When you’re running a company, you’ll know that getting a job done is only the start of the hard work.
You then have to collect job details, create an accurate invoice, send it out to the customer and then make sure it gets paid.
Fail to keep on top of this and things can quickly get sketchy. At any one time, it’s estimated that UK companies are owed £8.2 billion in various late and unpaid invoice payments.
That’s why it’s the number one cause of companies going under as cashflow grinds to halt and the bills keep piling up. So how can you best protect your organisation?
It’s no magic bullet but using a digital system which automates the entire process is the most efficient way to keep track of invoicing. But choosing the right system can be a dizzying experience with so many options offering different features and pricing plans.
We're going to compare using MyMobileWorkers and separate invoicing software:
Using MyMobileWorkers
If you’re after a simple and hassle free way to manage invoices, then everything you need is already integrated into the MyMobileWorkers package.
As soon as one of your mobile workers completes a job, the option to create an invoice will appear for your office team. It uses the job’s details to automatically fill the information while giving you the freedom to change whatever information you want.
The invoice includes details of how long a job lasted, costs of items used and the estimated labour time. Once you’ve checked all the info, it generates a professional looking invoice which is ready to be pinged off to the customer.
The whole process can be done within seconds of a job being completed - improving your chances of getting paid on time. (This company saw a 7 day improvement in cash collection!) You can also filter all jobs to show those ones with unpaid invoices so that you can keep on top of who needs a polite nudge.
Using invoicing software
While MyMobileWorkers provides the basics, if you need more in-depth invoicing features, you can easily export any job details into the system of your choice.
The MyMobileWorkers' workforce management system can be set up to integrate with a number of the big names such as Sage, QuickBooks and Xero.
The right system for your organisation will depend on how you’re going to be using it and how much you’re willing to spend. At the low end of the market, the services on offer aren’t likely to be too dissimilar to what you get with MyMobileWorkers.
At the top end, you can find complete accounting suites which cover a range of accounting features which go above and beyond invoicing - from payroll to expenses management.
One thing to bear in mind, however, is that the more advanced and multi-faced that a system is, the more time it’s likely to take to properly configure everything to do what you want.
It’s for this reason that the standard of customer support should be a major consideration when it comes to choosing.
But whatever the option, a move to digital invoicing and over to fast automated processes will give you the tools required to stay on top of your invoicing and reduce the risks caused by late payments.
Image credit - Pascal Thauvin