To reap the full benefits of e-invoicing, it is important to get your suppliers on board. Find out about the benefits for your suppliers and how to convince them of the advantages of e-invoicing.
Understanding suppliers, their challenges, and benefits
There are many reasons why your suppliers have not yet adopted e-invoicing. From limited resources and budget to a lack of understanding of e-invoicing, there are many barriers. SMEs in particular often struggle to adopt e-invoicing due to limited resources, lack of awareness of the benefits, perceived complexity, reluctance to change and the need to meet the requirements of their suppliers or customers. Problems with integration with existing systems and compliance concerns are also barriers to adoption.
As an active user of e-invoicing, you have an important role to play. If you are already processing and sending e-invoices, you can educate your suppliers about what e-invoicing is and how it works. Once you have the basics covered, you should educate your suppliers about the benefits and show them how electronic, digitised invoices can optimise their invoicing processes.
Three key benefits for suppliers
- Improved accuracy and efficiency: Using an e-invoicing service reduces human error, which often leads to payment delays. The accounting team has more time for strategic tasks as invoices are created and sent automatically. E-invoicing platforms created in a digital format make processes more efficient and provide suppliers with a complete overview of the status of an invoice.
- Reduced costs: Suppliers can save money by eliminating paper, ink, printing and postage costs. This can lead to direct cost savings and reduced environmental impact.
- Faster payments: Faster and more accurate distribution of invoices leads to shorter payment terms and overall improved cash flow.
The latest Global E-Invoicing and Tax Compliance Report from billentis, "Watch the tornado!", offers expert analysis of e-invoicing market trends and provides valuable insights for governments and businesses seeking to understand regulatory developments. The report forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in global e-invoicing volumes of approximately 19.6%. This forecast is based on an expected volume of 90 billion e-invoices (and 35 billion e-receipts) in 2024, rising to 184 billion e-invoices globally by 2028.
In terms of value, billentis estimates that the global e-invoicing and enablement market will reach a volume of EUR 8.3 billion (USD 8.9 billion) in 2024 and grow to EUR 22.2 billion (USD 23.7 billion) by 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.9%.
Partnering with suppliers
Companies that do not adopt e-invoicing technology risk being left behind by modern businesses and falling behind in the digitalisation process.
However, it is important that suppliers are not forced to switch through scare tactics or as a condition of doing business. Instead, suppliers need to see the benefits of e-invoicing for themselves.
Start with a discussion about future-proofing your business and making your processes more efficient. Only then can suppliers think about the future implications. The key benefits of e-invoicing can be discussed, as well as how e-invoicing works.
The ease of implementation should then be discussed and any concerns about cost or technical requirements allayed. Solutions such as Unifiedpost Group's e-invoicing solution show how easy it can be for even the smallest businesses to get started with e-invoicing.
Cooperation and next steps
Implementing e-invoicing with suppliers improves collaboration. It is important to communicate the many benefits and support suppliers in the early stages. Leading global e-invoicing providers help suppliers through the implementation process, which can reduce stress and provide reassurance that support is always available. Find out what to look for when choosing an e-invoicing provider.
Companies can also offer their suppliers incentives to adopt e-invoicing. Offering discounts is one way to reduce initial investment costs and build supplier goodwill. Another is to highlight the benefits - from improved cash flow to reduced paper waste - to convince suppliers that they are making a forward-looking decision.
How Unifiedpost Group can help
Adopting e-invoicing together with suppliers strengthens collaboration. As well as a comprehensive solution for large enterprises, Unifiedpost also offers a bespoke solution for SMEs and micro-enterprises, designed to overcome the challenges faced by smaller suppliers when adopting e-invoicing.
Bridging these two worlds - SMEs, international mid-market companies and global enterprises - is the aim of Unifiedpost's comprehensive portfolio of services. We do this by providing solutions that enable small businesses to meet the often extensive requirements of large customers. For example, a small business customer can use Banqup to send its invoices directly to a corporate customer, and the corporate customer benefits from the fact that even senders with small invoice volumes can send them in the perfect electronic format! An often underestimated effort for the "big" recipients! A win-win situation for all concerned!
The Banqup SME solution is designed to address the challenges faced by smaller suppliers when adopting e-invoicing. With a user-friendly platform and a focus on ease of set-up and use, the SME solution provides a tailored solution for suppliers with low invoice volumes or limited technology resources.
For companies with higher invoice volumes looking for an automated e-invoicing solution that integrates with their ERP system, we offer Channel, a compliant and sustainable outbound solution for order-to-cash processes. A fully digital and automated solution, Channel enables seamless B2B, B2G and B2C document and data exchange.
Our solutions are tax compliant in more than 60 countries worldwide, ensuring that your company complies with local tax and e-invoicing regulations.
Benefits of Banqup, Unifiedpost's SME solution for smaller suppliers
- Easy to set up and use: Banqup offers a straightforward onboarding process and a user-friendly platform that can be easily used by suppliers with limited technology resources and expertise.
- Cost efficiency: Our SME solution allows smaller suppliers to keep implementation costs down and still enjoy the benefits of e-invoicing.
- Process optimisation: Banqup enables small suppliers to optimise their invoicing processes and increase efficiency without having to invest excessive resources.
Our all-in-one solution is designed to digitise all incoming documents. Engage your suppliers with invitation emails and onboarding campaigns and see how our solution works for companies of all sizes.
Contact us to find out more about Banqup and how we can help you convince your suppliers to switch to electronic invoicing.
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