know what they need then you can schedule an automated invoice to send to them.
Digital Archiving
Manually organizing all of your invoices can be a daunting task, but going with automated invoices will make running your business much easier. You’re required by law to keep all of your business invoices for a minimum of seven years, which means that you’d need a ton of filing cabinets.
Digital archiving will allow you to store all of your digital invoices that you’ve set up to get sent to your customers. It takes a massive burden off of your shoulders since you can automate them to store themselves.
Automate Invoices for Your Business
Choosing to automate invoices is a sure way to save a ton of time and money for your business. It provides a gentle reminder to your customer that they have a payment coming up, or that they’re past due. It is also perfect for recurring customers that you do business with.
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