Are you allowed to keep invoices digitally?

Storing invoices digitally: you hear more and more about it, but you struggle with the necessary questions. Because is this actually allowed? And if so, where do you start? Although smart solutions for digital booking of purchase invoices exist today, the archiving process within many organizations is still paper-based. Many a financial administrative employee in 2019 still spends a lot of time storing purchase invoices in folders, which are kept in cabinets in the office. Such a paper archive also makes retrieving an invoice at a later date a time-consuming task. Recognizable? Then you might be considering a more efficient alternative: storing invoices digitally. But what should you take into account when switching to a digital archive?

Digital archive for invoices: 4 tips

There are several legal requirements you must meet in terms of digital invoice processing. If you only want to save invoices digitally, then it is compulsory – just as with paper archives – to save every invoice and the communication about it for 7 years. All documentation must have integrity and be easy to read. If you want to know the legal ins and outs regarding the digital storage of invoices, read this download from the tax authorities. To help you on your way, we give you 4 tips, so you can take concrete steps to set up a solid digital archive for invoices!

Fact sheet saving invoices digitally

Download 4 concrete tips for fully AVG proof invoices properly stored digitally.

Download factsheet

1. Choose a good scanning and recognition solution

If you want to preserve invoices digitally, it is crucial to monitor the integrity of all documents. This starts with smart OCR software. This ensures proper recognition of purchase invoices as well as all related emails and receipts. The credo: the better your scanning and recognition solution, the more readable the scanned documents.

2. Make sure all necessary documents are immediately callable

‘Authenticity’ is a key word when working with a digital archive. In that context, when processing a purchase invoice, it is important that you attach the pdf version as well as all associated emails and receipts to the entry. This bundle of documents guarantees the authenticity of the pdf. In addition, all data – from creditor data to invoice dates – must be immediately retrievable. Think about this carefully before creating a digital archive. Because the cleaner you keep all data, the cleaner your processes will be. A good system can help you considerably with this.

3. Keep everything in one place

Once you have ensured legibility and authenticity, you need to ensure that you keep all booked purchase invoices in 1 place in your ERP system. Your physical “repository” (cabinets full of folders full of invoices) disappears, which means that the digital version of it must be well organized. What matters is that you keep everything manageable: if you need to retrieve a purchase invoice and all the notes about it four years later, this should only take 1 mouse click. Most ERP systems offer options for this, but they are often limited or not that user-friendly. In fact, purchase invoice processing is a peripheral process for the ERP vendor. If you want to store invoices digitally, additional software such as Whitevision’s can make this a lot easier.

4. Pay attention to backups

No matter how good your security is and how much effort you put into prevent fraud and intercept phishing emailsany system can crash. Saving invoices digitally is therefore only possible if you make very good backups. Of course, you can take all kinds of measures for this yourself, but that is often a complex and time-consuming activity. The alternative: a cloud solution that takes care of all backups automatically.

Storing invoices digitally: getting started with a digital archive?

If you have to perform all of the above steps manually, you will spend an awful lot of time. Saving invoices digitally can be much simpler. How? With the right tooling. Whitevision’s solution reliably captures purchase invoices and all related documentation in your core system.