Disadvantages Of Electronic Invoice
Electronic invoicing have received a lot of attention lately, from governments globally and organizations. The ease at which businesses are concluded with invoices sent via email have made it an attractive option for businesses globally. Sending an invoice via email and paper possess the same legal status and saves cost for the organization, but there are still some drawbacks to making use of an electronic invoice.
Companies have to make a choice between the use of an electronic invoice or hard copies. A quick look at some of the disadvantages of using a electronic invoice will aid businesses greatly.
Additional cost
The use of an online billing service which is used to deliver bills and invoice in an electronic mode comes with a added fee, because most of the billing systems that would eventually be used by the organization of is outsourced, as a result of this, additional expenditure is incured.
Security threat
Due to prevalence of spywares that enable people hack into other people’s information despite how secure they seem. Some organisations are sceptical and have trust issues with making use of an electronic invoice, unless it is totally unavoidable, then they may go through great lengths to secure the information they intend to pass across.
Offline customers
To make effective use of an electronic invoice, the customers need to make use of the internet to access the information, some customers may not come online often and as a result may not receive the invoice promptly. While others may not be skilled with the operation of a computer and would prefer hard copies. Elderly customers or those staying in rural areas may not have access to the internet or even have an email address.
Manual book-keeping
A great disadvantage of receiving an invoice via mail is the fact that the user needs to download and sometimes print out the invoice and enter the data manually in the book keeping system. A better solution is sending the invoices completely electronically with the ability to import it directly in a financial administration, unfortunately, not many are skilled with this technology and still make use of different services to send electronic invoices.
Finally, while there are many benefits and disadvantages to any system, not just the electronic billing system, the best decision would be to weigh these advantages and disadvantages that exist and make prudent usage as it suits every customer. While an electronic invoice would suit some businesses, others may work better with hard copies.
