Should You Use a Smart Invoice System?

It may not be the most exciting part of running a business, but efficient invoicing is what keeps your cash flowing. While automated invoice software is a great start, smart invoicing takes this digital efficiency a step further. A smart invoice system offers a more flexible way to handle invoices when dealing with a variety of different business sizes, types, and industries. So, what is a smart invoice system, and how does it work? Find out in our guide below.

What is a smart invoice system?

Smart invoicing enables complete customisation of fees using a series of specific triggers during the payments process. Your business can set up these actionable triggers as part of your checkout system or with the use of smart invoice software. For example, you might set up different fees that depend on the customer’s business type, size, and location. The system applies these fees to the invoice automatically and in real-time at the end of each payment period.

Rather than manually applying a diverse fee structure to each invoice, smart invoicing automates and streamlines the process. It makes fee customisation easy with fewer resources needed on the merchant’s side.

Here are a few examples of the types of fees that can be calculated and invoiced for using a smart invoicing system:

• Transaction fees

• Refund fees

• Payment decline fees

• Time-based fees

• Set-up and cancellation fees

If you provide SaaS or PaaS to customers, you’ll need to factor these types of fees into each invoice. This can be done automatically with smart invoicing.

Smart invoicing vs conventional invoicing

With conventional invoicing allows for some level of customisation, it can’t automatically adjust fee structures the way that smart invoicing does. Instead, you can set up per-transaction fees or rates based on the factors of your choice. This works if you serve clients in the same industry or located in the same place. However, with today’s diverse cross-border transactions, greater flexibility is often needed. This is where smart invoicing comes in, with the ability to plug in numerous additional variables for the system to use and optimise.

The benefits of smart invoice management

Here are just a few reasons to consider switching over to smart invoice management.

1. It cuts costs by automating the invoice process using efficient software.

2. It allows you to create a custom fee schedule for clients, improving customer satisfaction.

3. You can accept more clients with a system designed to handle high transaction volumes.

4. It frees up time for your team members, who can focus on other business activities.

5. It increases revenue by reducing failed payments with a frictionless experience.

6. Smart invoice management collects fees, performs calculations, and stores client details for greater efficiency.

7. It lets you access new markets and industries, categorising businesses by risk and location.

What are the features of smart invoicing software?

There’s a wealth of automated invoicing software on the market today, but what sets smart invoicing software apart from the crowd? Flexibility, cost reduction, and automated systems should be at the top of the list as you compare your options. Additional features to look for as standard include:

• Chargeback prevention systems

• Smart routing and cascading payments

• Third-party integrations

• Dashboard for multiple platforms

• Cloud-based infrastructure

• Automated payment collection and checkout

• Customer support

So, could a smart invoice system be right for your business? It’s beneficial for businesses of any size that use a flexible fee structure. You should also see how well it integrates with your existing invoicing, accounting, and billing systems. GoCardless integrates with over 300 partners, including top accounting and invoicing software for frictionless, low-fee payment collection. Together with smart invoicing, it gives your customers plenty of choice at checkout.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.