Although e-invoicing has been a highly common first deployment by way of automation in the past few years, many firms have yet to truly establish a strategy to get the ball rolling on these matters. The dangers of not embracing this technology are directly tied to competitive matters, as corporate purchasers, consumers and even government agencies are increasingly demanding that vendors and other businesses have this service in place.
From streamlining the ebb and flow of accounts receivable and payable to reducing the rate of error in the reporting process, e-invoicing can have profoundly positive impacts on the average organization. Now, researchers and analysts are beginning to urge organizations to get on board with these deployments as soon as possible to avoid falling behind the curve with respect to competition in their respective markets and optimal accounting practices.
Inside the trend
E-invoicing Platform recently reported that analysts from Gartner have listed e-invoicing technologies as reaching a state of relative maturity in the market, recommending that companies which have not yet considered these deployments get moving on provisions soon.
"Start evaluating e-invoicing project opportunities now, regardless of your company's vertical industry or financial shape," the researchers wrote, according to the news provider. "The pressure to do some form of e-invoicing will increase, no matter where you are, or the size of your business. Sooner or later, you will face the hard deadline of a government mandate. Choose a solution that addresses internal and multi-enterprise business processes, IT infrastructures, laws and security, and that it's certified by tax auditors for as many countries as possible."
The source went on to explain that Gartner is expecting the next stage of e-invoicing's evolution to take place in the next five to 10 years, and this will be characterized by a greater breadth of integration with other solutions and services.
Takeaways for business owners
At the end of the day, the use of e-invoicing solutions will likely become mandatory before long, and companies that optimize their arrangements for these technologies today will have a significant jump on competitors. In fact, there are already solutions and strategies available to reach optimal integration of e-invoicing with other accounting automation tools, including reporting analytics.
Rather than waiting until this is a mandatory service, proactive implementation can separate one business from competitors in its market.
