Billing is typically a straightforward process that most companies have optimized in terms of efficiency. The efficiency is often measured by looking at the length of the billing cycle or at the amount of FTE needed to handle the billing process and sometimes the cash flow.
In a billing process, customer experience should be optimized as well. Offering clear bills that can be handled swiftly. In this blog, we will explain that taking a client perspective into a billing process can optimize efficiency, increase client satisfaction, and improve cash flow.
We wrote about lovable invoices before. There we pointed out simple improvements to make your invoices easier to process. Nowadays, a simple PDF will simply no longer do. Because it is not actionable. Because it is hard for the client to retrieve the underlying data.
Clients want easy access to the data, preferably in a digital format. Clients also like e-invoicing for easy adoption into their ERP and, if possible, multiple digital payment options. In short, clients welcome anything you as a supplier can do to support their handling process.
In one word: Data. Typically, the data needs to produce a solid and easy-to-process invoice, but it is scattered around. It comes from many different internal systems and needs to be matched with the contract terms.
If this is a painful process you need to go through every month, it is hard to give the customer transparency and full access to the usage data at the end of the billing period. But the price paid for not providing this transparency is that many customers ask questions about unclear invoices, slow payment, and slow cash flow.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could proactively give your clients access to their usage data of your services, or could pro-actively support them to optimize their business relationship with you?
Research shows that business gravitates to the companies most easy to deal with, so investing in data transparency to your clients might be a clever next step to increase customer satisfaction, a step that may well be rewarded with lower invoicing costs.
It is not just your company that aims for a lower cost per invoice. Many Accounts Payables departments look at the Cost Per Invoice (CPI) to measure their efficiency.
A well-implemented billing system allows you to gather and present data for efficient invoicing. It also allows your clients to get quick insights into their consumption and process your invoice smoothly. In terms of consumption, clients appreciate it if you offer rich invoices, providing underlying data, even if it is still in attachment format. For processing, your client loves it if you can split your invoice at a cost center or purchase order level.
Understanding what your clients' invoicing needs are, and matching them with the correct data, is a winning combination to improve your cash flow.
If you feel your billing needs will outgrow your current recurring revenue billing solution, or if you are just curious to learn how Good Sign does things differently, feel free to take us to the test! We will gladly take on your challenge and prove to you it can be done, and that the new world of billing is closer than you think.
Feel free to contact us and let’s have a chat on how we can support your company.
Taija Engman : Feb 14, 2022 9:45:00 AM
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Petri Takala : Aug 9, 2022 9:15:00 AM
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Mervi Vikki-Aaltonen : Feb 13, 2020 1:00:00 PM
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