NATURE FRIENDLY BILLING
Go Paperless
What is the Nature Friendly Billing stamp?
Paper manufacturing, like any industrial activity has an impact on the environment. Increased demand for this product makes the paper industries (as in any industrial activities) increase their production, which necessarily implies a higher consumption of resources.
The tourism sector is one of the most transactional one’s on Earth. A small hotel chain of only 10 properties, with an average of 8 orders per day will generate from 2,400 to 28,800 invoices per month within a year.
In line with the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) recommendations on the protection of the environment, Voxel Group launched the Nature Friendly Billing stamp to distinguish organizations that are committed with society to preserve the environment through the progressive abolition of paper in their transactions. Integrating electronically any invoices issued or received, delivery notes, catalogs, price lists, orders and any other documents formerly handled on paper.
What is an electronic invoice?
An electronic invoice, so called e-bill, is an electronic document that complies with legal and regulatory conditions required for traditional invoices ensuring, among other issues, the authenticity of the origin and integrity of its contents.
Electronic invoicing is therefore, the electronic version of traditional paper invoices, hence, functional and legally equivalent to them. Due to its very nature, electronic invoices can be stored, managed and exchanged by electronic or digital means.
[ see answer ]
Why to switch to electronic invoicing?
Paper reception of supplier invoices causes a logical delay on reception timings, managing envelopes, sorting letters, scanning and recording them. Likewise and due to a lack of interaction with the supplier, a good deal of queries is raised mainly owing to errors in booking numbers, when registering or in a significant percentage, just by getting lost.
When looking at the issuing of invoices, the problem is quite the similar: invoices must be printed, sorted, put in an envelope and stamped. Chances of getting lost, considering the diversity of destinations, make handling costs multiply dramatically.
[ see answer ]
Does manual handling of invoices entail any issues?
Manual handling of paper invoices generates the following issues:
- A long period of time for the corresponding registering of invoices, both on issuing them and on reception, and its corresponding costs for the staff required to carry out these tasks.
- Sent invoices getting lost and presumably been received. These result in an extension of the established billing period by the company to their customers, with the financial cost that this represents.
- A large number of queries caused by the lack of interaction with suppliers on received invoices, resulting in costs mainly related to the inspection, litigation and bug fixes.
[ see answer ]
What immediate benefits imply the adoption of electronic invoicing?
These are quite a few and pretty important, some of which are:
- Reduction on the number of queries raised caused by errors in the supplier code, due to wrong booking numbers and errors when manually registering the invoices.
- Reduction on the average timing for invoice registration.
- Total eradication of invoices getting lost.
- Interaction improvement with client / supplier to provide feedback on issues such as raised queries on loaded invoices, status of invoices, detailed remittance advices, etc.
- Drastic reduction of the cost-per-invoice. Taking only into account costs directly chargeable to transmitting, receiving and recording of invoices tasks, costs per invoice can be reduced some up to 93%.
As the logical consequence of these benefits, a company can begin to focus their structure, costs and efforts on issues which generate added-value, improving the quality of service for all its employees and customers.
[ see answer ]
What legal requirements must meet an electronic invoicing provider?
Electronic invoicing providers must operate in one of the three instances referred to in the “Real Decreto 1496/2003” of November 28th, which approves the Rule that regulates invoicing obligations: Articles 18.1.a (EDI), 18.1. b (digital signature) and 18.1.c (own platform).
Voxel Group is the only Spanish company that can operate as a provider of electronic invoicing in the three mentioned instances.
[ see answer ]
Which adaptations are required in order to implant the electronic invoicing?
Depending on the provider, the legal presumption by which it operates, and the used technology, any company adopting e-billing should implement technical and organizational adaptations in order to be able to send and receive electronic invoices.
Unlike other electronic invoicing systems, the baVel Communicator has a very easy and fast implementation, allowing a company to continue using their current ERP system without any further technical modifications or further training of their employees.
Furthermore, almost all IT solution companies within the Travel Market industry sector have already a default connector with baVel.