According to Horus Software, paper invoices remain important for Belgian SMEs. Word remains an important tool for creating invoices.

A Horus Software survey of 452 Belgian SMEs shows that more than one in three Belgian SMEs (36%) still send their invoices by post. Also striking: another third of all small and medium-sized companies create their invoices in Word (37%). When it comes to electronic invoicing, Flanders performs slightly better than Brussels and Wallonia: only one in four (27%) SMEs still sends its invoices by post.

Accounting is a powerful tool for monitoring and analyzing the company’s financial health. However, 39 percent of entrepreneurs still see it as a cost factor. Another 18 percent think it is completely useless. Another notable figure: Belgian SMEs spend an average of around 33 hours per month on administrative accounting tasks.

“While maintaining accounts takes time and money, it also allows you to gain valuable insights into your business. Especially in economically uncertain times, it’s good to keep an overview. “It is therefore striking to find in the research that almost one in five managers (19%) do not understand their cash flow,” says Gunther Slaets, sales manager at Horus Software.

Support companies

The accountant therefore has the special role of supporting and advising the manager. However, only one in two managers (49%) say they receive financial advice from their accountant. The majority of accountants (86%) focus primarily on VAT returns.

Finally, the research shows that six in ten business leaders (59%) speak to their accountant less than four times a year. “They prefer to look for important information on the Internet, in the newspaper or on LinkedIn. Accountants often don’t have time,” concludes Gunther Slaets.