Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, working from home (WFH) suddenly became the only viable option for many companies to ensure their business continuity. The adoption of new technologies to increase team collaboration and communication, together with the digitization of operations and services, were a priority for most organizations.
Fortunately for our customers, the investment in automating their financial processes paid off during this period. Other organizations were not that lucky and had to struggle with their manual/paper-based processes and government restrictions compliance.
Efficiency
“Best in class” organizations were hardly affected by COVID-19 restrictions due to their high volumes of electronic invoicing exchange. Ardent Partners Benchmarks show that such organizations have reduced their invoicing process costs up to 6 times. Their Accounts Payable departments, supported by Intelligent Automation technologies, complete their invoicing process up to 3 times faster and have four times more invoices that are processed touchless.
One of the main reasons: “Best in class” finance departments are 90% more likely to use e-Invoicing solutions for their business.
Compliance
Worldwide trends show the increase of mandatory electronic invoicing. Although e-Invoicing was the exception five years ago, it is rare today that the government is not preparing or implementing e-Invoicing or VAT reporting mandates.
In Latin America, the use of Continuous Transaction Controls (CTC) is already in use since the early 2000’s, also in Europe CTCs are becoming to find their way.
Continuous Transaction Controls means that B2B, B2G, and B2C invoices and other transactions between organizations are continuously being reported to the government. This form of reporting results in a significant decrease in VAT gaps worldwide, so it is not a surprise why many countries are accelerating the implementation of CTC.
The near future
Although everybody hopes we will beat the virus soon, many people agree that working from home with a digital-first mentality is here to stay. On the other hand, many countries will implement the e-Invoicing mandate in the coming years.
Having Efficiency and Compliance as drivers, e-Invoicing should (definitely) be included in your Business Strategy.
Choosing the right e-Invoicing solution with the possibility to comply with all mandates is also essential.
Questions about e-Invoicing, e-Archiving, or Compliance? Do not hesitate to contact our e-Invoicing and Compliance expert Nele Janssens or your account manager.
Sources:
Ardent Partners: Accounts Payable metrics that matter in 2020.
Sovos 2021 VAT Trends Report.
