Digital invoice management makes you more productive than ever before.

1. Digital invoice management makes you more productive than ever before
2. What is digital invoice management?
3. How does digital invoice management work?
4. What is the difference between the process of digital invoice management and analog invoice management?
5. What are the benefits of digital invoice management?
6. Who is digital invoice management useful for?
7. What should be considered when digitalizing invoice management?
8. What software is suitable for digital invoice management?
9. Conclusion: analog invoice management was yesterday

Digital invoice management makes you more productive than ever before

A small step towards digitalization, a big step for your invoice management. Digital invoice management makes you more efficient and productive than ever before. By using suitable software, you manage your invoice processes at the push of a button and provide data and information where it is needed.

Here we give you full input, from definition to key features and benefits, to suitable tools and selection criteria.

What is digital invoice management?

Digital invoice management is defined by the process of creating, processing and storing invoices in digital form. The process usually involves the use of software tools and systems that replace the manual processing of paper invoices with automated processes.

As an entrepreneur, you can speed up your invoice processes by using electronic invoices (e-invoices) instead of paper invoices. This simultaneously reduces the need for paper and printing costs and reduces the risk of errors and delays that can occur when manually processing invoices.

A significant advantage results from the implementation of digital invoice management systems in improving compliance with tax regulations and legal provisions. For example, digital invoice management software can ensure that all relevant tax information is properly recorded and archived.

Overall, digital invoice management helps you streamline and automate your invoice processes, improve efficiency and reduce costs.

How does digital invoice management work?

As illustrated in the graphic, digital invoice management involves several steps, typically performed by specialized software. Looking at the processes of incoming and outgoing invoices in detail, they can be described as follows:

Outgoing invoices

1. Creation of the invoice: The invoice is typically created in PDF format.

2. Invoice shipment: The invoice is sent electronically to the recipient. This can be done by e-mail, an electronic invoice exchange (e-invoicing) or another electronic transmission method such as an invoice app.

3. Receipt of payment: The payment of the invoice is automatically recorded in the digital invoice management system. The invoice data is supplemented with the payment date and amount.

4. Monitoring of outstanding payments: If an invoice is overdue, the system automatically sends reminders to customers or creates reminders to ensure speedy payment.

5. Invoicing: After payment, the invoice is automatically archived. This makes it digitally available at any time without the need for manual archiving or filing.

Incoming invoices

1. Importing the invoice:Incoming invoices are received electronically or by mail and are recorded in the digital invoice management system.

2. Capture of invoice data:The invoice data is automatically read by the software. This captures all relevant information such as invoice number, date, performance period, amount and supplier information.

3. Invoice verification:The invoice data is automatically checked for completeness and correctness by the software. It also checks whether the invoice data matches orders or contracts and whether it complies with tax rules.

4. Release and assignment:After successful verification, the invoice is forwarded for release to the responsible employee. The employee manually checks the invoice and then posts it to a cost center or project.

5. Payment:Once the invoice has been approved, it is forwarded for payment to the accounting department.

6. Archiving:The invoice is automatically archived after the completion of the payment process, ensuring its digital availability and quick findability at any time.

What is the difference between the process of digital invoice management and analog invoice management?

In analog invoice management, invoices are received in paper form, manually recorded, checked, approved, paid and archived. As a result, the processes are more error-prone, slower and more costly. Additionally, it can be difficult to quickly find and access invoices. The high need for human resources required for the aforementioned processes is also essential.

In contrast, many of these processes can be automated with digital invoice management, reducing workload and freeing up human resources. The invoice processes are faster, safer and more cost-efficient.

Overall, digital invoice management offers higher transparency, traceability and control over the invoice processes, helping your company optimize business processes and save costs.

As illustrated in the graphic, digital invoice management involves several steps, typically performed by specialized software. Looking at the processes of incoming and outgoing invoices in detail, they can be described as follows:

What are the benefits of digital invoice management?

Time and cost savings

By using digital invoice management, your company can save time and costs. The automated processes in digital invoice management save time as manual steps and paper processes can be avoided. For example, you can automatically capture, check and archive invoices, reducing your manual labor effort and lowering costs.

The savings from eliminating paper, printing, postage and manual processes can be quite considerable and lead to significant cost savings.

Error avoidance

As mentioned earlier, you can minimize errors through automated processes. Human intervention is reduced, and rules and processes can be applied automatically. This increases the accuracy and reliability of invoice processes and avoids unnecessary costs and time losses due to corrections.

Defective invoices can also be quickly recognized and corrected, saving further time and costs and increasing supplier and customer trust in the company.

Fast processing

Digital invoice management enables fast processing of your invoices. Invoices can be quickly recorded, reviewed and approved, leading to faster payment processing and better cash flow. This also allows you to positively influence your supplier relationships, as fast payments usually lead to higher satisfaction and loyalty.

Easy access to invoices

With digital invoice management, your invoices can be electronically and automatically archived. The electronic access to all invoices facilitates the search for specific invoice documents and saves additional time. For example, you can easily call up invoices using the search function without having to search for them physically.

Electronic access also makes it easier to share information with other departments or locations.

Data security

By using encryption technologies and security measures, your invoice data is protected from unauthorized access. Digital invoice management systems provide granular access control to ensure that only authorized persons have access to the invoice data.

Additionally, digital invoice management systems can create an audit trail that records all activities performed in connection with an invoice, thus providing seamless monitoring of invoice processes.

Another benefit of digital invoice management is that the data can be stored on secure servers, reducing the risk of data loss due to accidents or theft. The digital invoices are therefore better protected than physical invoices, which could be stolen or damaged.

Improved compliance

Another advantage is compliance. All information can be electronically captured, stored and secured. This supports compliance with legal requirements and internal policies. A seamless documentation of the invoice processes is also possible, which is especially useful in the case of audits or checks.

Sustainability

Digital invoice management contributes to sustainability. The use of paper affects the environment, and the disposal of paper is expensive. The use of digital invoice management reduces your need for paper and thus contributes to the conservation of resources and the environment.

Who is digital invoice management useful for?

In short, digital invoice management is useful for any company that wants to optimize its invoice processes, become more efficient and secure, and go paperless. The benefits are therefore significant regardless of the size or industry of a company.

In short, digital invoice management is useful for any company that wants to optimize its invoice processes, be more efficient and secure, and go paperless. The benefits therefore accrue regardless of the size or industry of a company.

Likewise, digital invoice management is an aspect of a company's digitalization and thus a major contribution to business optimization.

What should be considered when digitalizing invoice management?

When digitalizing invoice management, you should also consider a few aspects to ensure that the introduction of digital invoice management is successful. The most important thing is to find the right tool.

The market offers a dizzying array of possible invoice management systems, but your software must above all comply with your requirements and business processes.

Here are the most important steps to find the best system for you:

• First, define your requirements for the invoice management tool. Examples could be automated invoice creation, integration with existing accounting systems, multi-currency support, user-friendliness, data security, availability of analysis and reporting functions, etc.
• Conduct a thorough research to find the available invoice management tools on the market. Especially look for reviews, test reports and expert and other user recommendations. Focus mainly on your requirements.
• Compare the features of the invoice management tools you are considering with your requirements. In particular, the functions that are most important to you should be compared thoroughly.
• Also, make sure that the invoice management tool is easy to use and provides an intuitive user interface. Test the demo versions or use free trial periods to see how easy it is to create and manage invoices.
• Can the system be integrated into your existing accounting system? If you are already using a software that maps part of the invoice processes, a complementary tool should definitely be compatible with it.
• The digital invoice management should also be able to be seamlessly integrated with ERP and DMS systems and existing digital processes. Therefore, make sure that the systems can communicate with each other.
• Does the tool provide GDPR standard? Check whether the system treats all data securely and confidentially. Look for a tool that offers secure data transmission and storage as well as two-factor authentication and encryption of sensitive data.
• Also, think about the future and make sure that the invoice management software is scalable and can keep up with the growth of your company. If you already know that you will be creating more invoices in the future, check whether the tool supports this expansion.
• Comparing the costs incurred is also particularly important. Therefore, compare licenses, subscription fees and upgrades of the systems you are considering.
• If you have two to three tools in the running, then allow yourself a sufficient test period. Check your requirements in a practical test and make sure that you can not only map, but also design your processes and workflows in a user-friendly way.

What software is suitable for digital invoice management?

We too want to speed up your processes and support you with a preselection of software options. You can call up the OMR Reviews in the Billing category for this purpose, or test the following tool recommendations against your requirements.

Check the features, compare the price information and use the reviews of experienced users, as well as the links to the providers themselves. If a software offers a free trial period, you will find this information at a glance.

orgaMAX Buchhaltung

Lexware Office

sevdesk

GetMyInvoices.com

DATEV

finway

easybill

Papierkram

More software tips for your accounting

If you want to use a software to map your accounting that also works well for free, you can inquire in this guide: free accounting software. Especially for small entrepreneurs we have researched thoroughly for suitable billing programs in the following article: Billing programs for small entrepreneurs. You can find out more about XInvoice here: Creation of XInvoice.

Conclusion: analog invoice management was yesterday

If you run a business, then invoicing is part of your duty. Digital invoice management significantly supports you in this and makes your revenues and expenses more transparent. It enables you to share, edit, analyze and file your invoice data in a targeted manner. Billing software can also affect other operational processes, to achieve higher efficiency and productivity, and thus support strategic decisions. Further factors such as sustainability, as well as better compliance with data protection and legal regulations, make analog invoice management very unattractive.