
Maybe you forgot to itemize the services that team members performed, or perhaps you didn’t realize that your customer needed its purchase order printed on the invoice in a specific way. Any discounts or other incentives for paying early.Instead, use "Due X days from invoice issue date." Common phrases that can cause confusion include: "Due X days from receipt.", "first working day" and "end of month".
UNABLE TO ENTER PAYMENT IN BEE INVOICING HOW TO
The types of payments accepted and exactly how to pay.Billing breakdown: Did you charge hourly or by the project? Are there any fees baked in?.Detailed, itemized list of invoiced items.Either way, have a process in place to thoroughly review invoice data before hitting “send.” Your automated system should flag these types of issues for you, or you can review them by hand to ensure all fields are filled in with logical, relevant information. Having consistent, updated data across your systems is crucial, which is why it helps to have an enterprise resource planning system (ERP) to tie it all together. Note any discounts or incentives for paying early as well as late penalties and types of payments accepted. That will help your customers manage their own payment schedules without having to guess at when an invoice is actually due. When the data that customers require to be able to process invoices is missing, there’s a good chance your payment will fall to the back of the line until someone figures out the problem.įor example, instead of simply using “upon receipt” as a due date, be very specific about exactly when an invoice is due. If you want your invoices to be paid on time and without the need for additional human intervention, they have to be accurate. By making the invoice as simple to understand as possible, the approval process will go more smoothly because both the accounting department and the approver understand exactly what they’re paying for. This can lead to confusion over invoices, and it’s especially problematic if you are selling multiple different products or services to the same customer, and invoicing them multiple different times.Ĭircumvent this problem by being as clear as possible with your invoicing language and format and by using the original purchase order (PO), job quote or other documentation to come up with your descriptions. While the language used on your invoices may be clear enough to you (we performed X job in exchange for X number of dollars), your customers may view that messaging through a different lens. Look for an automated system that can be set to flag and alert you when invoices have gone unviewed for a certain period of time. That’s a signal that they’re not being received or reviewed. Make sure the correct email address is associated with each customer’s account and that you regularly check for “unviewed” invoices.
UNABLE TO ENTER PAYMENT IN BEE INVOICING SOFTWARE
This can significantly impact cash flow, not to mention force you to start the invoicing process all over again.Īvoid this problem by using financial software that not only automatically mails or sends invoices directly to the right person in your customer’s accounts payable department, but that also alerts you when the invoice has been opened and viewed. And if you’re using net 30 payment terms with your customers-and you don’t receive automatic confirmations of receipt-then it may be a month or more before you even realize that the invoice is missing. If invoices aren’t getting to their intended recipients, they’re not going to get paid. The good news is that there are steps you can take to reduce invoice errors and instill a high rate of confidence within your customer base. Repeated errors will raise these potential red flags even higher and force your customers to rethink whether they want to do business with you (or not). And when you don’t get paid, you can’t compensate your employees or cover your overhead.Įrrors in the invoicing process can also stir up customer suspicions about your business practices. Get it wrong, and you won’t get paid or you’ll get paid late for your products or services, which really impacts your cash flow. The process also requires accuracy and timeliness.

Invoicing is foundational for any company. Your company may do excellent work, have dedicated team members and serve a great group of customers, but if its invoicing function isn’t performing properly, you won’t be in business for long. East, Nordics and Other Regions (opens in new tab)
