Needs and Benefits of Utility Bill Automation

Needs and Benefits of Utility Invoice Automation

Invoice automation is a critical part of an organisation’s procure-to-pay process. Invoice automation allows straight through processing i.e., no human interaction most of the time for the entire invoice process..

Without automation, the team would review invoices, understand the relevant data in the invoice, enter the data into relevant systems so payments and system records are complete and up to date. Occasionally, they would spot irregularities and then coordinate to resolve the issues.

Coronavirus situation has demonstrated that cloud-based invoice automation services make it easier to automate and scale operations in times of crisis. Cloud-based products and solutions can manage sudden increase in invoice transaction volumes and swiftly adapt to varying workloads. This capability also allows you to easily aggregate data and drive information for analytics.

Some organisations have already embarked on the digital transformation journey but yet to embrace invoice automation. So for these organisations the invoice process is still time consuming. This challenges related manual labor in digital processes is a widespread issue as organisations focus on digitising processes but not automating them. This issue can be addressed by automating repetitive invoice processes. We have captured and analysed many use cases for automation and among those invoice automation is the most common area of automation.

Figure: Challenges with Manual Invoice Processing

Once you have automated utility invoice processes, you have not only resolved existing challenges and issues but you are also able to realise several advantages and benefits. Some of these are:

Advantages

• On time reporting of data with better accuracy
• Ability to handle more load ( scale up/down without any additional cost)
• Reduced SLA breaches, higher client satisfaction
• Avoid the risk of late payment and charges being passed on to the Consultants
• Reappoint valuable human resources to other higher value add activities
• Improved KPI score

Benefits

• Reduce Administration: Effectively managing cash flow means automating and standardising your invoicing process, and effectively reducing administration overhead. Fast, efficient invoicing vastly reduces the margin for error compared to manually processing invoices from scratch. It also creates time savings for your staff, better opportunities and that time saved can be reinvested into more profitable areas of the business.
• Minimise Errors: An efficient invoicing system will automatically compile costs and quotes, and then generate invoices from this data. This greatly reduces the number of people required to produce quotes, thereby reducing the chance for human error. This in turn saves your business time, which saves your business money.
• Integration with Corporate Applications and Systems: By connecting a set of complex systems, individual processes and administration can be greatly reduced. From the initial quote all the way through collecting payment, businesses can save time by connecting all the systems and software they use, including CRM, CPQ, ERP and Finance systems. So once the whole process is automated, invoice processing becomes extremely fast. 
• Create Transparency: When a client or customer has a query about the billing process, it is important to have information easily accessible so you can provide answers quickly. One of the key benefits of cloud based invoicing is the clear and easy to understand audit trail, including every action, from lead generation all the way to payment collection. An efficient invoicing system makes finding information quick and painless, so customer questions and queries can be addressed immediately. Not only does this save time, it also makes customer care simpler and this can even lead to improved team morale.
• Reports Simplification: By using one integrated solution, it is straightforward and simple to create useful, all-encompassing reports. Custom dashboards can be turned into convenient reports, allowing your business to quickly identify your most profitable clients and customers, as well as reporting on buying patterns, and projecting cash-flows. Automated reports can be created and scheduled, further removing manual administrative tasks from your processes, improving business profitability. These are just some of the many ways that efficient billing and invoicing software can greatly improve the efficiency of your business, which can in turn create substan.