Although e-invoicing has been around for quite a few years, many believe that it still has plenty of room to grow given the relative lack of acceptance and adoption on a large scale. Certain industries have already embraced these solutions, which have been found to reduce the risk of hemorrhaging cash flow, increase employee engagement and drive productivity higher, but others are still dragging their feet. 

One thing has become clear in the past few years, though, and that is the fact that once e-invoicing begins to take hold, it has the potential to spread like wildfire. Many of the core advantages of using these solutions are directly aligned with simple best practices of business management, and decision-makers who have not yet thought about deploying these tools should certainly do so soon to capture the immense benefits. 

South of the border
Many of the more recent examples of how e-invoicing can become extremely popular in a short period of time have taken place overseas, but offer some perspective to American firms as well. E-Invoicing Platform, an advocacy group for the industry, recently reported that e-invoicing has grown 300 percent in the first six months of 2014 when compared to 2013, while tax-related forms and electronic billing have been the largest areas of growth. 

The organization noted that 2014 actually marks the tenth year of e-invoicing in the Mexican government, but the technology finally appeared to catch on around last April. 

"The task in the country is exploring the benefits of electronic invoicing and will take over a year to adapt to cultural population changes and leave behind the resistance," authors of the study from El Economista affirmed, according to the source. "To achieve this objective, authorized certification providers (PAC) have worked with the Tax Administration Service (SAT) to provide taxpayers electronic billing services and solutions."

Back in the states
E-invoicing is not exactly rare in the United States, as government agencies, health care providers and others have already started to embrace these automated technologies. Still, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and virtually any organization that has an accounts receivable and payable department can see immediate improvements following the deployment of e-invoicing solutions. 

Proactively implementing these solutions provides the opportunity to stimulate efficiency improvements, including a reduction of collection problems and increase in the accuracy of audits.