Beginner’s Guide to Billing and Invoice Processing

employee checking an invoice on their laptop

By Adam Walters | 02/08/2024 | 2 min read

Billing and invoicing are central to your business’s success. Without a well-established billing and invoicing process, it will be difficult to get paid and maintain the cash flow you need.

This quick, beginner's guide to billing and invoice processing will help to get you started and headed in the right direction.

1. Forget manual invoice processing and go digital

Manual invoice processing is very time-consuming. Even when you and your clients are working together without any problems, you have to wait for invoices to be sent through the mail, invoice approval, then payments to be sent back. A mailed bill or invoice can take three to four days to be delivered. That means that if you go with traditional mail delivery for the invoice and the payment, you’re wasting at least a week of business time for payments to be made. Going digital removes that waiting time, allowing you to send invoices and receive payment on the same day.

Putting an end to paper invoices and manual data entry is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. Going digital lets you quickly organize, track, manage, and find what you’re looking for.

2. Billing and invoice processing automate

Billing and invoicing can be a complex process with multiple steps, but these steps are repetitive and predictable. Automate as many processes as possible when setting up your billing and invoicing process.

Automation saves you time from doing the same repetitive tasks and ensures more accuracy. Because there is no human element in automation, there will never be human error accidents. Simple, essential facts like your client’s name, address, and billing information can automatically be generated for every bill or invoice.

3. Set up an invoice processing workflow

Billing and invoicing should not be a silo within your company; it should be integrated with other components of the business. Introduce an invoice processing workflow that integrated with your customer management, inventory, and analytic solutions. By having an integrated system, information can easily transfer between applications, eliminating the need for manual data entry and improving company transparency.

Get Started with IRIS

IRIS offers CPA firm management services to automate invoice processing, client management, workflow automation and more. Whether you need help organizing your basic billing and invoice processes or are a well-established accounting firm looking to optimize your existing structure, IRIS is ready to help.