21st October, 2021
Businesses could save tens of thousands of dollars by transitioning to e-invoicing, writes Nina Hendy.
Australian small and medium-sized businesses, or SMEs, could save tens of thousands of dollars a year by transitioning to invoicing.
New research has found that SMEs progress an average of 168 invoices each month. With a YouGov study estimating the e-invoicing could deliver savings of up to $20 per invoices, this means that SMEs could save a whopping $40,320 a year by making the switch.
Seventy-five percent of those who have transitioned say the biggest impact has been time and money saved. More than half report that it improved the accuracy of record-keeping (56 percent) and was more secure (53 percent).
Highlights of the report:
The study, commissioned by SAP and undertaken by YouGov, aimed to understand where Australian SMEs stand within their current invoicing and broader digitisation efforts, including recent Deloitte research in its modelling.
Now is the time for small businesses to review and adopt technology, as it will help them through the current crisis and set them up for future growth, Sofiane Ainine, of SAP Australia and New Zealand says.
“Running a small business comes with its challenges, but switching to digital processes has been key to the survival of many businesses during the pandemic. It frees up time and money to focus on other priorities, like developing new products and finding new customers,” said Ainine.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson says it is encouraging that the report highlights the accelerating adoption of digital technology.
Technologies like e-invoicing improve process efficiency and importantly, will see small businesses paid more quickly, Billson says.
“The pandemic has highlighted the importance of technology adoption in helping small businesses innovate, increasing efficiency and productivity, attracting new customers in different markets and improving customer and employee experience – which helps them create more jobs.”
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The research suggests that the fear of switching to e-invoicing is bigger than the challenge of implementing it, with 88 percent of small businesses that had made the jump saying it was easy, and almost one in five (18 percent) making the transition without external support.
Some will still need help to get there, with integrating the process into computer systems (36 percent) and understanding what software to use (31 percent) perceived as the biggest challenges.
Nearly half (46 percent) of small businesses are mostly digital in their invoicing and record keeping. Of this group, 26 percent sought advice from their internal IT department, followed by an external IT impact (24 percent), their accountant (26 percent), a consultant (22 percent) or the government (18 percent).
The research aligns with an earlier investigation by MYOB into e-invoicing in New Zealand, which found e-invoicing could save SMEs nearly 3.5 hours every month in invoice processing and related admin tasks.
Getting started with e-invoicing is easy as it’s now available to all new customers of MYOB Business. Get your quotes, invoicing and expenses sorted and start saving your business valuable, today.