Today there are many aspects of invoice technology that can improve the invoice process for organizations. The first invoice may be over 20,000 years old and etched into bone, and thankfully we have come a long way since then. However with major advances in accounting technology, printed paper of a PDF invoice is now considered antiquated as well. Here are some areas invoice technology can impact your organization.
Digitization: Invoice digitization is one of the most important aspects of invoice technology. An invoice is a dated and addressed list of goods sent or a summary of services provided with pricing and tax details. The digitization of the invoice allows for the information to support automated processes and unlocks the information within the invoice. This is the first and often most important step.
Workflow: There are many different workflows that invoice processing can benefit from. An organization with distributed locations and purchasers can mean a complicated invoice approval process. Workflows can be set-up to automatically route invoices based on product/service, location, dollar amount, and other factors to the right people. It can also then track the progress, all the while giving the finance team improved visibility of the data.
Machine learning/AI: Machine learning and AI have many applications. It will also have a significant impact on invoice technology. This could mean a range of things from understanding a new supplier invoice, assigning things like GL codes automatically, routing to the right contact, helping prevent fraud, and much more.
Security: There is an increasing risk of invoice fraud. Unfortunately the manual processes that is widely practiced by many organizations help to contribute to this issue. Invoice technology can help by matching versus POs, identifying new vendors, prevent malware, and even checking the IP address from suppliers. Invoice security features will be a necessity for all organizations moving into the future.
Payment: Cheques are still used frequently in North America, but this is changing quickly. For instance, in Europe, cheques will be banned in 2020! This is just an indication that there are many other ways to pay using digital methods (https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/300214). In the past, it was easier for larger organizations, but now there are solutions for SMEs to expedite payments.
Integration: Many larger organizations have all encompassing ERPs that include many of the technologies based in this post. For SMEs, it is often necessary to connect different systems together to best leverage invoice technology. Many accounting and finance solutions have marketplaces that connect to other apps or software products that have APIs.
Government reporting: Many governments around the world require electronic invoices and reporting. As of 2018 this included a range of countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, and the list continues to grow. One of the biggest factors for these countries is helping to capture tax revenue.
If you would like to understand how OnePosting is using invoice technology to help organizations like yours, then please connect with us for a meeting.
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