Macro Systems Can Help You Manage Your Invoices More Efficiently

If your business can't be relied upon to ensure that payments are properly received and processed, then it doesn’t matter how good of a service you provide or how great your customer service standards are. Invoices are a critical tool to ensure your payments due are coming in efficiently. Below we examine how to leverage them better.

Developing an Invoice
The initial step to better leveraging your invoice is having a better invoice to leverage. When it comes to constructing an invoice from scratch, Microsoft Office’s Excel and Word have templates to help you, and there are also integrations that help G Suite users. Or, there are numerous other software titles available to you that may better fit your organization's specific requirements.

Once you have chosen your software, you can develop your invoice document. Make sure to include the following information on each:

• Detailed Summary - When you ask for money from people, they will naturally want to know what they are paying for. This means that you need to include a detailed summary of why they are being charged what they are being charged, especially if it is for the time spent rendering a particular service. By including the order number, the total amount owed, the accepted payment methods, and the payment due date in addition to a comprehensive description of your services, you can usually avoid pushback.
• Schedules and Policies - Fair is fair. You were beholden to a particular timeframe to deliver your service, so it only makes sense that your client returns the same courtesy. By establishing and upholding a set payment schedule, your clients will become accustomed to paying you on time. By clearly laying out your policies about discounts, due dates, and late payments and the fines they incur, you can establish an understanding with your client, and if necessary, support your position when demanding payments be made.
• Discount Details - All discounts that you offer should be clearly marked as such on all invoices. This is especially true for brand new clients. You wouldn’t want to create a false impression of the cost of your services, just to incur the wrath of someone who budgeted incorrectly and did not expect their costs to increase.

This is not an inclusive list of everything your invoices should include, just the especially imperative aspects. There are far more possibilities of what you could add, and the white space on the invoice is too valuable of an opportunity to let go unfilled. Try adding some personalization for each client based on what they are being billed for. Suggesting their next steps both proves your competence as a provider, and gives them a little more value for their money’s worth.

You could also personalize it by adding a thank-you message to the invoice. A short message expressing your appreciation for their organization can go a long way; it allows you to show your gratitude to your client, and that gratitude may help nudge your client into paying you sooner and coming back to you on a recurring basis.

Sending Your Invoice to Your Clients
A great-looking invoice helps, but to really encourage your clients to settle their bills with you, they need to be sent a certain way as well. Part of this is making sure to send them promptly.

It isn’t uncommon for an invoice to go unpaid for long periods of time. In fact, it was estimated that unpaid invoices totaled well over $800 billion… in January. Thus, you don’t want to hesitate in sending out an invoice. You may not get paid for quite a while if you procrastinate on actually sending the invoice out.

It can help to leverage technology while managing your invoices. Digital invoices are easier to keep track of, as most pieces of invoicing software will keep you updated on your invoice status.

For more help with your invoices, make sure you reach out to us at Macro Systems. Give us a call at 703-359-9211, and subscribe to our blog for more useful technology advice!