An Introduction to Electronic Billing or e-billing

Simply put, electronic billing is the sending of bills, statements, invoices or dunning letters, by electronic means. Typically this e-billing is done via e-mail or fax.

All advantages and disadvantages are explored further throughout this web site. In brief, e-billing can be seen as more efficient, more reliable, faster and cheaper than normal postal methods of mass billing.

Why do Companies use E-Billing?

E-billing is fast

Electronic billing is highly useful to companies and businesses with a large, active client base – whereby invoices, statements and dunning letters will be sent out in bulk on a daily basis. Electronic billing systems mean that an invoice will arrive as soon as it is sent, enabling companies to maximise their profit by speeding up transactions. The outsourcing of electronic billing can speed it up further. The team at Corcentric can offer advice on how to do this.

E-billing is safe

E-billing can be seen as a safer way to send statements to customers because no middle party (such as the postman) plays a role in the document’s delivery. It simply travels from one e-mail account to another, in a matter of seconds. Security is also achieved with electronic billing because a customer must enter a password to access their e-mails. Further to this, the e-billing system can use online invoicing, which means the customer must follow a link and answer a security question to view their invoice or statement.

E-billing improves the process of sending dunning letters

When sending dunning letters, e-billing has advantages over postal methods because of the speed at which they arrive with the customer. This process is also automated by the electronic billing software, relying on a live database to inform it when a dunning letter is due.

E-billing is green

Electronic billing is an environmentally friendly practice because of its reduced use of paper by comparison to previous methods. Invoices and statements are e-mailed to customers, with a highlighted message encouraging them to not print the document unless they actually need to. Electronic billing also saves energy as it does not require document printing or the use of a folder inserter.

E-billing is easy for customers

Electronic billing lets customers access their invoices from anywhere in the world that they have an internet connection. Also, combined with EIPP software, the customer will be able to pay their invoices. This offers convenience and an advantage over postal or fax systems whereby the document will remain in the place it has been sent to until it is collected from that static location.