Why bother having an invoice when you have receipts? That’s probably one of the most common questions by non-accountants about the importance of an invoice and how it is thought to have the same purpose as an official receipt.
The difference between the two is that an official receipt is proof of payment, while an invoice is proof of sales on the part of the company or supplier. You can issue an official receipt in advance as proof that you’ve collected the payment already without having delivered the goods or services that your customer has ordered.
In the same manner, you can deliver goods and services and issue an invoice without actually having received any payment just yet, and the customer can’t claim having paid for them through the invoice. After all, an invoice is also used as a form of billing.
What’s Exactly an Invoice?
An invoice is a document listing the supplied products or services rendered to a customer. It has a detailed description of the items, their quantities, prices, and the total amount payable to the seller.
The terms of payment are also indicated, which can be in cash on delivery (COD) or payable on a particular number of days. Discounts, if any, may also be indicated depending on how soon the credit is paid.
Main Purpose of Invoice
Regardless of the misconception, an invoice is a vital document that every business should have, especially in the real estate industry. On the part of individual consumers, it may still be something worthy to be kept in case you need to return the items and for warranty purposes.
For companies, what exactly do they need an invoice for?
- Proof of Sales: Invoices are used to track the sales revenue of the company. Other essential components of the invoice are the product descriptions, date of delivery, what part of the items was paid, and what part is still outstanding.
- Tax Purposes: Invoices are the basis of the sales tax in the United States and for most parts of the world that impose this kind of tax. In the US, sales tax is being mandated on a state level, and no nationwide sales taxes are being imposed. Sales tax is technically a percentage of the actual sales that are being imposed on companies. The highest sales tax rate being imposed in all of the USA is 7.25%, which is in California, where some of the most luxurious homes for sale are located. However, the record for the highest total sales tax rate is at Arab, Alabama, at 13.50%.
- Business Protection: the invoice doesn’t only protect customers if there are any issues with the product or services provided by companies. In the same way, it also protects companies against potential lawsuits where it needs to be proven that a sale actually happened at a particular date and place, and there was an actual agreement on the price and conditions as evidenced by the customer’s acceptance of the items.
Benefits of Invoices to New Real Estate Businesses
As a new company in the real estate world, your first priority is to grow as soon as possible. And in sales, marketing is king.
Back-office tasks must take the backseat at first, but you’ll eventually get to the point where you have to face them. Besides, after selling, you’ll need to make sure that you’ll get paid.
However, creating an invoice from scratch is time-consuming. Luckily, invoice generators can already create templates explicitly made for the real estate industry available online. And, here are some benefits of using these ready-made templates:
Saves Time
Preparation and sending out invoices to various clients used to be one of the most tedious tasks in any office. But, thanks to invoice templates for real estate professionals, generating these documents takes only a few minutes.
You can either send them through email or print them; it’s totally fine. This translates to faster accounts receivable turnover or how efficiently the company collects funds based on extended credits to customers in a year.
Customizable
Every company is different. Each may require relevant information to be included in the invoice. This is especially true for real estate companies since the invoices are generally used for most consumer products and services.
Good thing invoice templates are highly customizable to suit every business’ needs. Not only that, even the designs, colors, and even the logo size can be customized, making sure that it suits your company’s preference and identity.
Increased Productivity
As previously pointed out, an invoice receipt template will save you enormous time than you usually would spend on billing back when these online templates haven’t been created yet. With the saved time, you can generate the same number of invoices in a fraction of the time.
You can also spend more time on things that matter most to your business – selling properties!
Safer Storage
Since everything is saved on the cloud, you don’t have to worry about backups. It’s more secure than having to print copies and be at risk of mutilation and destruction through the force of nature or fire.
Also, the copies sent through emails can be your backup just in case of technical issues with access.
Conclusion
Building an empire in real estate can be overwhelming, especially when you’re still starting out. It’s easy to get lost in things that you’ve got to accomplish with limited time on your hand.
Therefore, it’s essential for you to use every little help that you can get, no matter how mundane you think they seem to be.
With the use of invoice templates, you can concentrate on offering the best real estate deals without worrying about the pile of administrative tasks.
