Moving Words – Invoicing
Written by Timothy Brady.
“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.” – Frank Zappa
However, the other side of billing, invoicing, is what allows the music to be played. Correct invoicing and being paid in a timely manner is what ensures you and your business have the cash flow required to operate smoothly. Whether it’s sending out a storage bill or invoicing for a move, having all the correct documentation to support the charges on the invoice is critical to being paid quickly. A missing document, or even the omission of one piece of critical information on a document can cause unnecessary – and costly – delays in receiving payment.
If you’re still handling the invoicing process by hand or relying on antiquated behind-the-times technology, or technology that doesn’t take into account the intricacies and complexities of the requirements of today’s moving and storage business, you are most likely running your cash flow in neutral or reverse, spinning your wheels without moving forward.
Having the completed moves and secure storage to invoice for payment is important. However, if the system you’re using to generate invoices doesn’t have the needed checks to ensure every service provided, every product supplied and every document required by a customer is seamlessly included, you’re leaving money; your money, on the table. When a service or product isn’t included, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to do a revision of the invoice and receive payment for the omitted items. Or if a specific document the customer requires is not included, the delay in payment, along with the cost of locating the missing document and re-invoicing, is taking valuable time and cash right out of your pocket.
So what’s the solution? Look for a software company that includes the following services in their package:
Revenue invoicing
Automatic Storage invoicing
Payment processing
Document management
Task-Workflow management
AR Credit and Collections Tracking
The software needs to integrate with your accounting software, like QuickBooks, along with connecting to (if required) your van lines data systems. It also needs to import move estimates generated by a service such as TechMate’s ‘SalesMate’ as a part of the checks and balances required to keep the cash flowing.
The more you have quality software that keeps the details together and integrates them where they’re needed, the more time your people have to concentrate on the areas which require the human touch and compassion to provide your customers the personal service they so much desire and deserve.
“One third of the economy goes through ‘QuickBooks’ in terms of businesses invoicing other businesses. Each invoice contains a connection between vendors, suppliers, and customers, and also the price of that connection. Representing the payment graph is a huge opportunity and something no other company can do.” Aaron Patzer, founder of Mint.com, the financial management tool acquired by Intuit which now has over 10 million users.
