Bank finance articles and tips

In this brief article we will look at two very different kinds of e-invoicing: emailed invoices and digital invoices. These are often perceived to be similar and/or equivalent methods but, as we will see, they are actually quite different.

Emailed invoices

Sending an invoice via email is usually done these days by attaching the invoice as an Adobe PDF document. This allows the invoice to be sent cheaply and quickly to the recipient who can use a free product (Adobe Acrobat Reader) to open and view it. The simple idea here is that once the customer has reviewed the document (and even saved it to his or her hard drive) he or she can then pay it...

Shipping freight can be a very costly endeavor, especially in this economy. Many have noticed a significant increase in freight rates, but it's quite hard to run a business without shipping items, merchandise, or equipment. No matter what you need to ship, there are numerous ways to save and avoid added costs. Can you really afford not to do everything in your power to lower costs?

First and foremost you need to shop around for freight shippers. It's often tempting to go with the big name companies, but sometimes that's really not your best option. Yes you can get guaranteed quality service, but there are plenty of smaller companies that will work just as hard, if not harder, to keep you as a valued customer.

You worked hard all year. You kept all your receipts. You've filed your tax return that indicates you'll get a large refund this year. So where's your refund check?

The IRS processes hundreds of millions of tax returns each year, and a few refund checks will get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes taxpayer's returns contain incorrect information that's holding up that refund check. The most common mistake that people make when filing their tax returns are they make a typo - an incorrect social security number, bank deposit or routing number, or mailing address will cause a delay.