Consider Online Invoice and Payment Systems

Businesses today are turning to a more time- and labor-efficient method of billing and paying expenses. Electronic invoicing and payment can not only saves your company the cost of paper and stamps but also can cut the time and energy it takes to send and receive invoices and payments.

Eliminate Paper Bills
Online invoicing and payment benefits both businesses and its customers, says Shan Haq, vice president of product management at Transcepta, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based company that provides Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) solutions for businesses.

The main reason businesses and customers use electronic billing is to eliminate the use of paper, Haq says. “For the vendor, this means eliminating time and hassle spent on printing and stuffing envelopes. For the buyer, this means eliminating data entry of inbound paper invoices,” he says.

Speedy and On Time
Electronic invoicing and payment streamlines billing and can even save you the cost of processing payments. Most online invoicing services allow you to e-mail your customers with a link to where they can access their online bill on an encrypted site. Late payment reminders can also be e-mailed, which can help your customers stay on top of their payments and gets you paid faster.

“Billers generally have huge savings because they find that people pay faster, and they’re not late,” says Steve Bolaris, vice president of sales and marketing at FSSI, a Santa Ana, Calif-based company that provides paper and electronic invoicing and payment solutions.

“When a bill is paid electronically, vendors typically enjoy faster payment, cheaper processing costs and simplified invoices to payment reconciliation,” Haq adds.

Security Concerns
For many companies that have yet to convert to online invoicing and payment, security often is a main concern. However, businesses might be better off sending and receiving payments electronically, rather then through the mail, Bolaris says. “All data transmissions are encrypted and data is constantly backed up so that there is never a loss of data,” he says. “There are also a number of layers in building security where data servers are physically kept.”

“The postal service does a fabulous job of delivering about a billion pieces of mail a day,” Bolaris says. “But security is actually higher online than through the postal service because mail can be stolen out of a mailbox.”

“An envelope passed all over the place has inherent vulnerability,” Haq adds. “If invoices and payments are transmitted electronically, you know that the invoice is being delivered securely, accurately and timely.”

Accuracy Online
Online bill payment can help reduce billing mistakes. For example, consumers who pay electronically receive a transaction confirmation. “If I made a $50 payment using the corporate card and mistyped a number, it will tell me immediately that there was an error,” Bolaris says.

Small business accounting software such as Quick Books may be appropriate for general record keeping and billing, but electronic invoicing may be a better solution for growing companies, Bolaris says. “It gives larger billers a very strong platform upon which to build and grow business.”