Digital Invoicing and Digital Payments are not only convenient but also accelerate the delivery of invoices and receipt of payment, shortening the Order-to-Cash (O2C) cycle. The pandemic has accelerated the use of digital invoicing and digital payments in both B2B and B2C businesses. Today, customers and suppliers increasingly prefer the digital mode for a frictionless experience.
A major shift towards working from home in the last couple of years has exposed the inefficiencies associated with paper-based invoices and checks in the B2B space. Banks were closed, and paper invoices and checks delivered to offices remained unopened for weeks. Thus, the pivot to digital B2B invoicing and digital payments became an immediate priority for businesses.
What is Digital Invoicing, Digital Payments?
Digital invoicing, also known as e-invoicing or electronic invoicing, is a form of billing electronically delivered to the buyer in a specified format. Digital invoicing enables businesses to achieve significant cost and time savings by removing paper and manual processing from invoicing. However the real benefits of digital invoicing come with the level of integration a business can achieve with its trading partners, invoicing software and other business systems.
Similarly digital payments, also known as e-payments or electronic payments, are payments made without exchanging any physical cash or checks. Instead, these payments involve transfer of funds from between buyer and supplier on an account to account basis via a digital device or transaction. Digital payments can be made via direct bank transfers, mobile phones or computers or payment cards such as debit, credit, or virtual cards. Digital payments enable suppliers to collect money from buyers immediately, avoiding the need to extend credit.
Digital Invoicing and Digital Payments are most effective when used together in combination with a self-service Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) portal. This combination enables quick, efficient review and payment of an invoice and frees up resources for more value-adding and strategic tasks.
The role of EIPP portal in B2B Digital Invoicing and Digital Payments
An Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) delivers state-of-the-art self-service capabilities for secure, web-based accesses to all the information your customers need to view and pay their invoices online, generate statements, set up reminders, raise a dispute, or deal with an issue at their convenience instead of calling customer support team.
Emagia has a self-service EIPP portal that provides frictionless invoicing and payments experience globally. The portal accelerates the order-to-cash process through auto-invoice delivery. Invoices generated by the financial system are instantly posted to customer EIPP portal, giving instant access to their latest account information. Customers can view the outstanding balance, view and download statements, make payments, receive acknowledgements, make promise to pay, raise an inquiry, set up reminders and review payment.
Gia, Emagia’s digital finance assistant, makes it easy for customers by providing them the required information and answering queries related to invoices, statements, disputes, promises to pay etc. Featuring both conversational and text interface, Gia is purpose built for customer financial assistant. Gia can show the outstanding invoices, process payment, pay partial amount, or report a problem/issue while delivering a superior customer experience.
Benefits of Digital Invoicing & Payments
Technology is at the helm of the digital invoicing and payments. The use of innovative technology and interconnected systems provides accurate, real-time information for both customers and suppliers. Digital invoicing and digital payments are faster and secure; the coming together of automation, collaboration and convenience offers a number of benefits such as:
- Accelerated cash flow, increased revenue
- Increased productivity
- Reduced lockbox and banking processing costs
- Improved customer experience
