E-mail Invoicing – A Mass Mailing Must!
E-mail invoicing is essential for a business with a sizeable client base. Customers receiving a service from a company must receive an invoice showing how much money is owed; and the faster this is done, the faster payment can be received. Invoicing by post is slower than online invoicing and so can delay the arrival of money with a business and reduce the amount of interest which can be gained on that money. It can be seen therefore, that online invoicing and e-mail invoicing increase rates of business and make companies richer.
How E-mail and Online Invoicing work
E-mail invoicing occurs as an automatic response to a customer being due a monthly service statement or having used a service provided by another company. The e-mail invoicing system is made aware of this necessity using a database which will trigger this automatic invoice sending when due. The customer will then read this invoice as part of the e-mail, or with online invoicing via a special link contained in the e-mail. This online invoicing link may be password protected for security.
The portal accessed through online invoicing will enable customers to see past invoices they have received from that company, as well as the present one. Customers using e-mail invoicing will also be able to store their invoices through the use of e-mail folders or downloading and saving the invoice document.
How do Online Invoicing and E-mail Invoicing compare to other methods?
Online invoicing and e-mail invoicing are both very secure when compared with other document distribution methods. An invoice sent in the post risks being lost or stolen, and due to its paper form, the sending company would not know that their document had not arrived with the customer. Online invoicing informs the sending company when the online invoice has been viewed. Similarly, e-mail invoicing will show the sender an e-mail delivery report if it has successfully been sent.
Security-wise, fax lies between post and e-mail as it is a less secure way to receive post and risks interception depending on the location of a person’s fax machine. Fax falls inferior to online and e-mail invoicing as fewer customers will have fax machines than will have the internet. Also, a fax invoice requires more effort to pay and as a paper document, can easily be lost or forgotten.
Finding a Balance
E-mail and online invoicing do not need to be a company’s exclusive document distribution methods. The Corcentric website can show that a balance between post, fax and online invoicing is the better option for many companies. The outsourcing of this task can also be a way to balance e-mail invoicing with other methods of document distribution.