An e invoice is an invoice issued as a record rather than a document: the lines, the tax, the terms and the due date held as data, sent to the customer electronically, and kept on the account so the statement and the tracker read from it. For a small business selling on account the change is not the paper. It is that the invoice, the payment against it and the balance it leaves are one record instead of three, and the statement at month end writes itself. This page is about what electronic invoicing changes, what an electronic invoice system has to hold, and the e invoicing benefits that actually show up in the bank rather than in a brochure.
What an electronic invoice is, and is not
An electronic invoice is issued from the account record, carries the same lines a paper one does, and is delivered by email or a portal with a link to pay. It is not a PDF of a typed invoice, because a PDF holds nothing the statement can read. The test is whether the payment can be applied against the invoice without retyping: if the tracker still needs someone to enter what came in, the invoicing is electronic in name only.
What the electronic invoice system has to hold
Customers on account and their terms; every invoice with its lines, tax, shipping, issue date and due date; every payment and credit applied against a named invoice; and the status from issued to paid. From those four the system produces the statement of the period and the tracker's figures, outstanding, overdue and days to collect, without a second entry. The free tools on this site produce the documents; the paid record keeps them against the customer.
Benefits of e invoicing that reach the bank
Fewer days between the sale and the cash, because the invoice goes the day the goods ship and the reminder goes the day it is late; fewer disputes, because the customer's statement and yours are the same record; and a truthful overdue figure, because a payment applied to the wrong invoice is caught at entry. The benefit that does not show up is cheaper paper; the cost was never the paper.
Choosing e invoicing software for a business on account
Judge it by the account, not the invoice. Any tool prints an invoice; the one to buy keeps the customer's account, applies payments to named invoices, sends the statement and the reminder, and exports the lot for the accountant. Electronic invoicing software sold on templates and colors is the invoice for one job, a different product for a different buyer.
Questions people ask about e invoice
What is an e invoice?
An invoice issued and kept as data on the customer's account, sent electronically with a link to pay, so the payment, the statement and the tracker read from the same record.
Is a PDF invoice an electronic invoice?
Only in delivery. A PDF holds nothing the account can read, so the payment still has to be applied by hand. An e invoice is the record itself.
What are the e invoicing benefits for a small business?
The invoice goes the day of the sale, the reminder the day it is late, the statement writes itself from the account, and the overdue figure is true. Days to collect fall for those reasons.
Does this site offer electronic invoicing software?
The free proforma, billing statement and invoice tracker do the arithmetic with no account. The paid plan keeps every customer, invoice and statement on the record, sends them and takes payment.