Invoicing Innovations for SMEs

Are you looking to streamline your invoicing? Handling invoicing by hand is time-consuming and occasionally creates costly errors. Every year, new technologies and software are released to help SMEs with limited resources handle their invoicing more efficiently, avoid miscommunications, avoid accounting errors, and spend less time on paperwork. 

Here are a few we think you should know about:

Cloud-Based Invoicing

With the cloud, you can always have quick access to any invoices that you need to look over, even using an app on your phone to do so. You can get real-time updates about the status of your accounts receivables, too. Cloud-based invoicing eliminates the needs to have paper invoices as well as the cost to print, send and store them. It also makes sharing invoices across team members simple.

Online Payments

If you deliver invoices in person or send them through mail, online payments will be a significant upgrade for you. Online payments make things more convenient for your customer which can encourage them to pay you faster. With online payments, when your software detects that the payment has been made, your whole accounting system can be automatically updated.

Online payments are also ideal for international clients, especially because they are available 24/7.

Automation  

Many aspects of invoicing can be immediately performed by your software through automation. After your client’s appointment is completed, software can automatically send out their invoice without your input. Software can automatically remind clients about unpaid invoices, automatically update your accounting team about partial payments, and do so many more actions that otherwise you’d have to pay someone to perform.

Artificial Intelligence

You can take your invoicing to the next level with artificial intelligence. Some software offers predictive intelligence that can help you spot errors with invoicing, refine your estimating and billing processes, and even generate more revenue. Some artificial intelligence even offers tools to help you reconcile accounts, get payments from clients who are late, and encourage early or on-time payments. You may be surprised at all of the features invoicing software can offer through artificial intelligence.

Other Features

When you invest in invoicing software that offers any of the above, you will often also get access to other features that help your business be more successful. You may be able to track project completion, calculate customer lifetime value, see when your average customer pays and get better, up-to-date information about your cashflow. Chances are, invoicing software will help you see just how critical managing your invoices and accounts receivable is to the overall success of your enterprise.

Choose Invoice Factoring

Of course, you don’t have to do all of your invoicing yourself. At J D Factors, we can handle the more challenging aspects of managing your accounts receivables. You send your invoice to us instead of your client, we pay you within 24 hours, and we handle all of the further contact with your client. We follow-up, send reminders, collect payment, and even handle non-payment and bad debt. Reach out to us at J D Factors to make your invoicing simpler and more reliable than ever.

5 Easy Fixes for Common Payroll Errors

For most businesses, payroll is a huge expense. While businesses in the service industry generally have higher payroll costs, it's fair to assume that 20% to 30% of your gross revenue will be spent on payroll. It's important to be precise and accurate whenever you're dealing with such a huge chunk of money. Consequences for late payments, missed deductions, and more can add up and eat into your business' bottom line. Here are some common payroll errors and easy fixes to help you get the most out of your payroll.

1.      Remit Your Payroll on Time

Missing deadlines for payroll remittances to the CRA is a costly mistake that's commonly made. The CRA can fine you 10% of the total of the late remittance for a first offense and 20% for a second offense in the same calendar year. The later you are, the more interest you are charged.

Although it's costly, it's easy for a business to lose track or forget to file payroll remittances on time. Outsourcing payroll is one simple way to avoid these late penalties.

2.      Know if a Person is an Employee or a Contractor

You can get into trouble if you pay employees as if they are contractors, especially if you're audited by the CRA and they determine that the arrangement is more like an employer/employee relationship. If you classify the relationship incorrectly, you could end up being liable for the CPP and EI owing on whatever amount was paid to the person. Visit the CRA's Employers' Guide to learn more and ensure you're classifying the people who do work for you correctly.

3.      Deduct CPP, EI and Income Tax from Overtime Pay

If you're paying employees overtime, you still have to deduct CPP, EI and income tax from that overtime pay. The way you should pay overtime depends on the pay period. Whether the amount owed is paid in the same pay period it was earned or paid in a later pay period will depend on how you pay it and what deductions you make. Talk to your accountant of visit the CRA's Employers' Guide to ensure you're paying overtime correctly.

4.      Pay CPP on Commission

In some situations, you may pay an employee commission after they sell something, which can happen irregularly. In this case, to determine the maximum CPP contribution amount, you have to prorate the annual basic exemption amount for CPP for the number of days in the year between the commission payments. Otherwise, you may pay CPP incorrectly and be stuck making up the difference later on.

5.      Ensure You've Got the Cash for Payroll

Let's face it. Payroll can put a huge strain on your cash flow. Talk to J D Factors about invoice factoring, which is a great solution to ensure you always have the cash available to pay your people on time.

Correcting these costly payroll errors will help you avoid having to pay more than you need to. With your payroll under control your cash flow will be too, which is a critical part of a strong, healthy and growing business. Give the team at J D Factors a call for more cash flow tips!