How can Adobe Commerce be used to invoice your customers and vendors?

With over 12 years of experience, PowerSync has earned the trust of 100+ customers across 19 countries around the world. We have helped businesses from $3MM to $2.4B in annual revenue to improve their CRM processes, and eCommerce ecosystems, automate bottlenecks and scale profits.

Are you a B2B business owner looking for a way to make the payment processes more efficient? One of them is billing and invoice generation. However, in search for a solution that allows you to make it efficient, you are often compelled to utilize a different platform or system to handle invoices and payments. 

Thus, you or your team needs to switch between various platforms and systems in order to send invoices, receive payments, and pull any meaningful revenue reports, outstanding payments, late fees and more. In this article, we will show you how you can automate vendor invoices and customer billing all from within the Adobe Commerce/Magento platform.

The way to do all of the above lies in implementing just one solution — the Bills extension developed by PowerSync. Below you’ll find why it’s crucial for effective billing and what other benefits you can get from it.

How can Adobe Commerce be used to invoice your customers and vendors?

• Install the Bills extension for Adobe Commerce/Magento
• Configure your NET terms globally or per customer
• Configure how late fees should be applied
• Vendors will provide their Bank or Credit Card information
• Vendor and you determine which payment method will be used for auto-payment
• Start sending invoices

How does a recurring payment differ from an automatic invoice?

Recurring payments and automatic invoices are different payment methods, although they are often mistaken to be the same. Here is a brief explanation of what they are and how they work: 

• Recurring payments automatically change the customer’s bank or a credit card on a predetermined date over a specific period of time. An example is any subscription service you use, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Costco.
• Automatic invoices are also sent on a predefined schedule. However, they only specify the amount to be paid without any payment being collected. For instance, an IT service company automatically sends an invoice at the end of the month based on the amount of support provided but doesn’t collect money.

Recurring payments and invoices may be a suitable fit for your company, depending on how you operate. Sending regular invoices enables you to reduce the amount of effort whilst ensuring that your customer won’t have to remember to make payments, thus avoiding late fees.

Why is automatic invoice processing necessary?

One of the most crucial processes for any business is issuing invoices. However, the majority of them still do it manually.

As a business owner you might make this choice as it seems more secure with no third-party software involved. However, in reality, you spend time on a process that can be done in only a few minutes with minimum mistakes.

The average processing time of an invoice in a small-to-midsize company takes 25 days. It involves many human interactions, touchdowns, manual checking and risks containing errors or inaccuracies. As a result, a business faces late or incomplete payments from vendors.

On the other hand, automatic invoices not only save time, but also reduce expenses on labor, increase accuracy and improve relationships with vendors who have the possibility to pay on time. Below you can take a closer look at these and other advantages of automating your invoices.

Benefits of automatic invoice processing

Whether you’re looking for a solution that speeds up invoice processing or simply helps you eliminate mistakes, automatic invoices have a lot more to offer. Here are the pros of using this tool for your business: 

• Faster payment. Automation eliminates the risk of human error associated with manual invoice processing. It ensures that payments are made on time without any human interaction. With automation, the chances of past due payments or late fees go down significantly.
• Simplified reconciliation efforts. Manual invoice processing can take a significant amount of time for your bookkeeper or CPA to reconcile payments and match them with deposits. Automated invoice payments drastically reduce the effort required for this task, saving you time and money.
• Existing processes integration. The automation of invoice generation does not replace the existing financial process of your customers. It simply adds necessary automation when an invoice is about to become past due. This ensures that all existing processes are maintained while gaining efficiency through automation.

How to automate invoice processing for your business?

If you want to implement automatic invoices and customer billing into your business, there are two ways to go about it. First, you can use a separate platform or software. However, this isn’t a perfect solution as it still requires your team to move data from the website to the platform, which isn’t a time-efficient solution.

If you want to implement automatic invoices and customer billing into your business, there are two ways to go about it. First, you can use a separate platform or software. However, this isn’t a perfect solution as it still requires your team to move data from the website to the platform, which isn’t a time-efficient solution.

Customer Invoices and Vendor Bills by PowerSync

An automatic invoice processing solution combined with your Adobe Commerce website creates a synergy that allows you to improve the efficiency of your business payments. If that’s the result you’re looking for, consider implementing PowerSync’s Customer Invoices and Bills Adobe Commerce/Magento 2 extension. Here’s what you’ll get with it:

• Adjustable NET terms. You can customize NET terms for each of your customers, vendors, or invoices. 
• Notifications & reminders. The extension allows you to send via email to your clients or vendors that the invoice is due.
• Auto-billing using ACH. You can set authorization from your customer or vendor to collect the payment from their bank card in set periods. 
• Self-service. Customers and suppliers of your business can pay invoices on your website with credit cards or any other payment method of choice.
• Adjustable format. You can send invoices over email with the option of duplicating them in PDF format for your client’s convenience. 
• Automatic late fees. The payment process should be fair and clear. If the invoice is past due, the extension automatically applies and collects fines. 

To sum up, the Customer Invoices and Bills extension created by PowerSync for Adobe Commerce/Magento 2 websites allows you to improve your cash flow. It makes the payments a stress-free and secure process even in case of late payments. 

Do you want to automate your invoices today to enjoy their streamlined flow? Book a consultation with our recurring revenue guru Igor Krasnykh.