Proper Invoicing Reduces the Number of Payment Defaults
Pricing is becoming more and more dynamic in both B2C and B2B contexts In e-commerce there are the classic price campaigns such as discount vouchers or temporary promotions. In the B2B area there are individually negotiated price scales or one-time price reductions. This increases the complexity - when dealing with a return, for example, being able to access the original pricing is essential so that the credit note can be calculated accordingly. To ensure that this is possible, we at Arvato work with a system where the relevant pricing is saved for every outgoing invoice. This comprises all relevant pricing and tax conditions, as well as possible discounts and any other amounts due, e.g. shipping costs. This gives our customers the possibility of combining prices flexibly and within various parameters, and also allows pricing analyses at any time.
At Arvato, we are also a step ahead when it comes to outgoing invoices: We don’t just think of a document that concludes a sale with the line “goods delivered, invoice created, process finished.” Poorly designed invoices often confuse end customers and lead to incorrect or late payments. The result is a higher manual workload to classify payments, or incorrectly sent reminders to end customers. Good design that considers comprehension and country-specific habits helps to reduce costs and improve the customer experience. Minor details such as a legible IBAN with spaces and an appropriate font size are simple tricks for optimizing invoices. Other optimizations such as printing invoice details in the form of a QR code that can be scanned with a banking app can also lead to significant improvements – especially for young purchaser groups.
From the legal point of view as well, invoicing is extremely important. Countries consider invoices to be documentation of a service rendered and thus documentation of taxes owed to the tax office. To prevent tax evasion, increasingly stricter rules around creating and transferring invoices have been adopted in recent years. The biggest current trend in this area is e-invoicing, in which some invoices in the B2B environment are obligated to be transferred electronically. Often, a copy is sent directly to the state. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that during the purchasing process many end customers reject companies that do not guarantee the relevant standards for creating invoices. In order to prevent this situation and ensure that proper invoices are always sent to end customers, at Arvato we closely track such changes in legal requirements and proactively provide our customers with corresponding solutions.
Solutions Overview
- Creating, printing, and shipping invoices digitally or via post in the customer-specific layout
- Consulting on the optimal invoice layout
- E-invoicing to end customers and public-sector customers in compliance with the country-specific requirements
- Tracking confirmation of invoice receipt in the case of e-invoicing
- Invoice dispatch management based on definable parameters
- Customer-specific payment conditions based on individual agreement or best practice
- Audit-compliant storage of invoices
Benefits
- Thanks to our many years of experience in the international environment, Arvato can help you to design and dispatch proper invoices, improving payment practice and reducing incorrect payments in the process
- Our solutions are constantly optimized with regard to legal parameters and formats, so they are always perfectly prepared for changes. Individually adjustable parameters such as payment conditions or invoice formats enable you to always optimally address your customers.
And we can do much more! Please do not hesitate to contact us.
Tell us about your individual application and requirements. We make it possible - the right solution for you!