Chapter 4. Billing Best Practices

This chapter covers the best practices that can be used to create a more efficient billing operation. The best practices fall into three main categories. One group covers the need for more accurate information that is used to create an invoice. These items focus on the stream of information going from the shipping department to the invoicing staff, with a particular emphasis on rooting out any missing or incorrect information. The next group of best practices covers the efficiency of the invoicing operation itself, eliminating month-end statements and using a smaller number of multipart invoice forms. The final group focuses on changing the method of invoice delivery to the customer, such as using electronic data interchange or allowing the delivery person to create the invoice at the point of delivery. When taken as a whole, these best practices result in an invoicing operation that is remarkably error-free, issues invoices as soon as products are shipped, and ensures that customers receive invoices almost at once.

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