That electronic invoicing will become an obligation is nothing new. The Belgian Council of Ministers reached an agreement on this in 2023. The target date for all transactions between companies is January 1, 2026. Time enough you think, but in our opinion this obligation offers numerous optimizations for your company and you better make the switch now.
The fastest way to better cash flow
In our series "switching to electronic invoicing" we zoom in on the European and Belgian obligation regarding e-invoicing. Earlier, we zoomed in on why the Belgian government will benefit from making electronic invoicing mandatory, but in this article we have arrived at the benefits this will bring for you as a company. And those are not minor ones; Peppol and e-invoicing makes invoicing faster, more reliable and cheaper. The first benefits we reveal seem obvious, further on in the article you'll probably read benefits you hadn't immediately thought of.
Cheaper and Eco-Friendly
Moving to e-invoicing leads to significant savings. Consider the reduction in printing, paper and postage costs, which also saves you on hardware such as printers and scanners.
By reducing paper use, e-invoicing contributes to more sustainable operations, resulting in less use of paper and ink, and less physical transportation.
In addition, you have the added automation. This frees up your staff to spend time managing your financial processes, instead of performing time-consuming tasks such as scanning or entering invoices. This way, you save costs and your team works more efficiently.
More Accurate, Faster and Fewer Errors
Did you know that currently in Belgium 83% of invoices are still entered manually? As a result, invoices remain unprocessed for too long. 34% of entrepreneurs do not process an invoice until 8-30 days after receipt. Therefore, the administration is not up to date with all the disadvantages as a result.
In summary, PEPPOL provides a standardized, secure and globally accessible infrastructure for e-invoicing and even e-procurement.
This ensures that invoices are constructed in a structured way, the same way for every business. In turn, this ensures that accounting software, such as Adfinity, can easily read this data and even process it automatically.
Incoming invoices are automatically read, entered and paid after eventual approval. Thus, invoices are processed within minutes instead of several days. The entire process is completely digital, eliminating the need for manual work.
This results in fewer human errors and increases the accuracy of your invoicing process. E-invoicing allows for faster processing of invoices, which shortens payment terms. This contributes to improved cash flow and financial health of your business.
Better Traceability and Overview
Each step in the invoicing process is traceable, helping to improve control and clarity of the invoicing process. This reduces the stress around tax audits and makes invoice management more efficient.
In Adfinity, you always have visibility over the origin and status of each invoice. E-invoicing ensures that this status becomes even more accurate. Invoices enter your accounting system directly, so your administration is automatically updated. As a result, you always have an accurate picture of your income and expenses.
Increased security
E-invoicing significantly increases the security of your financial transactions. Thanks to data encryption on the PEPPOL network, digital signatures and Adfinity backups, your financial documents are better protected against fraud and data loss.
This overall structuring also ensures that invoices always reach the right address. Everyone who works with the Peppol network must identify themselves, so you know that incoming invoices come from the correct sender. This is exactly how you prevent phantom invoices.
Tip: How do I make sure suppliers also switch to e-invoicing?
The Peppol network will only have a real impact on your business if your suppliers also switch to e-invoicing. The obligation of the Belgian government will accelerate this process in the coming years, but you too can do your part so you can enjoy the benefits of e-invoicing for your company. We will explain this in our next article.
Feel free to ask us your questions
If you have any questions regarding electronic invoicing or the implementation of Peppol, please do not hesitate to ask us using the form below.
