Whether we are working in a corporation or even self-employed as a freelancer, dealing with invoices is a regular procedure for keeping track about our quarterly payment issues. A typical invoice provides all the information regarding a sales transaction for a defined period, including information about the products, quantities and the agreed on price of products and services. Invoice could be either in electronic mode or printed on paper but in either case, it becomes important that all the information included in the data is accurate and reliable to avoid any future complexities. Once an invoice is received it is being processed through a series of steps before it is finally verified and settled. For businesses it becomes crucial that a structured invoice processing is followed to ensure that all the cash inflow and outflow in the business is efficiently processed. So once an invoice is received by the corporation, what exactly goes in the process before the final payment is met? There is a particular procedure that most organizations abide to ensure any complexities in the invoice processing from their supplier. The structure to follow is as follows :
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Verification is crucial
It is extremely important that all the components and items included in the invoice is firstly cross checked and verified by the accounts department prior to further processing. It is crucial that this step is carried out to check the authenticity of the invoice received.
Categorization
After verification of the invoice is carried out, it is important to categorize the invoice received. The categorization depends solely on the organization. For example, the company might categorize its invoice as a Government facility or a Private facility. If the company dealing with the invoices uses customized software, then they could easily select the option from the options available.
Cross check concerned data
This step is slightly different from the first step because, it involves checking the invoice information to avoid paying hoax or extra charges for products/services that has not been delivered yet. It is done to ensure that the gross total in the invoice matches after cross reference with the purchase order.
Forward the invoice to concerned person
After carrying out the verification of the data included in the invoice, the statement is forwarded to the concerned person who had initially placed the order of the goods/services required.
Confirm and forward to the Accounts department
If the goods/ services were delivered on time and on the agreed quality, then the concerned person signs off the documents in the invoice and forwards it to the accounts department to process the payment to the client.
Though the whole procedure become simpler when the invoice processing in automated but however in either case these steps are strictly followed to ensure a smooth transaction.
Choosing an appropriate invoice processing tools for online invoicing is very important for efficiently processing business invoices. Invoicera is a feature rich online invoicing software for processing invoices with ease. A business can also opt for customised invoicing solutions form Invoicera for better results.
