Have you ever calculated the time you spend collecting and processing your customers’ invoices? Think about the time allocated to each of them, the number of documents that are sent to you each month… If you had to actually do this calculation, the result would be staggering! At the same time, do you have the time to discuss your customers’ needs once the accounting and reporting have been completed? By interviewing Cegid’s accountants, we learned that they estimated their productivity gains of between 30 and 40% thanks to dematerialization. What if you took advantage of this lockdown period to reinvent your way of working and start dematerializing? Discover all its advantages in this article.
Improve the productivity of the firm… but not only that!
The dematerialization of invoices presents advantages for your customers but not only. Your firm and your employees can also benefit from it.
Concrete benefits for the firm
The digital format allows for improved data collection and harmonization of writing . This results in greater flexibility and fluidity in daily exchanges. You therefore save time but also physical space: no more need to store thousands of paper invoices in your offices!
In addition, the dematerialization of documents must be seen as a truly innovative approach that managers appreciate. The development of artificial intelligence now allows the recognition of data in dematerialized accounting documents. With the implementation of the electronic format , you limit manual entry and can therefore free up time to offer value-added services .
Pascal Lorain, Managing Director of the SECAB firm, explains the benefits that his firm has gained from dematerialization.
Benefits for employees
Why use human intelligence for repetitive and sometimes boring tasks when artificial intelligence can take care of them? It is high time to revalue the know-how of accounting employees . The dematerialization of documents allows them to focus on developing new skills such as advice and support. More rewarding, they generate more fulfillment at work and therefore more commitment within the firm.
Saving time is also a major advantage and is reflected in several ways. Searching for documents and exchanging parts with customers is faster. The same goes for data entry thanks to optical character recognition or OCR for those in the know. More time means less stress and therefore a lower risk of burnout .
Faster work procedures do not necessarily imply a decrease in the quality or reliability of operations. On the contrary, “zero paper” allows them to be improved! Invoice traceability is optimal, and loss of documents is almost non-existent. Your employees control document processing from A to Z.
“I save more time on accounting, searching for documents, even transferring documents to the client. After a few months, this allows us to save about 25% of our data entry time and to devote ourselves to advising and supporting our clients.” explains Millie Julienne, accounting assistant.
The advantages of electronic invoices for customers
If you want to convince your customers to opt for dematerialization, here are some advantages to present to them. First of all, they will be able to benefit from more value-added services from you. They will therefore feel more surrounded and better supported in their decision-making. On your side, it is a good way to build loyalty .
The other major advantage of dematerialization is the optimization of work procedures. Your customers gain security and traceability thanks to the backup of all their documents online. They can access their files from any computer or phone and are therefore more autonomous .
Ultimately, their collaboration with their accountant is easier and faster. They save valuable time and regain control over the management of their business . Their cash flow is under control, they are less stressed and can refocus on their core business.