In particular, the forum focused on business processes both for governments and for the private sector in the field of electronic business and trade facilitation. Gait Boxman of TIE Kinetix participated in the development of one of the core UN/CEFACT deliverables: the UN/EDIFACT Directories.

Current projects and plans by UN/CEFACT

The Forum progressed current projects and plans for future developments as well as maintenance of existing recommendations and standards.

• In particular, the Supply Chain Programme Development Areas (PDA) addressed current projects, such as migration to the Core Component Library version 3.0, encompassing Cross Industry Invoice, eTendering, Contract Financial Execution Management and eNotification.
• According to UN/CEFACT’s cross domain approach the Supply Chain and Trade & Transport Facilitation PDAs held strategic joint meetings focusing on the relationship between the Supply Chain Council’s Operations Reference Model (SCOR) and UN/CEFACT’s Buy-Ship-Pay model.
• Detailed discussions were held to ensure the technology framework underpinning UN/CEFACT’s deliverables was simple, pragmatic, facilitative and, above all, achievable. This focused on foundational libraries, coordination with ISO (and other SDOs) to provide supporting methodologies and technologies as well as strengthening maintenance for UN/EDIFACT.
• It was announced that the Core Component Library 12A was ready for publication. XML Schema for the Core Component Library 11B was sent for validation. Data maintenance requests  for EDIFACT Directory 12A were resolved and changes to the EDIFACT production process introduced by revisions to the publication format of UN/EDIFACT (R.1023) were implemented, enabling EDIFACT 11B to be sent for validation.
• A session on “Reliable message exchange between communities” in which experts from the Russian Federation, European Commission, Public eProcurement and OASIS presented requirements and approaches to the secure cross border exchange of electronic business documents.
• The Agricultural Domain made significant progress in several projects as well as introducing new projects for the exchange of data in the agro-industry.
• The enhancement of UN/CEFACT communications was also an important topic. This included improving the circulation and exchange of information inside the UN/CEFACT community through a new Online Forum, which will be accessible shortly through the UN/CEFACT website at www.unece.org/cefact/index.html

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: UN/CEFACT projects and plans are on track.

This is the first wave of the eInvoicing roll-out in all DGs, Agencies and Institutions that started with a few suppliers in 2009. The adoption of eInvoicing continues to grow. By the end of 2012, all 49 Directorate-Generals of the Commission and Executive Agencies will be using eInvoicing with IT contractors.

Relevant figures

Here are some relevant figures:

• 27 supplier companies of the Commission are currently using eInvoicing, sending their invoices through e-PRIOR
• 4 service providers are interfacing with e-PRIOR and connecting suppliers to e-PRIOR for eInvoicing
• 2 700 electronic invoices were received in e-PRIOR
• 1 300 downloads of the Open e-PRIOR software on Joinup.eu.

About e-PRIOR

e-PRIOR is a service oriented platform, developed by DIGIT, allowing suppliers to exchange standardised eProcurement documents, via a secured communication channel, with the European Commission and its Institutions.

An open-source version of e-PRIOR, called Open e-PRIOR is freely available to the Member States and can be implemented in any public administration.

The platform is connected to PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine) via its own Access Point, facilitating the cross-border exchange of eProcurement documents between, for example, a public administration in country A with suppliers in country B.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EU: 18 DGs, EU Agencies and Institutions adopt eInvoicing using e-PRIOR.

Final report

The team presents its findings about Macedonia’s e-invoicing position in the report. They have evaluated the country’s legal, regulatory, and business environment. Subjects like legal and administrative barriers to the adoption and wide use of e-invoicing, recommendations for key policy etc. are addressed. The report shows that major legislative changes should be able to be achieved by mid-2012, but phased implementation is also one of the team’s recommendations.

Final report: Implementing e-invoicing in Macedonia

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Macedonia’s first steps to e-invoicing.

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of survey respondents reported that they’re moving from paper-pushing to e-invoicing. As a result, they’re achieving significant benefits, including:

• Payment cycles reduced to five days, from 23
• A 39 percent increase in on-time payments
• A 63 percent reduction in lost paper invoices

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-Invoicing Adoption Benchmarking Report.

340.000 trees saved

Orange calculated that if all invoices in Poland were sent electronically, the country would save 340,00 trees from being cut per year. Among the approximately 4 billion invoices sent per year in Poland, at most 11 percent of the bills are sent in an electronic form.

According to Orange Poland, this result shows that Poland is among the last countries in Europe when it comes to adopting e-invoicing, according to Orange Poland. At present, two million Orange Poland customers use e-invoicing, the company said.

Setting the example

The initiative set a clear example of how to achieve e-invoicing adoption. Even with slow take-up because of the inertia exhibited by certain stakeholders who need to be persuaded to change their ingrained habits.

And also because of mrket fragmentation that emerged from the existence of a wide variety of systems, sometimes technically complex, deployed across the EU that can lead to increased costs for suppliers.

So, who’s next? Who is going to starts the next e-invoicing coalition?

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Poland sets an example, starts e-invoicing coalition.

Kuehne + Nagel one of the world’s bigger logistics companies, selected Tradeshift for e-invoicing. The first stage of the trial will see Tradeshift implemented across five countries followed by a wider European rollout. In the end Tradeshift is supposed to process 8 million invoices every year for Kuehne+Nagel.

Tradeshift at Kuehne+Nagel

Kuehne+Nagel which manage around 8 million invoices every year, came to the conclusion that Tradeshift presents an excellent way to deal with its entire supplier infrastructure in an ordered and consistent manner.

And because Tradeshift is free for all suppliers, Kuehne+Nagel expects that the uptake in order of magnitude is higher than alternative solutions.

Feedback from Kuehne+Nagel

Jon Abrahamson, Senior Vice President of Kuehne +Nagel, said in response to contracting Tradeshift:

“Like numerous other enterprises we have the vision of an automated invoicing flow and Tradeshift represents the best possibility to date of moving in that direction. When you consider that some of our suppliers send many thousands of documents to us every year, we could hardly charge them on per item basis. Tradeshift turns the whole approach on its head, with very good results.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Kuehne + Nagel Selects Tradeshift.

PROACTIS, a company specialised in Spend Control and eProcurement, today announced a deal with Cancer Research UK, a cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.

The choice for PROACTIS was made after a comprehensive evaluation process and will allow Cancer Research UK to reduce administration costs, improve finance controls, and ensure best value for what it spends on goods and services to support frontline services.

International Companies reduces invoicing costs with Esker on Demand Automation

International Companies, the corporate umbrella for four leaders in the food ingredient industry, has implemented an Esker on Demand solution to automate the processing and delivery of customer invoices.

The Esker solution integrates with International Companies’ ERP system and leverages Esker production facilities to eliminate the need for manual mail processing while facilitating customer adoption of electronic invoicing.

SciQuest enters market with an enhanced accounts payable solution

SciQuest, a provider of on-demand source-to-settle solutions,  announced a new Accounts Payable product. The new product features expanded functionality for automating accounts payable, eliminating manual processes and providing powerful insight for finance and procurement staff.

“SciQuest Accounts Payable solutions are designed to help organizations automate the capture, management and payment of all invoices, freeing staff to identify more profitable supplier relationships and eliminate bottlenecks in paper-driven processes,” said Max Leisten, market director.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: AP Automation News: Proactis strikes deal | International Companies joins Esker | SciQuest introduces AP solution.

Electronic data interchange (EDI) and digital signatures are the two primary established methods of exchanging invoice data and are both understood by businesses and governments alike. But if the two would compete in a race, who would win?

Gentle(wo)men, start your engines!

According to GXS’s Nigel Taylor everyone wins, but fortunately he did go through the trouble of writing an elaborate comparison of the two. We believe a summary of his points is sufficient:

So, we have a tie. Was it all for nothing? No, but we do think that you are more than capable to decide for yourselves. Which one of the two should you choose?

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The ultimate race between EDI and digital signatures.

But even for the innovators out there times are tough: (e-invoicing) technologies that promise to deliver extra value and efficiency only end up delivering a fraction of the anticipated benefits are not finding their way as it should

Tradeshift recently released its first research into the attitudes and experiences of modern enterprises with their current e-invoicing solutions. And this is what they found out.

Recommendations from Tradeshift

Based on their findings, this is what Tradeshift recommends you to look at, when choosing and e-invoicing solution:

• Business is social, so business applications need to be social too
• Business is built on relationships, relationships are important
• Technology should serve business, not the other way round
• E-invoicing should work for the buyer and the supplier
• Platforms should be open, interoperable and work across borders
• Data should be easy to access
• IT issues should not become a stumbling block
• Financial services should be easy to integrate and offer
• The business case for e-invoicing adoption should be obvious for all
• E-invoicing should be about more than just invoicing

Time for a revolution?

E-invoicing would be more likely to reach wide-spread adoption if it was free. If you are on the same page as Tradeshift, get on the same network with Them. You can download the full report here – including our manifesto. Also check out the infographic with their key findings.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Is e-invoicing failing to deliver? [research] [infographic].

In April 2012 Haifa Port launched a new service which will deliver invoices digitally and securely to all clients who choose to join. Those who want to take advantage of the service will be able to view PDF invoices in their mailbox on the Computerized Trading Processes in the Maritime Community site.

Secured and improved service

The e-Invoices are secure and recognized by tax authorities and meet the requirements of the law regarding electronic signatures and stamps. Shimon Love, project manager and head of Haifa Port’s Finance Division, proudly comments on the development:

• “Invoices with an electronic signature are part of the improved services we provide our clients whilst, at the same time, reducing the use of paper and printing. I call on all of the Ports customers to join this new service.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Largest Israeli port adopts electronic invoicing.

BDX Goal

The goal of the OASIS Business Document Exchange is to define an open, neutral and extensible standards framework to support the largest public e-procurement and e-invoicing initiative in the world.

Until now it is unclear how BDW relates to Swift, PEPPOL, and multiple other e-procurement and e-invoicing initiatives around our tiny globe.

Why participate in BDX

Through participation in BDX, committee members:

• have the opportunity to influence the advancement of BDX as an international standard.
• can ensure that their requirements and use cases are taken into account.
• can engage with other e-procurement experts, promote demand for compliant products, and form useful alliances for successful implementation and ongoing support.
• build towards and open, neutral and extensible technical framework to connect with a broader range of partners, faster, and at lower cost.

More information

The links below provide more information on the BDX charter and on the benefits and costs of OASIS membership. (Note: you must be a member of OASIS in order to participate).

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Call for participation: OASIS Business Document Exchange.

Direct Insite, a provider of cloud-based e-invoicing solutions for accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payments automation, today announced that Siemens Global Shared Services North America (GSS NA) has signed a three-year contract renewing its use of Direct Insite’s Invoices On-Line (IOL) supplier e-invoicing portal.

GSS NA receives the majority of its supplier invoices electronically, utilizing Webform entry, “flipping” purchase orders into invoices, uploading invoice data from within a spreadsheet or electronic invoices directly from the suppliers’ billing system through the industry standard EDI or XML formats and posts them without operator intervention through the IOL.

Mercantile Bank of Michigan utilizes Bill.com’s e-invoicing platform

Bill.com announced that Mercantile Bank of Michigan has standardised its online business banking services on Bill.com’s platform. Bill.com offers integrated bill payment, online invoicing and cash flow management solutions for businesses. Mercantile Bank of Michigan is the first financial institution to utilize Bill.com’s service.

The Bill.com platform provides Mercantile Bank of Michigan business customers a solution that automates manual processes and makes it seamless to send and receive payments through multiple payment channels. Mercantile Bank of Michigan customers benefit from an integrated experience that includes single sign-on (SSO); one click setup of their company, users and bank accounts; and the ability to pay and get paid immediately after setup.

12 State and County Governments join invoice manager doxo

doxo, a file and payment provider, today announced that a dozen state and local government agencies have joined doxo. doxo enables these government agencies to send invoices, tax statements and other notices directly into the doxo filing cabinets of their residential and commercial customers. In turn, their customers can receive documents, invoices and set-up one time and recurring payments.

In addition to receiving documents, invoices, and tax statements from their participating government entity, customers can use doxo as a free online file cabinet to store documents and manage critical account information.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing News: Siemens Global and Direct Insite renew contract | Mercantile Bank of Michigan partners with Bill.com | 12 State and County Governments start using doxo.

Einvoicing in Thailand, a bit like Latin America

The process to be allowed to issue electronic invoices is similar to the e-invoicing regimes in Latin America. It includes the following steps and requirements:

For more information: http://www.rd.go.th/publish/31224.0.html

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Thailand allows e-Invoicing. If you have two digital signatures…. [why].

ProgressSoft and EbpSource have announced a Partnership , to bring advanced E-billing and payment capabilities to Middle East banks and billers.

On-site demonstrations of the e-billing and payment capabilities being offered by ebpSource and ProgressSoft, along with all other ProgressSoft solutions are being conducted to MEFTEC (Middle East Financial Technology conference, editor] delegates, comprising the highest level of executives from both the banking and telecoms sectors in the region.

Cape Town goes live with SAP electronic billing system

With SAP AMI Integration for Utilities, the City of Cape Town is able to read meters remotely, eliminating issues of access to premises, travel time and manual data capturing errors – thereby ensuring 100% accuracy of bills. In addition, the utility can offer tailored billing services based on actual consumption data and meter reading that better matches the consumers’ needs.

Striata and Tricubes partner to secure nationwide Malaysian eBilling initiative myemail.my

Striata, a global service provider of paperless solutions, has partnered with Tricubes, an ID authentication specialist, to provide Malaysian consumers with a secure document delivery platform. This is to support Tricubes’ myemail.my service which went live on September 2011 – the aim of which is to provide every Malaysian citizen with an authenticated email address – facilitating safe, secure document delivery

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing News: ProgressSoft And EbpSource team up, Cape Town starts E-billing via SAP, and more.

How to…

Well, how does this work then? CloudScan users provide suppliers with a unique email address where they send their documents. These are then automatically converted into Tradeshift’s open digital format and appear on the user’s e-invoicing platform. Easy enough.

Easy communication

But that’s not all Tradeshift has to offer, if we may believe their rants. If needed information is missing, CloudScan sends a message to the invoice supplier telling them to add data. An additional advantage: the two-pane interface to do so seems workable even for those challenged in the field of IT. The process of adding data never has to be repeated, because the info is remembered for the next invoice.

100% e-invoicing is attainable

The idea behind CloudScan is to adapt the technology and process to the user and not the other way around. We’re not all technical geniuses, after all. This is why Tradeshift claims that 100% electronic invoicing is achievable. CloudScan, in the eyes of its developer the first solid step towards this goal, will launch in Spring 2012.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The final hours of paper invoices? Tradeshift believes so with Cloudscan.

By proposing this deadline for mandatory e-procurement, a massive €100 billion should be saved annually across the EU from the even more staggering €2 trillion procurement spend across the EU.

Multiple deadlines for mandatory e-procurement in the EU

In fact the European Commission proposes several deadlines for mandatory e-procurement:

• Central government bodies have to achieve all this by mid-2014.
• The wider public sector have to achieve the first two elements by the same date, but will be given until mid-2016 to meet the communication aspect.
• The Commission itself wants to move to full e-procurement by mid-2015.

This will include posting all contract opportunities online, making all tender documents available, the electronic submission of bids and making all communication digital.

Response from the EC Internal Market commissioner

EC internal market commissioner Michel Barnier said in a statement:

“It’s time to act. E-procurement represents significant untapped potential for the EU economy. It can simplify the way procurement is conducted, reduce burdens and costs, increase the participation of SMEs and deliver better quality and lower prices. The sooner the transition is initiated, the sooner we will reap the benefits offered by e-procurement”

Did you know?

In 2005 (seven years ago), the Commission attempted to set out targets for e-procurement implementation in the public sector previously, but these have been missed. It proposed in 2005 to move all procurement online by 2010. In reality, e-procurement is used in just 5 to 10 per cent of procurement processes.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EU Commission wants mandatory e-procurement in all Member States by 2016.

Rules and regulations in Russian e-invoicing

• Using e-invoicing is voluntary
• Both parties have to consent to the use of an electronic format and both parties have to have the appropriate technical means
• The e-invoice has to be signed with an electronic digital signature and transferred via an operator
• In case of requests from tax authorities to provide documents, invoices may be submitted to the tax authorities in electronic format

Funny enough, the new legislation does not provide such strict regulations in respect to electronic flow of primary accounting documents as compared to e-invoices.

Tax authorities, however, are of the opinion that certain primary accounting documents may also be submitted by taxpayers in electronic form during tax audits, if these documents are created electronically.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing in Russia: ready, set, go!.

E-invoicing compliance according to AcceptEmail and Trustweaver

AcceptEmail and TrustWeaver are content with the partnership and stress its importance:

• TrustWeaver CEO Christiaan van der Valk:
  
  “We are pleased to welcome AcceptEmail to our partner network which already comprises most of the world’s leading B2B integration, e-invoicing and procure-to-pay vendors.”
  
  “We believe that companies like AcceptEmail will be increasingly successful in helping billers extract significant value from cleverly combined billing and payment processes.”
• Peter Kwakernaak, CEO of AcceptEmail:
  
  “Partnering with TrustWeaver enables us to add a thin, Cloud-based compliance layer that guarantees long-term legal certainty for suppliers and buyers without any footprint on their systems or processes.” 
  
  “Our customers expect fully integrated bill presentment and payment to work without having to worry about what’s under the hood. In this day and age they also demand hard assurances that we meet the highest standards of local compliance and evidence. Anytime and anywhere.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Global e-invoicing compliance: AcceptEmail and TrustWeaver team up.

Without diving into the reason of behind this success story, Bo Harald provided us with some insights of how e-invoicing in Europe (and beyond) could adopt e-invoicing:

• Banks have tremendous selling power – over 200 000 enterprises signed up – about 87% of active enterprises
• Norway and Sweden are ahead in the consumer sector – as invoice senders are not discouraged to charge visibly for having to send paper there.
• On EU-level this would mean some 1,8 billion e-invoices – still a lot of room for growth
• b2b will grow even faster now as the state sector is applying “return to sender” for paper or emailed invoices (the idea is NOT to save stamps – but to enable process automation by using structured data and common standards).
• E-invoicing should be made mandatory.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Dramatic increase of e-invoicing in Finland.

DataServ and The Doe Run Company have entered into a new multi-year agreement under which DataServ will provide document and process automation capabilities via its SaaS Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) Solution.

The solution will provide over 100 Doe Run employees with a simpler, faster email-based approval process, and a managed repository to quickly locate and use relevant documents throughout the full lifecycle including tax and audit functions.

HKS selects CCG electronic invoicing to improve financial oversight through AP Automation

Global architectural design firm HKS, Inc. recently implemented Central Consulting Group (CCG)’s Electronic Invoicing software for Deltek Vision to improve oversight of and speed the client invoicing process.

CCG Electronic Invoicing transforms a manual process with multiple paper documents into a single electronic system, leading one source of truth. The easier review process also leads to a faster billing cycle, another key selling point.

Orange Business Services transforms procurement with e-invoicing by Kofax

Pete Loughlin Orange Business Services, the B2B arm of France Telecom, is currently implementing a new e-invoicing system to improve the efficiency of its purchasing processes. The network and managed IT service provider is implementing the Kofax Transformation Modules.

It contains of a set of applications that allows Orange Business Services to capture data from an electronic document and check it against existing information in its Oracle ERP system.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: AP Automation News: Doe Ron selects DataServ, HKS Selects CCG, Orange selects Kofax.

Potential savings include 60-80 per cent reduced invoicing costs and a one to two per cent of revenue cost reduction by switching from paper to e-invoices.

Banks preventing innovations in Canadian e-invoicing

The review attributes Canada’s failure to keep pace upon “stagnation” in payment systems by Canada’s major banks and other key institutions.

The authors of the report stated that “Their [banks] interests are best served by keeping at bay new entrants to the system, the very entrants who would bring the innovations that Canadians need,” according to the report.

Recommendations for Canadian multi billion savings

The recommendations for government action include:

• Implementation of an “instantaneous” electronic invoicing and payments for all government suppliers and benefit recipients.
• Partnering with the private sector to create a mobile device-based “ecosystem.”
• Leading the development of digital identification and authentication systems to support the system while protecting privacy of citizens. Absence of a simple, secure method of authenticating identities online means many online transactions such as purchases or bill paying transactions are unnecessarily “laborious.”
• Creation of a new payments industry governing body as well as a public agency to scrutinize it and to work toward overhaul of existing systems.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Canadian economy can save $32 billion with e-payment and e-invoicing.

That said, Basware’s customers now can send and receive PEPPOL-compliant e-invoices and documents to customers and suppliers. Staples Finland, a key supplier of office and industrial supplies to government agencies, has become one of the first companies to start using PEPPOL-compliant e-invoices.

About PEPPOL

The PEPPOL initiative, co-funded by the European Commission, is to enable EU-wide exchange of electronic invoices and business documents among private and public businesses of any size to foster European-wide commerce opportunities.

The level of standardization delivered by PEPPOL is said to hold significant advantages for businesses of every size. PEPPOL strives to ensure greater transparency through e-invoicing, and increase public accountability of business deals.

E-invoicing in Norway by PEPPOL

The implementation of PEPPOL by Basware comes three months before the Norwegian Government will mandate contracting authorities to require that all suppliers must invoice them electronically with the use of PEPPOL infrastructure as the preferred approach.

The Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (Difi) states that this mandate by the Norwegian Government will make PEPPOL the ‘backbone of public electronic invoicing in Norway.’  PEPPOL anticipates similar requirements from governments across Europe over the next few years.

Quotes from Basware, Staples and Digfi

So, how fond of PEPPOL are both suppliers, customers and the government? Here are some quotes from Basware, Staples and Difi:

• Esa Tihilä, Chief Executive Officer, Basware:
  “PEPPOL marks a step forward in open, collaborative commerce. Automating purchase processes, along with a common way of working across Europe, will significantly boost commerce opportunities between private and public businesses of every size.”
  
  “Basware believes in openness and collaboration between all parties across trading networks.The support we have provided to the PEPPOL initiative is based on recognition and understanding of the importance in providing an EU-wide standard for electronic document exchange upon which organizations can rely to automate their P2P processes.”
• Olav Astad Kristiansen, Senior Adviser, Difi:
  “The high standards for invoice content set by PEPPOL will ensure public authorities receive better-quality invoices,” said  “The wider business community will also prosper through simpler and more efficient invoicing processes.”
• Pekka Leppälä, Sales Director, Staples:
  “As a supplier it is essential to be PEPPOL-compliant to meet customer demands. When sales and invoicing processes are harmonized, it makes the relationship between buyer and supplier mutually beneficial and opens up new business opportunities, particularly against our competitors that may not yet be compliant.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware allows for e-invoicing via PEPPOL.

But we reckon that Genpact had to pay serious money to acquire Accounting Plaza. Because Accounting Plaza is a provider of finance and accounting (F&A), human resources (HR) services and PeopleSoft ERP services to Ahold, a major international retailer, and other clients in the retail, wholesale, banking and healthcare industries.  Accounting Plaza employes 600 people, has its main office in the Netherlands, with subisidiaries in Poland and Czech.

With the acquisition of Accounting Plaza, Genpact will now have a strong services delivery operations in The Netherlands with Dutch language capabilities as well as an expanded services portfolio in Europe including human resources, business process management, e-invoicing and PeopleSoft ERP related services.  Genpact will also bolster its F&A services offerings for the retail industry in areas such as store and franchise accounting, inventory accounting, and trade promotions.

About Accounting Plaza

Accounting Plaza has approximately 600 full-time employees working out of its centres in The Netherlands, Poland, and Czech Republic.  It was founded in 2000 as the F&A and HR services provider for Ahold. Ahold, the sixth largest retail company in the world, owns and operates food retail and online grocery delivery operators across the United States and Europe.  Ahold currently operates a total of 3,008 retail stores with over 2,250 of those stores located in Europe.

About Genpact

Within Europe, Genpact operates three delivery centres in Romania as well as centres in Hungary, Poland, and Morocco, serving more than 25 languages. Genpact provides a wide range of services from Europe and across the globe that help maximize the effectiveness of operations for companies in multiple industries, including procurement and supply chain, F&A, IT help desk services, analytics, and process reengineering.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: (E-invoicing by) Accounting Plaza acquired by Genpact.

Now, the press release stated that the environment was the winner, but we are not so convinced about that really.

E-invoicing adoption in Sweden

According to research carried out on members of the Swedish Bankers’ Association the number of e-invoices sent out last year amounted to 60 million, which equates to 17 percent of all internet payments made by consumers.

“My estimate is that 70 % of Swedish consumers connected to internet-banks will receive e-invoices within 3 years says Johan Schmalholz, Senior Adviser, E-invoicing at the Swedish Bankers’ Association.

If all invoices in Sweden were to be changed from paper to electronic, a total energy saving of around 1 400 TJ-equivalents/year and reductions of greenhouse gas emissions corresponding to 39 000 to 41 000 ton CO2-equivalents/year would be made according to a study carried out at the Department of Environmental Strategies at KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Spoiler alert: research is only available in Swedish

Unfortunately the survey is only available in swedish.

• Press release in Swedish
• PowerPoint presentation on the research
• The full research report

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Swedish B2C E-billing adoption sours with a staggering 29 percent in a single year.

One of the activities that came into the spotlight during the last meeting of the European e-Invoice Multistakeholder Forum in Brussels was dealing with the terminology and definitions that are being used in the context of electronic invoicing. It was agreed that an un-ambiguous use of terminology and definitions would no doubt foster the adoption and progress of the deliverables.

Useful definition of e-invoicing terms

In order to obtain a useful ‘definition of terms’ the Working Group recently agreed to consult the members of the European e-Invoice Multistakeholder Forum, and via them their constituencies. And you are part of that constituency….

Please find below a list of Terms for which a definition should be given. Note that:

• This is not an exhaustive list – please add Term(s) if you think that they are relevant and missing from the list
• The sequence is random; it does not imply relevance or priority

On behalf of the EU E-invoicing Forum we would like to ask you to provide information on the Terms listed, as:

1. recognition of the Term concerned,
2. definition for the Term in use by your constituency,
3. dependency or relation between a Term and other Term(s),
4. additional information on the Term that is considered relevant.

E-invoicing definitions

The Task4 working Group has sofar come up with this non-exhaustive list:

1. Semantic model
2. Syntax
3. Data set
4. Content standard
5. Format standard
6. Business Requirement
7. Business Requirement Specification
8. Context
9. Scope
10. Information Requirement
11. Information Requirement Model
12. Process Choreography
13. Data Model
14. Metadata
15. Cardinality
16. Attribute
17. Property
18. Association
19. Business Term
20. Business Rule
21. Constraint
22. Requirement Specification Mapping
23. Core Component
24. Data Type
25. Business Information Entity
26. Business Object
27. Business Message
28. Library
29. Repository
30. Syntax Implementation
31. Syntax Mapping
32. Standard
33. XML Schema
34. Implementation Guideline
35. Bill
36. Invoice

A much larger list of definitions can be found in the CEN/ISSS E-invoicing 2 CWA 16049 – Assessing new business processes and technologies for eInvoicing.

Please send your feedback – preferably before 20^th April 2012 to Edmund Gray (edmundg@omni.ie) and Peter Potgieser (peter.potgieser@rbs.com)

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EU E-invoicing Forum asks you: provide useful definition of terms.

Its immediate purpose is to gather a body of expert views about the current development of experience and good practice for e-invoicing in the European Union. The intention is to identify the necessary conditions for success in promoting the use of electronic invoicing and to highlight a number of case studies in which these conditions are demonstrated.

Such cases will provide invaluable input into the learning process for all stakeholders and support the clear policy objectives in support of e-invoicing adoption at European and Member State level.

Target groups: including e-invoicing service providers

This consultation, including an online survey and a consultation document, is NOW addressed to e-invoicing professionals, providers, stakeholder forums and experts.

However “other responses, representing the views of an enterprise, organisation, association or individual (including individual Forum members), are also very welcome and it is within the discretion of the National Forums to arrange for and invite such additional input.”

This is your chance

So, this is your chance as an E-invoicing Professional/Provider to let the EU Multi Stakeholder Forum know what you think are proven experiences and best practices.  (We bet that one can a few hundred on this website).

Survey, consultation and guideline: how to

The EU Forum Task Group 2 Activity Leaders drew up a consultation document, a survey document, an online survey and a consultation guideline.

Get the most out of your time
This how you can get the most out of your time:

1. Read the consultation guideline.
2. Fill out the survey document
3. If you have any time left: fill out the consultation document
4. Send it to the activity team leaders: Charles Bryant (charles.bryant@ob10.com) and/or Emmanouil Schizas (emmanouil.schizas@accaglobal.com)

Contact

If you have any further questions on the two consultation instruments or the process in general, please do not hesitate to contact the activity leaders:

Charles Bryant: charles.bryant@ob10.com
Emmanouil Schizas: emmanouil.schizas@accaglobal.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EU E-invoicing Forum asks you: provide your top experiences and good practices.

The decision by the Norwegian Government means that millions of e/invoices will now be sent to a central electronic payment point, which suppliers and public sector bodies can access.

EVRY the single point of Norwegian E-invoices

Figures from Norway’s official procurement body show that up to 11m invoices are received by state bodies, many of which are still in paper format.

Service provider EVRY currently manages a high volume of e-invoice transactions in the country and was chosen for the project as it will be able to effectively manage the on-boarding of suppliers to the new network and already has many customers using the EHF document format.

The company will also team up with the fellow distributors to provide an alternative service to those that do not want to offer the access point service to their clients.

Comments

Havard Larsen, head of solutions at EVRY, commented on this bold move:

“The transition to electronic invoicing is a major milestone on the path to complete digitisation of invoice management by the Norwegian public sector. By 1 July this year, almost half a million Norwegian companies will have to start sending their invoices to the State in electronic rather than paper form”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Norway to accept only e-invoices as from 1 July 2012.

The e-invoicing platform is powered by PaletteConnectivity Services (PCS), part of the PaletteArena accounts payable suite, and will help customers to cut their transaction costs, speed up invoice processing times, and enhance supplier relationships.

The platform provides transaction brokering between buyers and suppliers, enabling invoices to be delivered, received and processed electronically as easily as an email. This streamlines accounting processes by cutting out paper documents.

PCS enables both suppliers and customers to choose their preferred formats for invoices and enables easy integration with ERP and other business systems.

The service will be available from the beginning of April.

Courtesy of Sharedserviceslink.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Palette provides e-invoicing platform for Australia and Asia-Pacific region.

What can you expect at the 5th Dutch E-invoicing Conference?

9 keynote speeches

Get inspired by:

• Trendwatching: the return of paper? And other trends for 2012 – 2015
• Dutch E-invoicing Ambassador- B2G electronic invoicing: a status update
• FiNBOX– the new Dutch e-invoicing inbox that sits right in your online banking portal
• E-invoicing: hype or reality- is e-invoicing a hype or the actual reality?
• The lifecycle of an e-invoice – an e-invoice lives so much longer than you think
• Connecting the Dots – smart e-invoicing delivers instant benefits, especially now
• E-invoicing Monitor – the state of e-invoicing in the Netherlands in 2012
• 4-corner model e-invoicing research– can service providers agree on a framework for higher adoption?
• Aernout van Speyk – Chair European Institute for Public Policy and Research

More information

15 hands-on break-out sessions

Are you planning to get started with e-invoicing or invoice automation? Why not profit from the tips and tricks presented to you in these break-out sessions:

• Smooth e-invoicing adoption to 96.000 water supply customers
• E-invoicing in real life – experiences from Essent, Roto and Sundio
• Getting paid faster by using intelligent e-invoices
• The Strukton success story - invoice automation implementation
• Iron class invoice automation automation at Tata Steel
• E-invoicing by the Dutch IRS via Logius: experience so far
• How does e-invoicing work for Sanoma Publishers?
• E-invoicing the battle – KPN against BUVA
• Energizing e-invoicing by E.ON – receiving paper or e-invoices
• Documents over IP – e-invoicing has never been so easy
• e-Invoicing: a win win situation
• E-invoicing through SWIFT – easy e-invoicing adoption for corporates
• Portbase: e-invoicing in Europe’s largest harbour

More information

25 leading service providers

Ever wanted to meet-up with one or more service providers? Or are you looking for some reference information or even a short demo? Our market place suits your needs with these leading service providers:

• AcceptEmail
• Accounting Plaza
• AddComm
• Anachron
• Basware
• BCT Partners For Value
• Bluem
• Bottomline Technologies
• Buckaroo
• Certipost
• Dimensys
• Docspro
• Document Exchange
• Dutch Payment Group
• ECP
• Edicom Group
• ING Invoice Service
• ISProjects
• Kofax Netherlands
• Logius (The public B2G provider)
• Mailwriter
• PostNL
• Quadira
• Ricoh
• Selfbilling.com
• Simac Document Solutions
• Tieto
• Tradeshift

More information

 There is more

• Free parking, free admittance (for end-users), lunch and drinks
• E-invoicing Conference Magazine: including the programme, a floor plan and supplier profiles
• Reference interviews and demo’s
• B2G E-invoicing discussion forum
• Receive a free copy of the 2012 E-invoicing Monitor, valued at € 500,-
• Receive all information and brochures in our interactive conference bag
• One of the attendees wins an iPad3.

We are looking forward to meeting you on April 24th, 2012 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands!

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Dutch E-invoicing Conference: 24 April 2012 | Free for end-users.

Tradeshift and its services

Tradeshift is a business to business social network that helps companies connect with each other on a secure platform to manage everyday business processes such as invoicing and cash flow. Some key characteristics are:

• Because the Tradeshift e-invoicing service is free to use, it’s easy to get all your suppliers on the network, saving time and money.
• In the Tradeshift business cloud, companies can create a network with suppliers, customers and partners to work together more efficiently, powered by the latest social technologies.
• All Tradeshift applications – including e-invoicing, electronic purchase orders and automated document validation – can be fully integrated into corporate finance and ERP systems.
• Because Tradeshift doesn’t believe in making things complicated, there are no per-transaction charges. This means they can reduce your costs and
• Because the service is free to suppliers, adoption rates are high so you’ll quickly be able to manage all your invoicing through the system.

So, all in all: being connected means being more responsive and more efficient. It means closer, more effective relationships with your suppliers and major cost reductions. It’s a win-win solution for you and the businesses you work with. Tradeshift will fundamentally shift the way you do business.

Contact Tradeshift right now!

• Renette Youssef
• T: +1 415 730 9248
• W: http://tradeshift.com/enterprise/
• E: rny@tradeshift.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Tradeshift is the latest E-invoicing Platform member.

The specialty chemical manufacturer decided to implement Ariba’s cloud-based solution to fuel smart process that reduces errors, speeds approvals and drives compliance.

About Clariant

Clariant is an internationally active specialty chemical company based near Basel, Switzerland, Europe. Clariant owns over 100 companies worldwide and employes about 16,200 employees. In 2010, Clariant had a turnover in excess of 7 billion Swiss Franks ($7.6 billion/ €5.6 billion).

Implementing Ariba’s Invoice Management and PO automation

Delivered on-demand via the Ariba Network, the Invoice Management and PO automation solutions provide Clariant with :

• Move to a completely paperless PO & invoice management process in 100 days
• Reduce operating costs by 70 percent or more
• Eliminate exceptions and simplify and accelerate dispute resolution
• Minimize risk of overpayments, duplicate payments and fraudulent payments
• Comply with corporate and regulatory requirements
• Effectively benchmark and measure performance

Results after implementing Ariba Cloud Services

A cloud-based solution delivered via the Ariba Network,^™Ariba Procurement Content integrates with Clariant’s SAP^® system and provides the company with a complete content source of approved goods and services through a single user interface. Using the solution, Clariant is able to:

• Requisition any type of good or service
• Create a consumer-like shopping cart to simplify search, comparison, and buying
• Rapidly enable supplier catalogs to maximize spend coverage and term compliance
• Consolidate management of goods and services and optimize spend control
• Automate catalog verification to speed catalog updates, reduce workload, and improve catalog accuracy
• Identify and more efficiently collaborate with suppliers
• Drive greater usability and increase adoption

Feedback from Clariant and Ariba

First, we give the floor to Peter Beyeler, Global eProcurement & Automation Manager, Clariant:

• “Purchase order (PO) and invoice management is a highly paper-intensive and error-prone function,”
  
• “As a company committed to operating at the highest levels of efficiencies, Clariant is taking action to fuel an automated process through which we can improve our cost structure and performance.”
  
• “We recognized early on that the key to user adoption of any procurement system is providing an easy-to-use tool with current content.”
  
• “Ariba Procurement Content lets us deliver a simple and intuitive shopping experience so that we can drive more spend through our system, ensure compliance with our contracts and realize greater savings.”

And now James Tucker, Director of Marketing, Invoice and Payment Solutions, Ariba:

• “Accounts Payable teams spend inordinate amounts of time and effort processing paper invoices – from matching them with contracts and tracking POs and goods receipt to correcting errors and fielding supplier inquiries. Yet most companies still have limited visibility into the process, leaving them exposed to risks like overlooked billing discrepancies, missed discounts, and overpayments.”
• “With Ariba Invoice Management and PO Automation, Clariant can execute a smart invoicing process that delivers greater visibility and control, improved contract compliance, and stronger supplier relationships.” 

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: How Clariant transformed Invoicing with Ariba.

The Cost of Control – Disrupted Networks. Part 2

This report looked at the impact that the increasing complexity within any web of commercial interactions is having on buyers and suppliers and the implications of late or erroneous payments.

The report provides us with some interesting opinions and priorities of around 550 finance executives:

• 15% of the CFO’s believe that invoices remain unpaid past their payment terms yet two thirds understand late payments cause problems for their suppliers.
• 38% acknowledge that their late or erroneous payment to suppliers impact the suppliers’ commercial performance to the same level as it would their own business.
• 46% of finance executives’ state the biggest challenges are the lack of flexibility of these systems and that changes made can disrupt complex supplier networks.
• 56% of the respondents deemed shared information and e-commerce systems to be the most effective methods of enhancing businesses collaboration across disparate supply chains and improving the way companies interact on a commercial level.
• 59% think the visibility of supply chain activity and supplier payment is becoming more difficult due to the increasing complexity of the networks.
• 62% claim connecting disparate parts of the purchase and payment process within their business is critically important in the next 12 – 24 months.
• 64% believe that the transparency of an open and collaborative supplier network helps to overcome some of these challenges and provides a more effective basis for sustainable cost savings than closed or exclusive network environments.

As a positive consequence of this networked commercial world, buyers are beginning to recognize suppliers as equals and take into account suppliers onward commitments to their own suppliers.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: CFO’s are worried: supply chain becomes a too intricate web of transactions.

But that is not all. The new portal interface also delivers further efficiencies and transparency to the purchase-to-pay process. On top of it all some ground-breaking new services are waiting just behind the door to be unleashed in this platform. Or as OB10 states it: the new portal introduces the future of e-invoicing.

Some intel info on the new OB10 portal

We have some more intel information on the new OB10 customer portal. the new OB customer portal:

• received outstanding feedback from customer testing,
• will be taken into action in April with the global roll out completing over the summer.
• has accelerated system performance and offers near-infinite scalability.
• was developed by a world-class team of user-experience consultants at digital marketing agency Metia,
• gives customers a fresh, intuitive user experience that is easily extendable to evolve with their needs.

How OB10 experiences the 2.0

Luke McKeever, CEO at OB10, gives his feedback on the recent and upcoming changes:

• “This is a major milestone for OB10 and signifies a step change in the speed at which we can bring user-centric services to market.”
• “This latest version allows us to further differentiate our offering, and transform the way organisations think about and implement e-Invoicing solutions.”
• “Combining a revised back-end architecture with our redesigned front-end platform enables the agile deployment of new capabilities and features. We have a succession of services to unveil over the coming months that will ensure OB10 remains the world’s most trusted service provider.”
• “Building on the strength of the OB10 network, users will also be able to improve their cash flow and working capital through early payment discounts and supply chain finance options, quickly extending the benefits from electronic invoicing across their network of trading partners.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: OB10 introduces a 2.0 version of its customer portal.

About this webinar

This webinar will show you the massive potential the new Kofax Capture 10 release has to automate your invoice process entirely.You will learn how to:

• Utilize OCR technology to capture invoice header and line level data
• Automate invoice validation
• Streamline emailed invoices
• Integrate seamlessly with your workflow or ERP system
• Capture/Process remotely, in the cloud!
• Eliminate invoice handling and storage costs, no more paper!
• Scan other key financial documents; 1099, Certificate of insurance

http://www.advancedcapture.com/events/webinars.html

Webinar details and registration

Join Kofax on Tuesday March 27th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, or Tuesday April 10th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, as we show you how Kofax Capture 10 can improve your financial business processes.

Register now

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Change the way you process invoices.

During the webinar, Stuart will reveal Virgin Atlantic’s seven secrets to success and will share the practical steps the team followed.

Register for the Virgin Atlantic webinar

This enlightening webinar to learn how Virgin Atlantic went live with electronic invoicing across its UK and US operations in June 2011 and now finds itself ahead of target.

1. Session date: 29 March 2012
2. Starting time: London 15:00, Paris 16:00
3. Duration: 60 minutes
4. Presenters: Stuart Anderson, Process Change Manager, Virgin Atlantic

If you are looking at e-invoicing for 2012, have just gone live or are looking to re-invigorate your programme, register for this exciting webinar.

Register now

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: What is it that makes one company fail at e-invoicing and another succeed?.

About the interactive PDF e-statements

The e-statement is completely personalized and contains customized video marketing messages. The click-rate on the marketing messages will be monitored daily and marketing messages can be exchanged per run.

China Trust Bank sells their marketing messages and that is why it is important to have a high click rate . The QR codes and barcodes are designed and placed so that the consumer is able to be mobile in a 7-Eleven store are taken to comply. Furthermore the pdf `s have a password that the consumer can set the portal.

Try it out!

We have attached a sample PDF to this post. So you can try it out. The password = FUCO. The document also shows how ISIS Papyrus also can generate dynamic tables in PDF (Adobe not required)

ISIS Papyrus Interactive PDF E-Statement

ISIS Papyrus Platform

This solution is fully realized with the ISIS Papyrus Platform. From the design documents, and customized high-volume format including video embedding in the PDF, email delivery, email bounce handling, color printing (what happens for those with an opt-out), the click-rate Meetings management and marketing message.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Next Generation PDF Interactive E-Statements. In China.

Session date: 29/03/12
Starting time: London 15:00, Paris 16:00, New York 10:00
Duration: 60 minutes

Join this enlightening webinar to learn how Virgin Atlantic went live with electronic invoicing across its UK and US operations in June 2011 and now finds itself ahead of target. When asked how this was possible, Stuart Anderson, Process Change Manager, said: “We worked closely with OB10 from the beginning. We followed its suggested best practices and also introduced some of our own. By combining these best practices we are exceeding our expectations.”

During the webinar, Stuart will reveal Virgin Atlantic’s seven secrets to success and will share the practical steps the team followed.

If you are looking at e-invoicing for 2012, have just gone live or are looking to re-invigorate your programme, register for this exciting webinar.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Webinar OB10: Virgin Atlantic reveals its 7 secrets to e-Invoicing success.

FundTech noticed however that much of the current debate on e-invoicing has been about the obvious efficiency savings compared with manual paper based processes. Even though electronic invoicing is a compelling proposition on its own;  there are, however, several levels of significant additional benefits that can be realised with an e-invoicing service.

These higher-order advantages of e-invoicing are related to managing finance and SHOULD form an integral part of a corporates operational finance procedures for managing working capital.

The 7 reasons why e-invoicing is all about working capital management

The main reasons why e-invoicing enables corporates to better manage their working capital are:

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 7 reasons why e-invoicing is all about working capital management.

B2B cloud – Simplifying the world of global commerce

E-invoicing is Easy Invoicing

“E-invoicing – the rest is history”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware movie time: B2B Cloud – Easy Invoicing– History of invoicing.

This post originally launched here on the website of Striata. It expresses the opinion of Striata. We liked the analogy.

Going Paperless is not about you – it’s about the CUSTOMER

I have met with literally hundreds of companies to discuss their strategies for reducing paper mail. I often see a group of executives sitting around a table discussing how THEY would go paperless. A huge mistake, as the paperless process is ultimately in the hands of the customers, not the biller. With vested interest in eBilling and deeper knowledge of the benefits, the people behind these initiatives are generally willing to go to more effort to turn off paper (if you’re reading this blog post, you probably fall into this category). What these executives fail to realize however, is that their opinions only represent a tiny fraction of the population, rather than the vast majority of consumers who are not necessarily resistant, just more apathetic.

Ask the audience. Really, ask the audience.

When was the last time you asked your customers what THEY want? Not a 50 question survey, just a 1 question poll in an email or on your website. One of Striata’s telecoms clients polled customers to find out whether they would prefer to log in to the portal, or receive their bill as an email attachment. To their surprise (not ours) 66 percent more customers requested their bill as an encrypted attachment.

Let’s think about bills in iTunes terms:

• CDs are like paper bills;
• Listening to music online is like logging in to a portal to view and pay your bill; and
• Downloading a song (file) to your chosen device is like receiving your bill as a file (attachment) to your PC, tablet, iPhone, Android, Blackberry etc.

Does your distribution model meet consumers where they are?

Music downloads have skyrocketed as technology advancements have made it possible to access all your favorite tunes, from a wide range of sources (like billers) on a single device. And for those that want to, they can burn them to a CD – much the same as printing a copy of their bill. In terms of eBilling, the best way to achieve critical mass is to meet your customers where they are – in their email inbox.

Mobile should be a key part of your strategy. A study by Litmus reports that 15 percent of all emails are read on mobile devices.

One website at a time or downloaded?

Tech savvy consumers who listen to streaming music online are happy to do so when connected to the internet with the required bandwidth. However, in eBilling terms, they would have to go to a different website for each artist (bill) they wanted to listen to.

What if music downloads were free (and legal)? How many of these consumers would prefer to have their favorite songs automatically delivered to all of the devices they use regularly – PC during the day, iPhone on the go and tablet when sitting on the couch? I know I would. Bills can be delivered to all of these devices as email attachments, regardless of internet speed.

As for CDs, some people may never want to give them up – just like paper bills. Focus your strategies on the consumers that DO have access to the technologies you’re looking to leverage.

What about the ‘Double Dippers’?

According to Javelin Strategy & Research and NACHA, 30 to 40 percent of consumers who receive their financial statements and bills online also receive paper versions. Known as “double dipping”, this trend is essentially costing billers and banks significantly more than the customers that have been on paper from day one. Surprisingly, double dipping exists primarily among Gen Y (18-32 year olds) and Early Adopters. Maybe these are the mobile internet users for whom portals don’t fully satisfy their requirements.

Right strategy, right technology

eBilling and online banking solutions have been around more than a decade, yet for many companies, the strategy hasn’t changed much – “build a portal and they will come”. It’s a bit like the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

With Striata’s clients regularly achieving adoption rates 2 to 4 times higher than the industry average, we know a thing or two about getting rid of paper. Interested? Let’s talk .

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Email bills should be like iTunes: anywhere, anytime, any device… [Column].

Underneath are some questions and answers on the status, an overview of achievements and examples in administrative burden reduction. Including a checklist for reducing administrative burdens.

Check out the full communication here.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Status of reducing administrative burdens in the EU [9 Questions and Answers].

Recently, 15 industry-leading companies, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and PayPal, launched DMARC – a new standard for e-mail authentication, which enables organisations to safeguard their domains from phishing.

Michael Wright, Chief Executive Officer, Striata has welcomed the introduction of DMARC – Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance – a standard for e-mail authentication.

The DMARC process builds on the implementation of Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) and authenticates the origin of the e-mail domain.

The new standard goes further by providing a reporting framework for e-mail senders on whether fraudulent e-mails are attempting to spoof their domains. This provides the necessary basis for ISPs to understand the difference between legitimate and fraudulent e-mails.

DMARC. How it works

Phishing attacks have at times worn down the public’s trust in email with 1 in 370 emails identified as a phishing email (an increase of 0.06 percentage points since December 2011).

The financial services industry has been targeted by increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks over the past few years. DMARC will help these companies authenticate e-mails from their domains to the receiving ISPs.

They will be notified of any instances where their domain is used in e-mails that aren’t authenticated and were subsequently blocked as a result. This will result in less fraudulent e-mail making it into consumers’ inboxes and therefore more trust in e-mail as a communication medium.

Striata about DMARC

Michael Wright about DMARC and Striata:

• “Striata has always employed authentication techniques for secure document delivery, using DKIM and SPF to verify the origin of e-mails on behalf of our clients as well as offering digital signatures.”
  
• “DMARC now also allows for global visibility on the misuse of domain names and for domain owners to have full control over the use of their domains. We will be implementing DMARC on all customer accounts over the next couple of months.”
  
• “Including DMARC in our e-mail authentication process, in addition to our other security processes and procedures, will enable us to offer the highest level of security and trust to both our clients and their customers”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: DMARC a new standard for e-mail authentication, welcomed by Striata.

At the end I of my post asked whether e-invoicing could solve this? I received some comments (primarily via social networks). On of this comments was that you could use e-invoices in combination with a financial supply chain. In other words you receive advanced payment for invoices approved by your clients. But their is also an  other option for you to use

Advanced payment instruments

This sounds great:

• long payment terms or late payers have less/no impact on your cash flow
• you get financial flexibility in keeping and extending your business.

However great this might be, there are some things to pay attention to:

• It doesn’t change the attitude of the client. He will still change the payment date (and by doing so: the contract) to his own liking.
• From another perspective one could even say that this approach is rewarding your clients behaviour. Instead of confronting him with his ‘un fair’ or even ‘un-just’ behaviour, we circumvent the problem by using an advanced payment instrument.
• And then there is something else. Something worrying. Most advanced payment options are less beneficial to you compared to just ‘asking’ for your money. Why? Because with advanced payment you have to pay a fee or a certain interest rate. Just think of it: you are going to lend money or pay a fee to get your invoice paid. It is the world upside down.

A new approach: combining freedom of choice with responsibility

This is what we did. We came up with an approach where the client has the freedom to determine its own payment term. Combined with a responsibility to bear the consequences:

• we extended our payments terms to 30 calendar days
• we however allow the client to set its own payment date. However:
• if the client pays in 15 days, he receives a payment discount. (not new)
• if the client pays in 16-30: he doesn’t get a discount
• if the clients pays in 31-45 day, an extra amount of 10% is due
• if the client pays in 46-60 days, and extra amount of 20 is due
• and so on.

This way the client can enjoy the freedom to determine its own payment term (and deviate from what was contractually agreed) while also leaving the responsibility and consequences for its choices at the client. You can even use advanced payment instrument to your financial advance.

Behold: the universal right of freedom of choice.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Behold: the universal right of freedom of choice [COLUMN].

What a month! Think about the Threat Outbreak Alert on fake electronic invoice e-mails. It wasn’t the fist time and certainly won’t be the last time. For liberalised regions that is. And then we had the research that showed that PDF invoices are a great first step, but are hampering further adoption.

Furthermore, we had the fifth acquisition already of this year: ReadSoft buying Foxray. And from what we heard, it certainly won’t be the last for this year. A shake-out is on our way.

And then we have Dimensys and Cegedom. We proud to announce them as the newest additions to the E-invoicing Platform, bot packing a real punch and really worth taking a look at. Just as all the other posts (otherwise we don’t post them, do we?)

GENERAL

• Threat Outbreak Alert: fake electronic invoice e-mail messages
• 12 Essentials for succesful utility e-billing and e-payment programs [WHITE PAPER]
• Electronic billing practices increase accountability for healthcare professionals
• E-invoicing automatically from your billing system. How it works and how much it costs
• PDF Invoices: creating more paperwork than it saves [RESEARCH]
• Cegedim joins the E-invoicing Platform community
• Dimensys joins the E-invoicing Platform, promoting potential disruptive technology
• Basware E-invoicing Services grows 32 percent. Transaction volume up 53 percent
• Vietnamese Businesses Encouraged Using E-Invoice

PRODUCT INFORMATION

• 37 OB10 webinars you may have missed [NO KIDDING]
• E-invoicing News: The Network selects Corcentric | HVAC selects Pagero
• Do you need compliant e-invoicing in Mexico? Call OB10!
• Basware Webinar: Invoice Automation for Small and Medium Businesses
• Boliden Metals selects Ariba for Sourcing, Contract Management en Supplier Information Management
• E-invoicing News: IFO chooses Pagero | Lambeth Council selects RBS e-invoicing
• 38 E-invoicing and AP resources you may have missed last January
• SWIFT is now open for e-Invoice Traffic
• FRAM: Best practice on tax-compliant e-invoicing by Accelya
• US Veteran Affairs endorses electronic invoicing by OB10
• Basware wins tender for The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
• AcceptEmail introduces SIS: Short Invoice Service
• 23 handy online invoicing apps for freelancers [PICS]
• US E-invoicing News: Amerinet selects GHX | Sears Canada selects ADP
• Simply Market exchanges over 1 million invoices through b-process, Ariba
• Hospital ER visit racks up $20,211 bill [Messy business]

POLICY

• Ireland launches Government E-invoicing project
• Towards an integrated EU market for card, internet and mobile payments [CONSULTATION]

MERGERS, ACQUISITION AND PARTNERSHIPS

• Readsoft buys Foxray. Increasing its AP Automation position. 11 facts
• Fundtech and Dataline partner up to deliver EIPP to Asian Pacific corporates

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 29 E-invoicing and AP resources you may have missed last February.

This time it is about phishing. With the uptake of e-invoicing we can expect that e-bills and e-invoices will be more and more exposed. Why? Because the next decade most of the e-invoices and e-bills will be distributed via online and mail methods.

See these 4 examples of how e-billing and e-invoicing gets exposed. One of the ways e-bills and e-invoice get exposed is via phishing. This infographic shows you how

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Anatomy of a phishing attack [INFOGRAPHIC].

So, what reports/studies/whitepapers/benchmarks/survey’s passed us by in 2011? Well, quite a lot to be honest. Underneath are some of the most prominent items of 2011.

You can download them all at once (along with dozens of other handy tools) via the E-invoicing Toolbox.

Global Trends in Automated Data Capture in AP

Global Survey on Barriers to Next-Generation Billing + Global Survey on E-Billing Adoption

Tax-compliant global electronic invoice lifecycle management

2011 E-Invoicing & E-Billing International Market Overview & Forecast

2011 US E-Billing Benchmark Study

2011 E-invoicing Adoption Benchmarking Report

2011 AP Automation Study A Survey of AP Professionals Executive Report

2011 Top Ten e-Billing Trends

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Top 10 e-Billing Trends and 7 other E-invoicing and AP Automation studies presented in 2011.

Invoiceware International extends their electronic invoicing capability to support the newly announced regulations by Mexico’s Servicio de Aministracion Tributaria (SAT). These new mandates are scheduled to take affect for all companies in July 2012 leaving only a few months for companies to configure their business processes and ERP systems. Many companies are still adapting to the major overhaul that was announced by the Mexico SAT in a press conference held on September 3, 2010

CashFlows launches e-Invoicing service

CashFlows has launched a new generation service, enabling your business to send invoices to your customers via an email and allowing them to pay immediately; helping businesses to better manage payments and their cash flow.

With late payments a critical issue, the CashFlows Account also allows businesses to send their customers instant e-invoices and take on-the-spot payment for products and services.

Recently released research shows that 51% of SMEs feel late payment has become worse during the past year and that 20% believe that it could even threaten their ability to continue trading in 2012.

New US medical e-billing standard causing payment problems

The switch to the HIPAA Version 5010, which impact how physicians bill payers for their services, has caused severe payment disruptions at some doctor practices.  Physician practices that already have started using the new standards have reported problems like:

• Issues with practice management and billing systems that had shown no problems during the testing.
• Issues with billing secondary payers.
• Claims rejections due to issues with billing and practice addresses.
• Crosswalks for national provider identifiers that are not being recognized.
• Claims lost by Medicare contractors.
• Certain “not otherwise specified” claims being denied due to not having descriptions on the claims.
• Sporadic payment of resubmitted claims.
• Call hold times of one to two hours when attempting to contact contractors for further explanation of unpaid and rejected claims.
• Unsuccessful claims processing, with no reasons cited for rejection, despite using submitters that were approved after successful 5010 testing.

Taulia Joins Forces With TrustWeaver To its Expand e-invoicing proposition

Tauli has a platform for Dynamic Discounting and e-invoicing, and announced to have partnered with TrustWeaver. Trustweaver is a provider in comprehensive security compliance services.

Partnering with TrustWeaver will allow Taulia to:

• expand its free compliant e-invoicing capabilities across all of Europe and beyond. Why, because
• guarantee the integrity and authenticity of e-invoices regardless of the country of origin or destination,
• ensure long-term audit-ability of archived invoices in accordance with each country’s specific rules.

Century Bank offers customers e-billing via Invoice Cloud

Invoice Cloud and Century Bank have entered into a partnership agreement. They are going to provide payment and processing solutions to municipalities, utilities and businesses in New England, USA.

Through this partnership, Century Bank can offer its clients services like:

• an easy to use, optional EBPP service,
• quick access to replicas of bills online
• customized email reminders
• secure online payment options that positively impact the environment

Bulmers heads for AP Automation with SoftCo

Bulmers Limited is part of the global C&C Group, producing cider and lager brands available all over the world. Bulmers Limited has chosen SoftCo to deliver an Accounts Payable automation solution to handle its growing volume of global supplier invoices. SoftCo is a supplier of document management and business process automation solutions.

The benefits for Bulmer Limiteds are:

• Bulmers AP staff now use a compliant process automation and document management platform, to capture all supplier invoices.
• Automatic three-way matching means a significant volume of invoices are queued automatically for payment.
• ‘Problem’ invoices are escalated for action within the SoftCo AP process.
• Integrated workflow means that Bulmers AP staff receive email alerts and can address any issues via the system.
• Cleared invoices are queued in CODA Financials ERP for payment.
• All supplier invoices are archived in the compliant platform

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 6 low key e-invoicing and AP automation items still worth reading.

With the transparency of trade transactions and the link between funding and trade activities, Supply Chain Finance (SCF) lessens the risk associated with traditional lending.  Electronic invoicing, presentment and payment (EIPP) systems can amplify the many benefits of Supply Chain Finance by automating a process that traditionally has been hampered by slow, paper-based manual methods.

The Supply Chain Finance market in the UK alone grew from about £100 million 2008 to £1Bn in 2010, with the growth expected to continue through 2011.

This free white paper looks at how the continuing growth of E-Invoicing can enable and facilitate the Supply Chain Finance market – and how financing can be a key driver for adopting E-Invoicing

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-Invoicing Provides New Avenues for Credit [WHITEPAPER].

So, this one is for everyone that believes that electronic invoicing solves all the problems that we nowadays encounter with paper invoices. And for everyone that ignores that when you automate stuff, you don’t automatically solve problems, you most probably automate them too.

The Cisco E-invoice Outbreak Alert

Cisco Security Intelligence Operations  detected significant activity related to Portuguese-language spam e-mail messages that claim to contain an electronic invoice for the recipient.

The text in the e-mail message attempts to convince the recipient to follow a link to view the invoice. However, the link directs the user to a malicious .zip file containing .com file that, when executed, attempts to infect the system with malicious code.

E-mail messages that are related to this threat (RuleID3952) may contain the following file:

boleto.zip
boleto.com

The boleto.com file in the boleto.zip attachment has a file size of 178,176 bytes.  The MD5 checksum, which is a unique identifier of the executable, is the following string: 0x5C9CD5288CCC10697DD7E3141621E182

The following text is a sample of the e-mail message that is associated with this threat outbreak:

Subject: Nota FiscalEletra

Message Body:

Esta mensagem refere-se a Nota Fiscal Eletra Nacional de serie/nmero 1/3250 emitida para:
RazSocial: MATECOL MAT ELETRICOS LTDA
CNPJ: 10.331.452/0001-47
Para verificar a autoriza da SEFAZ referente ota acima mencionada,
acesse o sitio hxxp//www.nfe.fazenda.gov.br/portal
Chave de acesso: 13265780081100738459887659200120809283091008
Protocolo: NFe 8765320008038301003797331
Este e-mail foi enviado automaticamente pelo Sistema de Nota Fiscal Eletra (NF-e)

Malicious software installed by files that are distributed via these messages may be related to the Trojan.Win32.Generic family, which has the ability to download malicious files from the Internet and create a start-up registry entry.

The trojan may open a back door on the infected system to communicate with a remote host.  Additionally, the malicious code may attempt to make modifications to the system registry and files.

About the Cisco Security Intelligence Operations

Cisco Security Intelligence Operations analysts examine real-world e-mail traffic data that is collected from over 100,000 contributing organizations worldwide.  This data helps provide a range of information about and analysis of global e-mail security threats and trends.

Cisco IronPort Virus Outbreak Filters protect customers during the critical period between the first exploit of a virus outbreak and the release of vendor antivirus signatures.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Threat Outbreak Alert: fake electronic invoice e-mail messages.

OB10 has built a huge impressive archive with webinars, all filled with important information for prospects, suspect and even existing costumers to make e-Invoicing a great success.

Take a look at the massive list below to understand how to set-up the perfect e-Invoicing project, listen to companies that have established 80% touchless processing, and get in depth information on how to assess your business case.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 37 OB10 webinars you may have missed [NO KIDDING].

The Automotive Distribution Network decided to use the Corcentric solution to bring a single connection point to their member and supplier order management processes. More than 80% of The Network’s order volume will flow through the system within the first year.

• Tom Frey, Vice President of IT for The Network:“We looked long and hard at our options for EDI services and are very pleased with what we found in Corcentric. They understand the challenges faced by program distribution groups and provide a solution that answers them,”
  
• Dave Lindeen, Vice President, Corcentric:
  
  “We are excited to work with the Automotive Distribution Network to provide a seamless transaction solution to their members and suppliers. In addition to a single connection point, The Network members and suppliers will also benefit from centralized special ordering and an automated rebate management solution further reducing costs to members and suppliers.”

Finnish HVAC and electricity wholesalers selects Pagero

Pagero Finland Oy has signed an agreement with Suomen LVIS-Tietoverkko Oy which is owned by HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and electricity wholesalers in Finland.

The wholesalers will send millions of invoices annually and this is only the beginning as the trend is a significant increase in electronic message volumes in the business as a whole.

Pagero Finland Oy will deliver e-invoice services to the owners of Suomen LVIS-Tietoverkko and integrate the LVISNet message transfer service into Pagero Online.

• Toni Pihamaa, CEO, Pagero Finland Oy:“With our solution, we will fully digitalise the purchase-to-pay process between the wholesalers and their customers. It also streamlines communication between their customers and end customers. By packaging this service the customers have the possibility to do one-stop shopping for electronic business message transfer services.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing News: The Network selects Corcentric | HVAC selects Pagero.

We discussed it before that Mexico has put in place mandatory electronic invoicing. And, to be honest, that has caused major adoption rates. Perhaps the European Union could learn something from that approach: massive adoption, huge market potential and compliance, all in one. Perhaps a backdraft is the lack in innovation…

About Buzon E

To comply with the mandatory electronic invoicing OB10 selected selected Buzón E. Buzón E:

• helps its customers to move to a ‘paperless world’ with significant reductions in operational expenses.
• is part of Grupo Estafeta, leading express and logistics service provider in Mexico
• is a government authorized certification provider and pioneer of electronic invoicing in Mexico.
• provides a high security, large volume environment to generate, distribute and manage personalized compliant fiscal invoices
• uses its platform also for other documents like payroll receipts and tax retention formats,
• For more information

Email: prensa@buzone.com | www.buzone.com | www.estafeta.com

Comments on the OB10 and Buzon E partnership

The collaboration between OB10 and Buzon E:

• strengthens OB10’s service in both local presence and compliance.
• offer OB10’s depth of knowledge in purchase-to-pay automation and flexible technology to more organizations operating in Mexico, delivering improved payment performance and guaranteed compliance with suppliers.

Or to put in words by Markus Hornburg (OB10) and Benito Celorio (Buzón E):

• Markus Hornburg, VP Compliance, at OB10:“The OB10 and Buzón E partnership is an exciting collaboration that gives all companies access to our combined 22 years’ e-Invoicing knowledge, experience, data and best practices.”
  
• Benito Celorio, Managing Director at Buzón E. “We are proud to participate in OB10′s global network and share our local expertise. We are sure that our combined efforts present an attractive and very productive offering to international corporations doing business in our country.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Do you need compliant e-invoicing in Mexico? Call OB10!.

The automation of back-end functions such as accounts payable, can play a major role in helping organisations improve their results through costs savings and greater efficiencies that ultimately enable you to better focus on your core business.

Webinar AP automation for SME’s

Please join Basware for a special presentation to experience the advantages of invoice automation for small and medium-sized organizations.

Thursday, March 1, 2012
2:00pm EDT / 11:00am PDT

Log on and learn the:

• Factors driving the small/medium segment to automate
• Barriers to adoption and how to overcome them
• New SaaS model – No money down, pay as you go
• Ways to drastically reduce invoice processing time and cost
• Best way to get started quickly

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware Webinar: Invoice Automation for Small and Medium Businesses.

It all has to do with Boliden as a large European metals company. It decided to select the cloud-based solutions from Ariba to enhance its sourcing process and better-manage the performance of key suppliers.

Sourcing, Contract Management and Supplier Information Management

Among the solutions that Boliden selected are:

• Ariba Sourcing:  to negotiate best-value agreements for direct and indirect materials,
• Ariba Contract Management^: to make sure that the terms of these agreements are delivered on and complied with
• Ariba Supplier Information Management to more efficiently manage its trading relationships.

Or as Henrik Smedberg, Ariba Nordics, puts it:

“With Ariba as the platform for its sourcing process, Boliden can better make sure that it is buying the right goods and services at the right prices from the right partners to accommodate its business needs as they evolve and change,”

To learn more about the Ariba Network offerings and the value that it can deliver, visit: www.ariba.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Boliden Metals selects Ariba for Sourcing, Contract Management en Supplier Information Management.

IFS has chosen Pagero’s e-invoice and e-netting service to handle their internal invoices in 36 countries for 38 subsidiaries. When implementing Pagero’s e-invoice solution, IFS also decided to change their batch-oriented netting solution to Pagero’s e-netting real time service which reduces administration and increases control and efficiency.

This is the first step to completely digitalize all internal invoice administration. The service also provides a better overview of all intercompany invoices. All services are available in Pagero Online, an open cloud service where Pagero e-netting is included in Pagero Treasury Management services.

RBS e-invoicing service deployed by Lambeth Council

The Lambeth Council is using the e-invoicing service from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group in an attempt to:

• cut the cost of receiving, processing and paying bills,
• reduce paper usage
• while still complying with the council’s purchase order policy for all goods and services.

It means for the Lambeth administration:

• able to improve the services on offer to its suppliers, be that for food, stationery, vehicles or the myriad of other resources used by the council, by using the new e-invoicing system
• ensure payments are made on time,
• no lost invoices
• a clear audit trail.
• improvement of treasury functions and record-keeping.

The RBS e-invoicing service is now integrated into Lambeth Council’s Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, with all purchase orders and invoices delivered via the online hub. The service is fully VAT compliant so both Lambeth Council and their suppliers can rest assured that their documents comply with the relevant HMRC tax rules. The newly live service is the third such rollout to a UK council.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing News: IFO chooses Pagero | Lambeth Council selects RBS e-invoicing.

Here’s every one of those stories from the entire month, waiting for you in a convenient format. So read what interests you, and then go out there and grab the benefits!

HEADLINES

• E-invoicing to the rescue: customers extend their payment terms [COLUMN]
• Book: The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts Payable Automation
• The claim that going paperless saves trees is misleading [OPINION]
• E-invoicing explained in under 30 seconds [VIDEO]
• Susie West’s top 10 KPIs in purchase to pay [LIST]
• Fears about a double dip are leading companies to hoard cash
• How Social Media will give Purchase to Pay a new dimension [White paper]
• 5 ROI Calculators + 9 other great free new tools added to the E-invoicing Toolbox
• AP Automation News: ESCO automates AP with Oracle + Unverified news release
• NACHA councils elect chairperson for Council for Electronic Billing and Payment + two more
• An iPad for your Accounts Receivables thoughts [SURVEY]
• Increase Productivity. Not Paper: The Power of Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP)
• 4 more websites with e-invoicing and AP automation content
• Our free E-invoicing Toolbox and the E-invoicing Checklist
• 7 Websites that provide e-invoicing and AP automation content as well
• Get big results with AP Automation [INFOGRAPHIC]
• E-Invoicing: Your Ticket to A/P Efficiency
• 4 examples of how e-billing and e-invoicing gets exposed: fishing mails and security breaches

PRODUCT INFORMATION

• Medical E-invoicing News: Pollux Systems extends contract with Zotec | MedData Acquires MedDirect
• Put Caterpillar’s global automation success to work for you
• Tanita Europe to use Anachron’s InvoicePortal EU wide
• Two times in a row: AcceptEmail selected to demonstrate at FinovateEurope 2012
• Companies maximize cash and minimize risk with Ariba
• InvoicePortal.com: the new E-invoicing platform by Anachron [PIC]
• Authentidate Receives Auditor’s Certificate for its Electronic Invoicing Solution with Digital Signatures
• Power of the public: Verizon’s convenience fee for online bills killed [PIC]
• AP Automation News: Swiss Radio and Television selects ReadSoft | BRT and GSI partner on JD Edwards AP Automation
• Itella iBoost: get your customers or suppliers on-board for e-invoices
• 8 questions from Certipost for Bruno Koch on: has electronic invoicing failed?
• E-invoicing News: A Babelway connector for Exact Software | Eykur expands via PEPPOL and Invinet

JOBS

• 5 Recent Jobs in E-invoicing, Online Billing and Purchase to Pay

MERGERS, ACQUISITION AND PARTNERSHIPS

• Basware and Euroscript cooperate in financial operations and procurement
• Ramboll Group extends contract with Basware + bonus item
• Unverified News Flash: US Pharmaceutical selects ReadSoft | Basware and Finnish company renew contract

POLICY

• FREE DOWNLOAD: Compliance Requirements in the EU, and beyond
• eSignature platform @firma accepts eID from other EU countries
• How E-invoicing helped with procurement and PO compliance
• EESPA: The European Electronic Invoicing Service Provider Association gets approval [UPDATE3]

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 38 E-invoicing and AP resources you may have missed last January.

FRAM, a major French organisation for integrated tourism and a pioneer in the travel industry since 1949, talks about its project for tax-compliant electronic invoicing, carried out with the support of ACCELYA.

About Fram

FRAM, via its Voyages FRAM entity, is France’s third largest tour operator, and having recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, it is also a true pioneer in the industry.

With its headquarters in Toulouse, over 4,000 employees, and revenue of €370 million, FRAM organises holidays for around 500,000 customers each year. FRAM’s distribution network is made up of 60 agencies.

The project: tax-compliant e-invoicing

1. The project involves a current volume of 300,000 customer invoices, and several stages have already been successfully implemented in response to the needs of travel agencies and customers, in a move towards 100% integration of invoicing data.
2. Paper invoices had previously been sent out with the other travel documents, and so the decision to make the latter electronic necessarily implied that invoices also had to be made electronic.
3. The first step was to move over to paperless processing for all invoices sent out to the agencies within the FRAM network. It was during the implementation of this phase that the decision was made to extend paperless processing to other invoices too, in particular those sent to joint charter companies and partner tour operators.
   
4. To optimise the level of automation and integration in the systems, a structured format for tax-compliant e-invoices was selected. This format is specifically designed for agencies and the travel industry, and is compliant with the provisions of article 289bis of the French General Tax Code, which authorizes tax-compliant electronic invoicing, and therefore the possibility to consign paper invoices to history.
5. Over the last few months, the project has stepped up to an entirely new level, with the implementation of Accelya’s “Massive Deployment” solution -a simple and efficient signed PDF option, incorporating the requisite ten-year archiving period- covering invoices sent to all of the tour operator’s customers.This new service is offered to customers as an option, which they may of course opt not to take advantage of, should they prefer, in line with the group’s aims of offering value-added services and matching its offers to its customers’ individual requirements.

The results

With electronic invoices now accounting for 70% of the 300,000 invoices issued for 4,000 agencies, the project has certainly got off to a good start.

• Customers are now able to access their invoices more easily, via the Clear’ Invoice electronic invoicing platform.
• FRAM offers its customers true added value and also contributes to sustainable development.

Quotes

• Jean-Marc Gomis, Information Systems Director for the FRAM group:“We needed a trusted third party with experience in the field and above all a partner that would be able to support us throughout this project. Accelya perfectly understood our needs and constraints, and already had experience in the tourism industry”.
  
  “Through discussions with major IT travel companies and active participation in working groups focusing on XML formats for the travel industry, every effort has been made to ensure that this automation is as straightforward as possible, via the use of pivot formats, and to achieve integration of the entire invoicing process”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: FRAM: Best practice on tax-compliant e-invoicing by Accelya.

This white paper focuses on the reasons for these shortcomings and presents 12 essentials for utilities to consider as they work towards greater adoption rates, streamlined operations and better cost?efficiencies.

Download the whitepaper

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 12 Essentials for succesful utility e-billing and e-payment programs [WHITE PAPER].

We all know ReadSoft. And didn’t we all thought they are actually are one of leaders (compare to a lot of us that claim this title) in Document and AP automation? Well clearly not. Because today they announced the acquisition of Foxray AG.

About Foxray and its AP automation services

First some info on Foxray:

• Foxray is situated in Germany
• It is a developer of Business Process Automation platforms and solutions.
• Foxray employs 40 people and their main market is Europe. The revenues for 2011 was approximately 7 MEUR and with a positive EBIT-result.
• The main business of Foxray is to develop and market their software product suite, called: Xbound. Xbound is claimed to be a highly sophisticated Business Process Automation platform.
• The main market focus of Foxray has been Europe and Foxray has recently expanded in to Asia.
• Foxray’s specific expertise lies in high volume document production sites for larger organizations such as banks, insurance companies, government, service centers/bureaus and outsourcing companies, but Foxray is also a strong contester for general BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) solutions, especially in high volume areas.

Facts and backgrounds on the acquisition of Foxray

So what did Readsoft pay for Foxray and what are their intentions with Foxray? Well:

Comments from Readsoft and Foxray

This is what Readsoft and Foxray have to say on their acquisition:

• Per Åkerberg, President and CEO of ReadSoft:“ReadSoft’s strategies state that ReadSoft shall be well positioned with our offering for BPOs, and that we will be active in the consolidation of our market. The acquisition of Foxray is entirely in line with these strategies and we are acquiring a very strong technology and a highly competent company that will complement and extend ReadSoft’s already leading solutions perfectly.”
  
  “By combining our DOCUMENTS solution with Foxray’s xbound solution we will have a very strong Capture solution securing us a top position going forward. We will also be able to offer our existing customers and prospects an even stronger end-to-end solution that contains the full scope of functionality that they need today and in the future.”
  
• Ralf Göbel, CTO and co-leader of Foxray:

  “ReadSoft is a perfect match for Foxray with their leading products and solutions for Document Process Automation. Foxray’s products and solutions strongly complements ReadSoft’s and together our combined solutions and resources will benefit all of our customers.”

• Torsten Malchow, CSO and co-leader of Foxray:“Foxray chose to become a part of ReadSoft because we see them as the market leader in the industry and by merging with a larger international organization like ReadSoft’s with greater financial resources and extensive global reach we are certain that we will have a joint success for our customers, partners and prospects and last but not least for ourselves.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Readsoft buys Foxray. Increasing its AP Automation position. 11 facts.

It is quickly becoming generally accepted that shifting to medical billing software can increase cost efficiency and productivity. However, electronic medical billing software can also act as an important security function. Why? Because it allows practitioners to audit that all practitionars use compliant, ethical principles to receive compensation for services. In short: getting things paid.

Juan Domingo and the fraud with false billing methods

Quite recently Florida internist Dr. Juan Domingo educating himself on the company’s updated electronic medical records system. During his ‘education’ he noticed the practice was using false billing methods.

After Domingo first noticed the suspicious activity in 2009, it was reported that he began investigating hundreds of patient records. He found out that doctors were upcoding patient physicals to suggest a higher degree of analysis, allowing them to file for larger Medicare payouts. Domingo reportedly also discovered that former colleagues were also intentionally logging repeat patients as first-time patients, another tactic to yield higher Medicare reimbursement. Domingo was later fired after reporting these ‘glitches’.

Original source: Florida internist illustrates the security benefits of electronic billing software

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Electronic billing practices increase accountability for healthcare professionals.

The Improper Payments Elimination Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA)

So what is going on here? Well, first President Obama signed the Improper Payments Elimination Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA) with the goal of reducing the federal government’s improper payments.  And guess what, electronic invoicing is the leading technological solution to prevent improper payments by eliminating error-prone manual processing.

To comply with IPERA, the US Department of Veteran Affairs is finalizing actions to mandate electronic invoice submission to the VA Financial Services Center (VAFSC).  A Federal Register proposed rule mandating electronic invoice submission is pending publication.

The VAFSC has expanded its electronic invoicing services through OB10 provided solutions.  OB10 electronic invoicing services, including mapping/transaction fees, are free to VAFSC vendors.

OB10 offers simple and secure solution to eliminate the cost and time of processing paper invoices.  The benefits of e-invoicing the VA using the OB10 service include:

• Delivery of invoices directly into the FSC payments system and routed nationally for approval
• Elimination of mail processing time, postage, and invoice receipt inquiries
• Elimination of data errors and lost or misplaced invoices
• Verification of invoice receipt and rejection through automated status reports
• No installation of hardware or software required

Read more here: Electronic Invoicing through OB10

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: US Veteran Affairs endorses electronic invoicing by OB10.

The Short Invoice Service creates an electronic bill, including payment capability for mobile phones using SMS, WhatsApp or Twitter.

This new feature of AcceptEmail adds the mobile space to the service and enables fully automated credit management.

AcceptEmail has also expanded their set of payments methods that can be used via PSP’s with the availability of many new international online payment methods, debit, and credit cards.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: AcceptEmail introduces SIS: Short Invoice Service.

The public procurement process includes:

• delivery of transaction services for accounts payable in paper and electronic formats
• delivery of transaction, printing and mailing services of accounts receivable

More information
Basware Corporation
Esa Tihilä, CEO, Basware Corporation
Tel. +358 40 480 7098

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware wins tender for The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Basware’s service converts your invoices to correct format and routes them directly to your customer’s preferred channel – straight to their invoice processing system or e-invoice service provider, or sends them as email attachments

You can integrate to Basware’s service with two different ways. You can install a client software for transferring e-invoices to our service. Optionally you may use FTP for data transfer. For further information please see the service description for Basware Business Transactions service.

The service will run automatically after the set-up. With our value-added services you can outsource also invoice printing, online archiving and digital signing of invoices to ensure legal compliance and integrity.

How much it costs

• Set-up fee: € 1500
• Monthly fee: € 1500 (Delivery Service)
• Transaction fee: Delivery € 0,32 per message
• Digital Signature: €  0,16 per message

Other services

You can check the e-mail e-invoicing service Basware here. Also check out their E-invoicing Interface Service and E-invoicing Virtual Printer Service.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing automatically from your billing system. How it works and how much it costs.

However we have to take into account that PDF invoices are heavily used and can be the step stone to broad scale adoption of more efficient ways of exchanging data.

The startling facts of PDF as invoices

So what does this research show? Here are some observations:

• Over three-quarters of IT professionals surveyed say one of the first things they do with a PDF-based invoice… is print it out.
• [Now something ridiculous] From the 77% of the 395 respondents that print out their invoices, 16% scan the invoices right back into the system for use as……PDF attachments.
• Some 10% print out their PDF invoices multiple times.
• 10% say they print out at least one copy for archival purposes.
• Some more details:

Old school PDF versus new school PDF

Now, the said thing is that they used a plain old, very old school, PDF invoice as an example. But there are a lot of examples available of much more intelligent PDF invoices. Like PDF invoices that incorporates and XML file with all the relevant invoice. Or PDF invoice with payments buttons.

That said. And from looking at the statistics and the trends in e-invoicing, intelligent PDF invoices can pave the path to the broad scale adoption of much more efficient ways of data exchange.

To download the study you can register for free at AIIM, using your e-mailadres

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: PDF Invoices: creating more paperwork than it saves [RESEARCH].

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Cegedim joins the E-invoicing Platform community.

The Irish Minister of State, Brian Hayes TD,  today launched a pilot project on e-Invoicing across a number of Government Departments and other public sector bodies.

The project will be overseen by the National Procurement Service (NPS) of the OPW. The Institute of Technology in Sligo is providing research and technical co-ordination.

Speaking at the launch of the pilot in Dublin , Minister Hayes released some details on the pilot project:

• The pilot projects will take two months to complete.
• The objective after the pilot is to have a paperless billing system that operates across the public sector, that cuts down on red tape and cuts down on costs.
• Seven public sector bodies are taking part in the pilot:
  - the Office of Public Works,
  - the Department of Defence,
  - the Department of Justice,
  - HSE East,
  - HSE North West,
  - Enterprise Ireland
  - Local Government Computer Services Board.

Some more background information

The Minister of State was so helpful to provide some more background information on this ambitious project:

• “The full rollout of e-Invoicing could lead to multi-million euro savings for the exchequer in terms of reduced administrative and transactional costs, as well as providing savings to suppliers to the public sector.”
  
• “Irish service providers in this area could become leaders in this technology across the EU Member States.”
  
• “The findings of the pilot projects will be reported to Government on the suitability of rolling out e-Invoicing across the entire public sector.”
  
• “The cost-saving benefits of this project could genuinely help SMEs to compete and win additional Government business.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Ireland launches Government E-invoicing project.

Dimensys has set goals to increase their exposure as an provider of a highly innovative and practical tool to digitize document flows. Especially invoices. As for the E-invoicing Platform, it strengthens their role as a leading online source and community in the field of e-invoicing, AP automation and digitization.

About Dimensys and Connexiom

Connexiom is a product from the Chagnons family. Dimensys is the exclusive distributor of this potentially disruptive technology. The philosophy of the Chagnons is: “How simple can connectivity be?”

That is why they believe that an service for electronic data exchange should be able to be implemented within one hour.

A supplier that wants/needs to send a document to its customer, has the ability to do so in three different ways.

• The first is to send its invoice to the e-mailadres of the recipient. The recipient then sends that document to an e-mailadres of Connexiom. Connexiom then sends it back to the recipient in its desired document format.
• The second way is that the supplier sends its document (invoice) directly to an Connexiom e-mailadres, almost immediately receiving the document in the desired format.
• Third and foremost, the supplier can be enabled to send the document via an advanced printer driver to the recipient. The recipient receives, again, the document in the desired format.

The benefits of this potentially disruptive technology

We’ve seen the technology in action. And to be true, we found it potentially disruptive. The benefits of the Connexiom approach are:

• Very easy to implement
• Operational within minutes
• No need to change processes or IT on either sides (sender, recipient)
• 100% data recognition
• Ability to process and convert collective invoices as well as line items
• No manual data entry
• Safe exchange of data
• Can handle all sorts of documents

Contact Dimensys for your opportunities

Dimensys DX
De heer L. Kesselaer
W: www.dimensysdx.nl
M: +31 (0)6 45 45 000 8
T: +31 (0)73 6868 750
E: lo.kesselaer@dimensys.nl

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Dimensys joins the E-invoicing Platform, promoting potential disruptive technology.

Underneath are 23 Invoice Apps that are much loved. And used. By freelancers.

Tradeshift

Blink Sale

The Invoice Machine

Trade Invoice

Simple Invoices

Billing Boss

Jexxe Freelancer

Net 2 Invoice

Invoice Dude

Send Invoice

Billing Orchard

Simply Bill

Simply Invoices

Invoicera

Invoice More

Less Accounting

Invotrak

Invoice Journal

Fresh Books

Bill For

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 23 handy online invoicing apps for freelancers [PICS].

Amerinet is a national healthcare solutions organization. Amerinet decided to offer its 2,900 acute care hospital members a suite of procure-to-pay (P2P) solutions from healthcare technology and services company GHX. By doing this:

• members will be able to take advantage of the full range of (P2P) capabilities offered by GHX, including item master management, real-time contract and price management, requisitioning and workflow control, and invoice automation.
• hospitals should be able to improve procurement and accounts payable processes and drive contract compliance, resulting in up to 12 percent savings on medical-surgical supply spending.

Sears Canada selects ADP to automate AP processes

Sears Canada has selected ADP’s Invoice Automation Suite to automate its accounts payable (AP) processes. The electronic invoicing application is part of the ADP Procure-to-Pay Solution.

Sears Canada assessed various AP automation providers earlier this year and is said to have determined that the ADP solution was the best fit for its accounts payable department.

Or as they say at ADP: “By combining robust solution functionality around electronic invoice automation and approval workflow with a strong services component including supplier on-boarding, ADP’s holistic offering is well equipped to accommodate the complexities of a dynamic organization like Sears Canada.”

And of course ADP came up with a quote too: “On top of providing a platform with the features and functionalities that we need for our non-merchandise business, ADP’s solution will help move our accounts payable department from a paper-based operations to the ease and efficiency of electronic transactions,”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: US E-invoicing News: Amerinet selects GHX | Sears Canada selects ADP.

Traditionally SWIFT has been for payment messages only, now its open for e-Invoicing traffic. In his opinion SWIFT addresses all the interoperability and connectivity issues between providers and banks.

Now, with the e-Invoicing solution of for instance Bottomline Steve claims you can now connect e-Invoice providers (or corporates) into the SWIFT network. No SWIFT membership is required; it’s free to receive and costs less than postage to send.

What is in it for a provider?

As a provider you get:

• SWIFT address with global reach
• Full audit-trail of transactions from sender to receiver
• Use of a totally secure network
• Unlimited (free) inbound Invoices into your network
• Data transformation from ISO20022 to your network standard (still supports PDF)
• Simple interoperability for your e-Invoicing network customers

To learn more information drop Steve a note at scarter@bottomline.com. Or head over to our discussion in our LinkedIN group.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: SWIFT is now open for e-Invoice Traffic.

2011 was also the year in which a number of new Basware services was launched. Among other things, a new e-invoicingdienst for customers within the Finnish market was launched, which wasd developed together with Nordea Bank. In addition, Basware introduced InvoiceOut, an extension to the already existing Basware AP Automation service.

And they can add some more blessings to their list. On of those is that Basware Automation Services, including for SaaS and e-Invoicing, generated a growth of 32.2% compared with 2010.

The year 2011 in Basware facts and figures

And we have some more nice data for you:

• Net sales grew with 4.5% to EUR 107.7 million
• Operating profit decreased to EUR 12.2 million, which included a restructuring provision of EUR 1.2 million due to streamlining measures.
• Transaction volume in 2011 grew by 53% to 20.8 million
• Recurring revenue accounted for 48.9% of net sales.
• Basware saw the largest growth in net sales in Finland (4.5%) and Scandinavia (8.7%) .
• Maintenance revenues for 2011 increased by 8.9% compared with 2010, accounting for 33.6% of net sales.
• Professional Services revenue increased by 4.5%, accounting for 31.7% of net sales.

Basware in Q4 2011

We even have some facts on the results in Q4 2011:

• a slight growth in net sales to EUR 30 million, a growth of 0.3%.
• Operating profit in the quarter decreased by 30%, having included the restructuring provision of EUR 1.2 million.
• Automation Services, including SaaS and e-invoicing grew by 17.9%, with transaction volumes processed within the Automation Services business reaching 6.2 million in Q4.
• Basware estimates revenue for existing automation services agreements over the next 12 months to be EUR 18.3 million, a growth of 6.2%.
• In Q4, license sales decreased by 16.3%, as sales of SEPA (Single European Payments Area) related banking software decreased by 48.5% as the majority of customers had already implemented the SEPA update.
• Maintenance revenue in Q4 increased by 7.2%, accounting for 31% of net sales.

Basware expects its net sales to grow from 2011, and operating profit for 2012 is expected to be EUR 8-18 million. So, now you know.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware E-invoicing Services grows 32 percent. Transaction volume up 53 percent.

About Simply Market

Here is some more information on the deal between Simply Market en b-process (now Ariba).

• Simply Market, is a French brand group of Auchan supermarket stores.
• Ariba’s b-process delivers a flexible set of cloud-based solutions for e-Invoicing that are already used by other companies like EADS, Eurocopter, Gefco, IATA, Marmara, Saint-Gobain and Vinci Energie.
• The solution accepts invoices in any type of structured format files, including positional, EDI, XML and PDF, allowing Simply Market en its partners to quickly and easily connect and begin processing invoices immediately, regardless of the AP, ERP, or other back office systems they are using.
• Using this offering, Simply Market aims to automate the exchange of more than 1 million invoices for inbound merchandise sent by more than 3,000 suppliers to Simply Markets warehouses and 269 salespoints.
• Nearly one third of its suppliers already uses b-process’ billManager platform, to exchange data with Auchan or other retail companies.

Quotes

Who can live without quotes from the sales reps? We sure can’t, so here they come:

• Philippe Le Goff, Directeur des Services Comptable et Financier at Simply Market:
  “The benefits of eInvoicing are widely acknowledged within Groupe Auchan and the retail industry. Using b-process’ solution will significantly enhance the exchanges of invoices between our suppliers and our salespoints, and the productivity gains we expect  to generate will create substantial value for both our suppliers and ourselves.”
  
  “Our goal is to convert 50 percent of these invoices into electronic format within six months and reach 85 percent within 18 months. With nearly one third of our suppliers already using billManager, b-process’ platform, to exchange data with Auchan or other retail companies, I believe these objectives should be easy to achieve.”
  
• Alexis Renard, PDG de b-process et Vice-Président d’Ariba:
  “When it comes to improving the efficiency of the invoice process, French retailers are leading the way. By implementing Ariba’s b-process solutions, Simply Market can reduce the paper, time and costs associated with manual invoicing and deliver efficiencies and savings that improve its operations and competitive advantage.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Simply Market exchanges over 1 million invoices through b-process, Ariba.

Carrying a virtual train ticket or repaying a friend with your mobile phone, buying your groceries online, paying with your debit card abroad – the way European citizens shop and pay is radically changing.

A secure and transparent integrated payments environment throughout the EU could create more efficient, modern and safer means of payments – for the benefits of consumers, merchants and payment providers. At least, that is what the European Commission believes.

Green Paper Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments

Based on a Green Paper consultation adopted earlier this month, the Commission seeks the views of stakeholders as to which obstacles hinder further market integration and how these could be resolved.

The main issues identified in the paper concern:

• Market access and entry for existing and new service providers
• Payment security and data protection
• Transparent and efficient pricing of payment services
• Technical standardisation
• Inter-operability between service providers.

Consultation on an EU market for card, internet and mobile payments

Everyone is very welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from market participants, national governments and national competent authorities.

• If you are answering this consultation as a citizen, please click here to submit your contribution
• If you are answering this consultation on behalf of an organisation, please click here to submit your contribution.
• If you are answering this consultation on behalf of a public authority, please click here to submit your contribution.

Reference documents and other related consultations

• More information of card, internet and mobile payments
• Press release
• FAQ

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Towards an integrated EU market for card, internet and mobile payments [CONSULTATION].

Businesses that produce a large number of paper invoices but conduct their banking and tax declaration transactions online are also encouraged to use e-invoices.

Banking, telecommunications, electricity and airlines businesses have applied e-invoices in their operations and gained significant advantages, according to the General Department of Taxation (GDT).

Using e-invoices helps them save costs on printing, delivering and storing paper invoices and makes accounting easier.

To be eligible to issue e-invoices, product and service providers must have declared their taxes online with relevant agencies or conduct their banking online.

An e-invoice is considered valid if it meets two conditions: the information integrity in the e-invoice must be ensured and it should be fully accessible and able to be used like a paper invoice.

Source VOV News

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Vietnamese Businesses Encouraged Using E-Invoice.

The motorist, Melissa Torres, actaully filed a lawsuit against Mainland Medical Center in Texas City. Her claim? That  the hospital increased its bill fivefold and made a claim against her insurance settlement. In return the hospital filed a lien on her property in Galveston County to settle the outstanding bill.

What the **** is going on here?

This is what happened:

1. Melissa Torres was hurt in a collision with a wrong-way driver last April
2. She went to the ER for a 4 hour stay
3. The stay in the ER cost her $4,850
4. After her short-stay in the ER Torres hired an attorney
5. The attorney filed a claim against the wrong-way driver, which settled for the driver’s insurance policy limit of $30,000.

Now here comes the messy part:

1. The Hospital learned that Torres was involved in an automobile claim.
2. It simply updated the online billing records to show a new balance of: $20,211.

So there you go. Make sure you have an online billing system. And change the bills on the fly if you think you can get more out of your clients. Or steal some money. Or create a security breach in hospital e-billing system.

Perhaps it is time that their came some quality control on the products and implementations of e-invoicing, e-billing, invoice automation and so on.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Hospital ER visit racks up $20,211 bill [Messy business].

Fundtech is one of those leaders in global transaction banking solutions. Dataline, on the other hand is a big Australian payment solution & services company.

The deal in detail

Dataline’s products complement Fundtech’s compliant ‘Accountis EIPP’ service as they both enable corporates to automate complex financial processes, increase transaction visibility, reduce costs and eliminate paper.

By working together Dataline and Fundtech will offer a complete range of financial supply chain solutions, which includes outbound (AR) and inbound (AP) e-invoicing, AP workflow automation, data scanning, e-payments support and online expenses management.

How do Asian Pacific corporates benefit from this EIPP deal?

For corporates in the Asian Pacific region the Fundtech-Dataline cooperation has the following advantages:

• Corporates who implement these services can benefit from replacing slow and costly paper-based processes with a quicker, more efficient and greener technology.
• For example, within the Accounts Receivable (AR) department, corporates can speed up the billing process by sending their invoices electronically rather than on paper and then manage them online. Instant delivery together with query management tools can lead to faster settlement and reduced ‘days sales outstanding’.
• On the Accounts Payables (AP) side, corporates can accept supplier invoices in any format straight into their e-invoicing hub, which reduces manual input, eliminates errors and helps to drive down costs.
• There is also the option for AP departments to make an instant switch from paper to electronic by utilizing a ‘Paper to Data’ service.Whether a company processes invoices by mail, fax, email, EDI or other electronic channel, the data is captured, validated to agreed business rules and finally uploaded to an ERP or accounting system.

Comments from Dataline and Fundtech

Of course Fundtech and Dataline are very happy with this new cooperation. Underneath are there comments to the deal:

• Ken Swanson, Managing Director of Dataline:“Fundtech and Dataline already have many customers in common and look forward to growing our joint customer base further. We share the same vision and values. Both companies want to take the pain out of finance and reducing unnecessary manual work by taking AR and AP processes online.”

  “Together, our services provide busy finance staff with the ability to view, manage and process all their finance documents in one secure location. This real-time access to data gives them greater visibility of the financial supply chain so that they can better optimize their working capital.”

• Gil Gadot, Managing Director of Fundtech’s Financial Supply Chain Services strategic business unit:“Dataline is an established software company with whom we share a passion for providing innovative and cost-saving financial services that eliminate paper from the process. Fundtech already has a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region and our partnership with Dataline will help us to further expand our e-invoicing network, which already has around 200,000 corporate connections worldwide.”

Interested?

• Corporate Contacts Fundtech
  George Ravich – Fundtech Ltd.
  +1-201-215-6530
  george.ravich@fundtech.com
• Corporate Contact Dataline:
  Ken Swanson – Dataline
  +6129882 6301
  ken.swanson@dataline.com.au

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Fundtech and Dataline partner up to deliver EIPP to Asian Pacific corporates.

It is an easy to understand overview of the legal requirements for electronic invoicing and archiving for all the EU countries and selected countries outside EU.

What does this white paper has to offer you?

1. The White Paper explains the current legal situation in an easy to understand, simple and clear manner and provides an overview of the respective national requirements for sending and receiving electronic invoices throughout all EU countries and selected countries worldwide.
2. It includes detailed information about legal requirements in countries like Switzerland, Mexico, United States and others. These countries are relevant for most international companies for setting up electronic invoicing processing.Within selected countries thereof the use of electronic invoices is mandatory and has been stipulated by the governmental authority.
3. In addition, the specific national requirements for electronic archiving are laid out for all countries.
4. The AuthentiDate White Paper provides each reader, even those without special prior knowledge, with a simple guide for implementing electronic invoicing and archiving.

   This enables virtually anyone implementing quickly and pragmatically country-specific requirements when exchanging electronic invoices throughout the European Union and beyond. For example, special compliance requirements such as the use of a qualified time stamp for electronic invoices in Italy and Hungary are portrayed.

5. The extent to which the individual European countries have already converted the new EU Council Directive 2010/45/EU regarding electronic invoicing into country-specific laws is also comprehensively explained. I.e. Germany most recently converted the directive into national law through a tax simplification act.

Two versions. Premium and free of charge

The White Paper, including an overview of the legal situation in the European Union and selected countries worldwide, is available freely in English language at no charge.

The free version includes an overview of the requirements of each EU country and selected countries worldwide and may be downloaded www.authentidate.de/en and www.signamus.com.

An extended, detailed – over hundred pages – version may be ordered anytime by submitting the order form, which is located in the free version.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: FREE DOWNLOAD: Compliance Requirements in the EU, and beyond.

Pollux Systems is a revenue cycle management solutions company for hospital and office-based practices based in (Newburgh, Indiana) US. Pollux provides revenue cycle management services to more than 40 hospitals and office-based practices in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Pollux has decided to renew its contract to license software from Zotec for another five years. Pollux Systems began licensing Zotec Partners’ software five years ago following an 18-month search for a billing software alternative to its own proprietary software.

Pollux Systems selected Zotec Partners’ billing technology—and continues to license the software—because it affords the best solution to automate reporting, denials management and claims processing, and allows it to reengineer any stalled claims.

Billing service provider MedData acquires MedDirect

MedData is a provider of medical billing services. It announced the acquisition of MedDirect. MedDirect is based in Michigan and focuses on:

• patient services
• revenue cycle management services and
• advanced personalized patient communications to healthcare organizations.

This way MedData Enhances its medical billing innovation with patient-centered communications and reimbursement technologies.

Parties say that “This acquisition further strengthens MedData’s leadership position in the billing services sector by putting us at the leading edge of patient-pay and patient communications services. This capability will be critical to the viability of our clients’ practices for many years to come”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Medical E-invoicing News: Pollux Systems extends contract with Zotec | MedData Acquires MedDirect.

Sek Teong Lim, Global Ariba Buyer Deployment Manager for Caterpillar, returns in this second webinar to update you on how they have:

> Reduced global AP headcount by 80 percent
> Achieved 90 percent e-invoicing in the U.S., UK, and Switzerland combined
> Reached 98 percent invoice automation in the U.S. alone
> Expanded global footprint by entering Mexico and China

Listen to this recorded webinar to learn how your organization can:

1. Establish a common global e-invoicing platform
2. Implement change management within your organization
3. Duplicate Caterpillar’s outstanding results
4. Achieve 100 percent supplier adoption

Download now

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Put Caterpillar’s global automation success to work for you.

Christopher Elmore wrote The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts Payable Automation to make the transition to the future less risky. Between 2000 and 2006 I personally managed 79 AP Automation projects. With that experience he was able to identify 8 areas where his clients had trouble. Some did better than others, but if the 8 areas were not addressed they all were in trouble.

So read the book… Take the advice… Give some love to Christopher….and And stay out of the PIT!

The eight pitfalls of Accounts Payable automation

There are 8 sections of The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts to your  company’s specific needs:

1. Your Current Environment
   Understanding who your company is  and where you are – will keep you out of the pit
2. The Selection
   Making assumptions with service providers  will put you in the pit.
3. The Organization
   Doing your homework before the project will keep you out of the pit.
4. The Project
   Perception is not reality, keeping the project organized and in control will keep you out of the pit.
5. The Vendors
   Poor or misdirected communication can put you in the pit!
6. The Training And Going Live
   Keeping training in the proper  perspective will keep you out of the pit
7. The Evaluation
   AP Automation is not an event! In order to stay out of the pit you need to be, continually improving.
8. The Future
   Having an idea of what is to come will keep you out of the pit.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Book: The 8 Pitfalls of Accounts Payable Automation.

And what is one of those key conditions? Exactly: “PAYMENT”. You agree to suppliers payment conditions. So these payment conditions are part of the contract. Easy, right? Nope!

Because, what do you do when you receive the invoice from this supplier that serviced you all the way to the end? You single-handedly changed the contract! WTF? How? Well by simply deciding that you now suddenly don’t agree to the payment term you both had agreed to and delay payment for another 30 or 60 or 90 days. Sounds all too familiar?

And here comes the best part: you don’t even inform your supplier that you, on your own, decided to change the terms to your favour. In fact, he won’t learn about your little legal twist until he sends you a reminder that his invoice wasn’t paid within the agreed time. But more probable: when he calls you after quite a few reminders…..

I know it is naive: but why are we doing this? It causes trouble from both a legal perspective as well from a relational point of view. If you don’t have the money, why still buy and shift the burden to your supplier?

• Can e-invoicing come to the rescue an help me to prevent my suppliers from extending their payments terms?
• Or should I just set up a different business model?
• Or should I just quit with customers that are reluctant to pay.

What is your opinion?

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing to the rescue: customers extend their payment terms [COLUMN].

As a result:

• The over 800 eGovernment applications of the Central Government, Autonomous Communities and Local Government (cities, municipalities) which are connected to @firma now support the eID documents issued in their home countries to the nationals of these countries who reside or work in Spain.

• Also nationals of these countries who reside or work in Spain can use with their eIDs all Spanish eGovernment services requiring eAuthentication.

• Moreover, as part of the STORK project, eAuthentication services are offered to the citizens of 15 European countries.Currently at a pilot stage, STORK provides European public administrations with a cross-border eAuthentication service for EU citizens, and it is able to manage more than 100 types of eIDs issued in the 15 countries.)

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: eSignature platform @firma accepts eID from other EU countries.

There’s hope. When manufacturer NSG Pilkington decided to focus on improving end-to-end processes, they too recognised that the process to bind all stakeholders would be conversion to e-invoicing. Their strategy worked.

Listen to this recorded webinar to hear how they:

• Aligned Finance and Procurement on a common goal
• Implemented e-invoicing in the UK, Germany, and Poland
• Improved their PO conversion rate from 50 percent to 90 percent
• Leveraged high-quality invoice data to drive touchless processing
• Encouraged suppliers to use Ariba’s PO Flip service

Speakers:

• Jonathan Fallows, NSG Pilkington
• James Tucker, Ariba

Download the webinar

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: How E-invoicing helped with procurement and PO compliance.

That is, according to the representatives of the paper industry: TwoSides. So what is their argument? This is:

“The message that “going paperless saves trees” is misleading because it links paper to deforestation, i.e. the permanent removal of forest. In the United States, however, the paper industry encourages and depends on sustainable forest management practices that regenerate billions of trees annually.”

They are right you know!

In fact, they are right. The paper industry does need sustainable forest management to survive. Even with recycling of old paper, they still need trees for proper paper production. And they actually succeeded in maintaining and boosting sustainability, because:

• The US and Canadian forest has actually grown over the last 100 years
• The European forestation grows with four times the square size of London each year.

Now, who would be willing to claim that these achievements were possible because of the uptake of e-invoicing?

How green is your solution?

There are several types of green approaches:

• Brown disguised as green
  - You send your customers digital images or PDF documents that can’t be copied from.
  - Your customers have to print it and manually enter the data in their financial software.
  - You fine them if they don’t swallow the consequences of your changed behaviour
  - RESULT: unhappy customers
• Glaring green
  - You send them e-invoices in a digital format that allows them to copy the contents
  - You fine them if they don’t swallow the consequences of your changed behaviour
  - RESULT: not so happy customers
• Green
  - You send them e-invoices in structured format: UBL or in a similar data format
  - They can get the invoices, after logging in on an online portal
  - RESULT: indifferent customers
• Bright happy green:
  - You have a self service portal where customers can enter their preferences
  - You send them e-invoices in the preferred data format.
  - You also send them the invoice in a WYSIWIG format
  - RESULT: jackpot: recurring customers that experience fast savings too.

So next time your here someone speak of going green, try to figure out what shade of green it actually is. Because the consequences can be huge.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The claim that going paperless saves trees is misleading [OPINION].

That is why we love infographics like this and this one. But also video’s that delivers the message accross the world can really make our day.

E-invoicing – the rest is history

In a tweet from Vincent Wouters, a Dutch Exec from iCreative, mentioned a video from Basware, that lets you experience the power of electronic in under 30 seconds.

Hold on to your hats, because here it comes:

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing explained in under 30 seconds [VIDEO].

By cooperating we (The E-invoicing Platform and sharedserviceslink.com) want to help facilitate the adoption of e-invoicing in Europe.

Now the very elegant Susie West, founder of sharedserviceslink.com, wrote a post on the 10 top Key Performance Indicators – KPI’s-  in Purchase to Pay. Aka: things you should pay attention to.

Susies’s top 10 Key Performance Indicators

So what are these top 10 KPI’s that Susie is talking about? Here they come (The whole story is downloadable in PDF after registration via the post we mentioned above) :

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Susie West’s top 10 KPIs in purchase to pay [LIST].

About Tanita Europe

This is what we know about Tanita Europe:

• Tanita Europe is a leading ethical healthcare product manufacturer
• Tanita Europe operates in an international competitive market and serves customers throughout Europe.
• Tanita products are widely used within the scientific research, healthcare, fitness industries and more recently experiencing rapid growth within the slimming, pharmacy and occupational health markets.

Why Tanita Europe chose the Anachron InvoicePortal

These are the benefits that TanitaEurope generate by using Anachron’s InvoicePortal:

• By making the invoicing process more efficient Tanita Europe is able to improve the customer satisfaction, cut back on delivery times and reduce the administrative costs involved with paper based invoicing.
• From SAP, Tanita is able to submit the invoice data securely to the platform.
• Buyers and suppliers can access their invoices 24/7 through the portal and download the invoice data in various formats.
• The platform supports audibility of electronic invoices, as each invoice is digitally signed and thus VAT-compliant for Europe.
• All invoices are stored online for the required legal storage period.
• Anachron is not only able to deliver e-Invoices through the InvoicePortal, but also via Interoperability connections with other providers, to ensure direct delivery.

Interview with Tanita Europe and Anachron

If we were to interview Tanita Europ and Anachron, this is what they would say:

Peter Drake, Project Manager at Tanita Europe.

• “Our company strives for a paperless and efficient way of working. Decreasing the printing costs and delivery times is a critical factor in our business. The InvoicePortal enables us to deliver our invoices instantly throughout Europe, in accordance with the VAT regulations and improve our customer satisfaction.”
  
• “The online query tool within the platform provides us with the possibility to realize a more-effective settlement of disputes and a significant reduction of administrative costs in credit collection. Next to that, E-Invoicing helps us reducing our ecologic footprint and is coherent with our mindset.”

Frank Hoekstra, CEO of Anachron:

• “We are proud to partner with Tanita Europe and enabling both Tanita and their customers to enhance the invoice process. Our experience in delivering e-Document portals for large companies enables us to provide a standardized VAT-compliant solution for European companies, which includes advanced functionalities for both buyers and suppliers.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Tanita Europe to use Anachron’s InvoicePortal EU wide.

On the surface, saving money for a long period of rainy days makes sense.  And companies around the world are doing so in record numbers, sitting on several thousand billion dollars of cash, according to calculations by financial analysts.  Balance sheets are as healthy as they have ever been, with the proportion of debt to equity at its lowest in at least 20 years, according to analysts at HSBC. It appears this trend will continue, as large companies sell corporate bonds in an effort to increase their cash holdings.

Here’s the problem with that strategy: Companies want to hold cash as a hedge, but that cash is not earning a reasonable return. And when it comes to profitable, secure, short-term investment vehicles, there aren’t many options out there right now.

Official interest rates in the US and UK are at or close to record lows, meaning the returns on cash are close to zero, providing a powerful incentive to use that money.

Historically government debt has been seen as a safe haven for investors, but the eurozone sovereign debt crisis has changed all that. This has led some investors to shun government bonds and load up on corporate debt, with the resulting demand leading to interest rates paid by companies to hit record lows.

Using Cash to Create Value

Companies looking to maximise their returns on otherwise idle cash would do better by thinking in terms of the value that cash can create. Cash that’s hoarded in traditional, low-return liquidity vehicles is cash that’s losing value. And potentially creating risk.

As the gap between low-quality and high-quality borrowers grows, more suppliers will experience cash flow problems. And many will ultimately fail, creating disruptions in the supply chain that can negatively impact operations. Buyers with cash on hand can head off such problems by investing their stash in their supply chain.

Every company has an interconnected web of buyers and suppliers. Smart companies can use the transactions they make on a daily basis with their suppliers to their advantage.

Here’s how it works: In return for a discount, you can accelerate payments for approved invoices to key suppliers. You earn an immediate return on your cash. And your trading partners can use that cash to fund their daily business needs and ensure they can meet your ongoing demands.

Dynamic Discounting

The process is known as dynamic discounting. And it’s gaining popularity. On the Ariba Network, an online supply network used by more than 500,000 buyers and sellers, over $4.5 million in discounts have been captured in the past year.  Buyers receiving these discounts saw average annual returns of anywhere between 10 and 36 percent – far greater than the returns available through traditional liquidity investments.

Getting buyers to agree to pay early and sellers to offer a discount might seem like an impossible task. But new technologies actually make it quite simple. Delivered in the cloud, such solutions provide buyers and sellers with all of the tools necessary to fully automate the process of offering, negotiating, and agreeing on early payment terms. Buyers can capture discounts

at any point between invoice approval and the net due date and automatically present offers to lock them in. Suppliers can automatically accept offers or control the acceleration of payment on an ad-hoc basis according to their needs.

“In today’s volatile economy, two things are crucial to the success of any organization: collaboration and flexibility. This is particularly true when it comes to managing cash,” said Tom Piersa, vice president, procurement and supply chain management, Republic Services, Inc. “With the help of Ariba’s technology and services, we have been able to engage a significant number of our suppliers in a dynamic discount program that gives us visibility into our options for early payment, the ability to make more informed buying decisions and allows our suppliers to choose alternative payment terms that meet their needs.”

And by creating a reliably efficient and completely automated process for managing discounts, Republic gives its trading partners greater control over their cash acceleration options and visibility into payment status so that they can improve their planning and forecasting.

“It makes sense for any buying organizations to do the best they can with their cash flow, and getting a discount does more for them than letting it sit in a low-interest-bearing account,” said Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions. “But for the suppliers, it gives them a chance to really analyze the fulfillment timing that best works to their advantage, and then incentivize using these discounts in ways that benefit them.”

Joy Stoelting, Studio Manager for Big-Giant, a US design firm that participates in an early discount programme with a major sport equipment manufacturer, agrees.  “We can get our invoices paid as quickly as four days – it’s like gold,” she says.

Adopting a Creative Approach

During tight times, the tendency for most organisations is to shore up costs and adopt a myopic approach to conducting business. This is not the way to prepare for, or pull through, a market slowdown. As the perception of recession looms large over today’s economy, it is more important than ever for buyers and suppliers to work more closely together, share the economic burden of the times, and embrace innovative ways to ensure their mutual health. The supply base offers short-term investments with higher returns that are effectively risk free. Companies bold enough to embrace such a creative approach can successfully navigate today’s rough waters and sail smoothly once the economic storm passes

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Fears about a double dip are leading companies to hoard cash.

Purchase to pay and social media

• Companies are at the beginning of a new era of purchase-to-pay and business to business cooperation.
• Companies should prepare for a change of the traditional customer/supplier model.
• Better collaboration with strategic suppliers through fast, transparent and accessible communication channels has the future.

White paper

This document analyzes the benefits of a better network for social media, including the ability to:

• Broaden your horizon
  With a communications platform to analyze new partner and supplier, including customer reviews and a collaboration platform.
• Make your entire company stronger
  Promote an open and spontaneous cooperation between partners and encourage new ideas.
• Maximize existing knowledge
  Use the extensive proprietary knowledge, and manage it efficiently.
• Transparency in your business
  Open channels of communication that lead to a quick solution of disputes and sharing of decision-making.

Download the whitepaper

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: How Social Media will give Purchase to Pay a new dimension [White paper].

This new service allows senders to simply convert an electronic bill into a text message and send it to customers via WhatApp, SMS or social media. The bill can then be paid quickly and safely via credit card, debit card such as Maestro, PayPal or via mobile banking.

About FinovateEurope

• Finovate is a demo-based conference for innovative startups and established companies in the fields of banking and financial technology.
• The 2012 conference will be held on February 7th in the heart of the Financial District in London.
• Finovate offers an insight-packed glimpse of the future of banking and finance via fast-paced 7 minutes product demonstrations.
• There is a competitive application process to get a demo slot at the event.

AcceptEmail. On stage. Congrats

Peter Kwakernaak, CEO AcceptEmail is looking forward to go on stage for the second consecutive:

• “After the successful launch of our international platform last year, we are looking forward to go on stage at Finovate again.”
  
• “This time we will demonstrate our innovative Short Invoicing Service. This new extension of our service allows senders to simply convert an AcceptEmail into a text message and send it to customers via WhatApp, SMS or social media. The bill can then be paid quickly and safely via credit card, debit card such as Maestro, PayPal or via mobile banking.”
  
• “We facilitate companies to digitally send bills through multiple communication channels, while maintaining a safe and prompt payment by their customers. The threshold for switching to digital invoices is thus further reduced or even eliminated.”

Some other presenters: http://www.finovate.com/europe2012/presenters.html

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Two times in a row: AcceptEmail selected to demonstrate at FinovateEurope 2012.

Using Ariba^® Discount Professional^™, buyers are accelerating payments for approved invoices to key suppliers in return for discounts, earning an immediate return on their cash. And sellers are gaining increased visibility into future cash flows, certainty in payment timing and the ability to use cash sooner to fund daily business needs.

“In the face of renewed market volatility and economic uncertainty, companies are tightening their grip on cash to hedge against financial risk,” said Drew Hofler, Senior Manager, Working Capital Management Solutions, Ariba. “But with little prospect of earning a return on parked capital, many buyer organizations are increasingly seeing their supply chains as a more viable opportunity for investment. Likewise, suppliers are seeing large, cash-rich customers as a better source of faster cash for their receivables.”

Leveraging Ariba Discount Professional, buyers can achieve a greater return on their cash that is effectively risk-free because they are investing in their own suppliers.

Collaboration and flexibility

“In today’s volatile economy, two things are crucial to the success of any organization: collaboration and flexibility. This is particularly true when it comes to managing cash,” said Tom Piersa, vice president, procurement and supply chain management, Republic Services, Inc. “With the help of Ariba’s technology and services, we have been able to engage a significant number of our suppliers in a dynamic discount program that gives us visibility into our options for early payment, the ability to make more informed buying decisions and allows our suppliers to choose alternative payment terms that meet their needs.”

And by creating a reliably efficient and completely automated process for managing discounts, Republic gives its trading partners greater control over their cash acceleration options and visibility into payment status so that they can improve their planning and forecasting.

“It makes sense for any buying organizations to do the best they can with their cash flow, and getting a discount does more for them than letting it sit in a low-interest-bearing account,” said Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions. “But for the suppliers, it gives them a chance to really analyze the fulfillment timing that best works to their advantage, and then incentivize using these discounts in ways that benefit them. There is a huge efficiency potential for these suppliers when they exercise this dynamic discount capability.”

Joy Stoelting, Studio Manager for Big-Giant, a Portland-based design firm that participates in an early discount program with a major sport equipment manufacturer, agrees. “When we submit paper invoices, it can take a long time to get them approved,” she says. “Through Ariba, we get our invoices paid as quickly as four days, and the visibility into payment status is like gold.”

Delivered in the cloud via the Ariba Network^™, Ariba Discount Professional provides buyers and sellers with all of the tools necessary to fully automate the process of offering, negotiating, and agreeing on early payment terms, including:

• Prorated discount terms through which buyers can capture discounts at any point between the invoice approval and net due date.
• Dynamic discounting that lets suppliers control the acceleration of payment on an ad-hoc basis on individual invoices
• Automatic presentation of discount offers by buyers
• One-button acceptance of accelerated payment by suppliers
• Ariba Cash Flow Optimizer™ offering suppliers insight into cash flow opportunity and single-click acceleration of cash.

Hear more from Hofler and Gardner on dynamic discounting

Learn more about Ariba Discount Professional

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Companies maximize cash and minimize risk with Ariba.

The new tools are: surveys, legal documents, video’s and 5 new ROI calculators.

So take a look at the list, head over to the E-invoicing Toolbox, create your selection and download the tools you need. And best of all. It is free!

Documents

1. Tax-compliant global electronic invoice lifecycle management
   TrustWeaver, Whitepaper, 2011
   
2. Explanatory notes on VAT invoicing rules relating to Council Directive 2010/45/EU
   European Commission, document, 2011
3. GS1 Standards: EANCOM and Simple Invoice 2.0.2
   GS1, standards

Survey

1. Global Survey on Barriers to Next-Generation Billing + Global Survey on E-Billing Adoption
   BillingViews, Survey, 2011
2. Global Trends in Automated Data Capture in AP
   The Institute of Financial Operations, Survey, 2011

Video

1. Components of an electronic invoice
   PaySimple, video, 2011
   
2. Module for OpenERP to add Electronic Invoice through Web Services (WSFEv1) in Argentina
   Software, open source, 2011
   
3. Argentina’s e-invoicing requirements, part 1
   Kevin Benedict + Crossgate, video-interview, 2011

Calculators

1. AP/AR Calculator [Warning you have to leave your contact details]
   Corcentric
   
2. AP ROI Calculator [A must try]
   ReadSoft
3. Purchase to Pay ROI Calculator [A must try]
   Basware
   
4. Invoice Automation ROI Calculator [A must try]
   Basware
   
5. Bruno Koch extensive calculator (XLS) [Warning: German language]
   WKA + Billentis [Bruno Koch]

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 5 ROI Calculators + 9 other great free new tools added to the E-invoicing Toolbox.

OB1O has now set the benchmark and decided that you Accounts Receivable thoughts are worth at least an iPad. But also a FREE pass for Fusion 2012. Or a VISA gift card. Goodie.

What is going on here?

Well, the Institute of Financial Operations and OB10 are partnering to bring you the third annual Accounts Receivable Survey, designed specifically for AR professionals. And for that they need survey results.

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes for you to complete. Your responses will be confidential and you are welcome to respond anonymously. However, you should complete the contact details section in order to be entered into the drawing for the Apple iPad2 and the other goodies.

So what is in it for you?

First and foremost, this is an opportunity to share important information about current practices and trends that will help you benchmark your own functional area while also enhancing the knowledge of your peers. So, a moral responsibility.

Hold on, hold on, there is more. They will also analyse the survey’s results and provide you with several valuable outputs, including:

• A comprehensive report with this year’s findings
• Interpretive analysis and articles on critical outcomes
• New resources added to The Institute of Financial Operations Resource Center to provide additional tools tailored to meet your needs.

Once you complete and submit the survey, you have an opportunity for a chance to win one of the following:

• First prize: An Apple iPad2, Wi-Fi + 3G 16GB (your choice of carrier)
• Second prize: A FREE pass for Fusion 2012 – The Institute of Financial Operations’ 22st Annual Forum (equivalent 2012 event in the UK)
• Third prize: Visa gift card (100 USD/65 GBP)

Be swift

The survey closes on Tuesday, January 31 at 5:00pm EST.

On behalf of OB10 and IOF, we thank you.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: An iPad for your Accounts Receivables thoughts [SURVEY].

You can find these and 10 other jobs in the “Jobs” section of our E-invoicing Platform LinkedIN Group:

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 5 Recent Jobs in E-invoicing, Online Billing and Purchase to Pay.

Now this is all very vague. We have really no clue of what exactly is being offered to customers of Basware.

However, Benedikt Schröder, Managing Director at Euroscript Systems can explain the WHY behind the partnership:

• “The number of transactions has more than tripled over the past few years, paving the way for more and more unstructured information. In addition, business operations being run from many different parts of the world make it all the more difficult for organizations to secure their processes”.
• “This alone forces a growing number of organizations, to resort to solutions enabling them to generate reliable data on the one hand, and to optimize and monitor more effectively their processes, on the other”.

Frank Wuschech, Country Manager Central and Eastern Europe at Basware also states the why:

• “We have chosen to team up with Euroscript as they have an extensive knowledge and a clear vision of the IT architecture organizations are now resorting to, so as to efficiently manage their content. They understand the growing need for interoperability more and more companies are experiencing, and how to integrate and align our solutions to help customers reach this goal”

However, as Basware and Euroscript seem to know what the offering exactly is, we recommend you to contact them.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware and Euroscript cooperate in financial operations and procurement.

These NACHA’s Councils are incubators for new ideas, developments, and solutions in the payments industry, said Janet O. Estep, NACHA president and CEO.

Who, what is NACHA?

Never heard of NACHA? NACHA stands for National Automated Clearing House Association. Nacha manages the development, administration, and governance of the ACH Network. The ACH Network is for the electronic movement of money and data in the US.

The ACH Network serves as a safe, secure, reliable network for direct consumer, business, and government payments, and annually facilitates billions of payments such as Direct Deposit via ACH and Direct Payment via ACH.

As a not-for-profit association, NACHA represents more than 10,000 financial institutions via 17 regional payments associations and direct membership.

Council for Electronic Billing and Payment (CEBP): Chris Huppert

The Council for Electronic Billing and Payment (CEBP) promotes the adoption and use of consumer, business and government billing and payment programs and services across multiple delivery channels.

Through three annual meetings, CEBP provides an open forum for education, resource development, solution innovation, research, and the exchange of information about developments and trends in the electronic billing and electronic payment industries. For more information, visit http://cebp.nacha.org.

Chris Huppert:

• is senior vice president in the wholesale Internet and treasury solutions group at Wells Fargo Bank,
• renews his role as chairperson for the CEBP.
• has 30 years of experience in the payments industry
• serves as a member on NACHA’s rules and operations committee.
• is also active in many industry groups and has been a member of the CEBP steering committee since 2006.

The Internet Council (TIC): Deborah Matthews

The Internet Council (TIC) advances electronic commerce over open networks by enabling digital business in a straight–through, secure, and cost effective manner. Three annual meetings afford council members opportunities to enrich their payments systems knowledge and stay current on emerging marketplace trends. The Council’s focus includes WEB and TEL ACH applications, mobile payments, authentication issues, data security, alternative payments, and emerging payment technologies. For more information, visit http://tic.nacha.org.

Deborah Matthews will take the role of chairperson for The Internet Council. She:

• is director of payments strategies at ProfitStars.
• has been a member of the Internet Council steering committee since 2004
• has been actively involved in several other NACHA and industry councils.
• previously served as vice chairperson, marketing and education communications coordinator, and WEB/TEL work group leader for TIC.

The Electronic Check Council  (ECC): Angie Smith

The Electronic Check Council (ECC) brings together key industry participants and payments experts from the ACH and check worlds to promote better understanding and increased adoption of check electronification, including ACH check conversion and truncation, as well as image exchange. Members design, propose, monitor, and advance solutions to process paper checks electronically and address issues such as payments convergence, mobile device-based check conversion, business check conversion, deposited check truncation, trends in consumer check use, and ACH rules enhancements for electronic check entries. For more information, visit http://ecc.nacha.org.

The Electronic Check Council as its new chairperson Angie Smith. She:

• is senior manager of education at Viewpointe,
• has 24 years of experience in the financial services industry.
• serves on the Board of Regents for NACHA’s Payment Institute
• actively participates in various industry work groups.
• has been a member of the ECC steering committee for four years.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: NACHA councils elect chairperson for Council for Electronic Billing and Payment + two more.

ESCO is a independent, global developer and manufacturer of highly engineered wear and replacement products. These products are used in resource mining, infrastructure, power generation, aerospace and industrial applications. Applications that are essential to the productivity of machines.

Oracle Webcenter for AP Automation

ESCO decided to optimize their Accounts Payable department and automated much of the daily invoice processing tasks. To do this ESCO decided to using Oracle WebCenter. A majority of ESCO’s invoices now go through their AP process with no manual intervention. Oracle WebCenter extracts the necessary information from their invoices and automates the data entry into their Oracle E-Business Suite Financial application Leveraging Oracle’s WebCenter invoice processing solution allowed ESCO to:

• increase the number of invoices they process annually,
• reducing resources process the annual amount of invoices
• add additional ROI to benefiting from by using Oracle WebCenter.

Image Source

Oracle Webcenter was implemented by ImageSource, a certified Oracle WebCenter partner. ESCO has benefited from ImageSource’s extensive experience in implementing imaging solutions with WebCenter.

Unverified news release

Almost every other day we receive news that some customer inks a deal with a purchase to pay, invoice processing, e-billing, e-invoicing or BPO provider.

Because we can’t verify the name of the customer (or we can but are not allowed to publish it) we don’t mention the news here. Because without name it could all be a marketing stunt. It could. But probably isn’t.

So that is why we added a new item: the ‘Unverified news release’. So here are a few:

• A major European provider of business services for finance and accounting selected Brainware Distiller for the efficient automation of invoice processing, as well as other financial documents.  The contract is valued at more than $2 million and enables the customer to capture and reconcile header and line item data from millions of pages and invoices every year.
• A UK-based global telecommunications provider has signed an agreement with ReadSoft worth EUR 310,000 to expand document and invoice automation. ReadSoft has extended an existing four-year relationship to accommodate centralisation activities and business demands in Europe for the operator.
• Three large UK-based companies running SAP selected ReadSoft to process over 600,000 invoices per year. The three contracts use ReadSoft’s specialist INVOICES and COCKPIT software within the SAP environment to automatically streamline purchase to pay processes.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: AP Automation News: ESCO automates AP with Oracle + Unverified news release.

After reading this through, what do you think: how much/little has changed since 2006?

The Power of Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment

In recent decades, companies of all shapes and sizes have focused significant effort on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their accounts payable (A/P) organization. Yet most finance executives remain unsatisfied with the current levels of correction work, manual processing, filing and matching activities still required within their organizations. As a result, A/P is poised for a significant transformation.

While ERP systems and EDI have made A/P more efficient over the years, they have not done enough to help companies improve performance by reducing paper handling, eliminating errors at the source and enabling low-cost, external connectivity with all suppliers. A/P, it seems, has reached a productivity plateau. But a breakthrough solution has emerged to address this issue: Electronic Invoice, Payment and Presentment (EIPP). And many top performing organizations are embracing it to reach new levels of A/P efficiencies and savings.

The Opportunity

Research suggests that the average organization is losing $15 million per year for every $1 billion in spend from inefficient A/P processes. Transaction costs, lost early payment discounts, and billing errors drive the savings that are possible. Figure 2, below, outlines the dollars that are at stake.

Figure 1: The EIPP Savings Opportunity

EIPP enables A/P organizations to capture much of these savings by leveraging and improving processes, systems, initiatives, investments and capabilities that are already in place.

A New Approach

EIPP is a powerful approach to A/P designed to create a paperless, fully automated process. With EIPP, suppliers can interact with buyers more quickly and cost effectively than ever before. Through a set of integrated capabilities, suppliers can connect with buyers and receive timely, hassle-free payments as source documents are electronically matched.

Suppliers like EIPP because it isn’t a burden for them to use, facilitates rapid payment, and generates fewer error situations that are expensive to research and resolve. EIPP also can significantly reduce the cost of compliance-related efforts. To understand the types of results that are possible with EIPP, consider the case of a global telecommunications provider, who was able to capture 95% of invoices electronically after a 10 week deployment.

The implementation reduced paper invoice volume by 60%, and cut error rates by over 50%, enabling the finance organization to redeploy A/P personnel (while also improving supplier satisfaction).

So how does EIPP work? Distilled to its core, EIPP comprises four specific solution elements:

Element 1: Capture

The Capture element of EIPP is focused on transforming the paper invoice receiving process and connecting with suppliers. Not all suppliers will want to handle the invoice creation and management process electronically. But the key to EIPP success lies in maximizing supplier participation. So in moving to an automated process, it is important for companies to remain flexible and maintain the ability to flip a PO, convert an invoice and upload an Excel file to accommodate suppliers with varying electronic capabilities. Continuing to accepting paper and incorporating an invoice conversion component for invoice management can also fuel higher adoption rates.

Element 2: Match

The Match aspect of EIPP incorporates contract terms and automates the exception management process by enabling field level, four-way matching. Four-way matching (where an item-level match extends back to the contract) is critical to capturing discounts and reducing error rates. EIPP matching capabilities are highly flexible and configurable based on an organization’s structure and needs, down to the item level. In addition, essential to successful automation and matching is general ledger integration and auto-reconciliation to reduce staff involvement, enabling resources to focus on pressing issues rather than managing paper.

Element 3: Manage

The Manage feature of EIPP focuses on automated routing to accelerate the approval process within an organization. EIPP can dramatically reduce the time spent by A/P personnel managing suppliers by enabling suppliers to track invoice and payment status. At the same time, these types of self-service capabilities can help improve the overall sales and account management process for suppliers, inviting favorable treatment in future discussions and negotiations.

Element 4: Pay

The Pay capabilities within EIPP create a predictable outflow of capital, giving financial executives exacting control over when they chose to pay suppliers. By tightly coupling with an ERP system and financial institution, companies can fine tune invoice payments based on business needs (e.g., reducing costs through taking advantage of early payment discounts). Payment capabilities accommodate multiple payment formats as well as supplier self-service capabilities to enable visibility throughout the process. In addition, EIPP solutions can include capabilities that allow the sourcing of discounts from suppliers in return for early payment.

EIPP: Fact versus Fiction

Without question, EIPP can help A/P organizations take their performance and efficiency to the next level. But identifying and working with the right partner is absolutely essential to success. But there is a lot of misinformation in the market that can lead those considering an EIPP solution to make less-than-optimal business decisions. Perhaps the most widespread myth is the notion that scanning is e-invoicing.

The truth is that scanning only begins to scratch the surface of invoice automation, marginally improving the review and authorization of invoices. Another EIPP fable is that matching is a cure-all. The reality is that basic exception management capability has been a part of A/P processes for over two decades, but has been limited by a lack of internal and external connectivity.

This has led to severe automation limitations such as the ability to match line item level detail. But perhaps the most egregious fallacy in the market is that payment automation is the core of EIPP ROI. In fact, some providers confuse payment automation with having a complete EIPP solution. In the market today, a handful of EIPP providers try to link ROI to concentrated dynamic discounting by connecting a few large suppliers and ignoring the rest. Unfortunately, this approach fails to address compliance and the costs of paper processing.

When these fictions are seen for what they are, the actual truths about EIPP are relatively straightforward. First, supplier enablement is difficult and complex, requiring expertise and economics of scale that few providers can deliver. Unfortunately, a number of companies have faced challenges with supplier enablement in the past and are likely to bury the challenging memories of such initiatives when it comes to EIPP. This is a mistake, and one that organizations can avoid by working with an expert provider who has a proven track record of rapid and cost-effective large-scale supplier enablement initiatives, and the economies of scale to enable low-cost supplier enablement. Second, companies must choose solutions that enable both low and high volume suppliers in order for their efforts to be worthwhile. A solution that delivers maximum payback must take into account high volume suppliers, accommodating existing one-off connections as well as lower volume suppliers through a common network. And third, EIPP must accommodate small, paper-bound suppliers. A disproportionate volume of invoice errors, disputes and costs originate from such suppliers – and every company depends on them. So any solution must address their needs, or the A/P efficiencies that EIPP brings will be severely limited.

Finding the Right Solution

When evaluating and EIPP solution, companies should ensure that it:

• Eliminates (not automates) errors at the source
• Permits suppliers of all sizes to easily and inexpensively connect
• Dramatically reduces the quantity of paper handled, stored and matched
• Improves supplier interactions
• Matches purchase orders, receipts and invoices to contracts
• Accommodates varying degrees of supplier sophistication
• Allows 100 percent capture of invoice volume
• Reduces compliance costs
• Provides earlier visibility into cash requirements
• Removes latency in invoice and payment processing
• Reduces the volume of supplier inquiries
• Offers multi-lingual, multi-currency capabilities
• Provides global, localized support for your company and its suppliers

Above all, companies must look for a partner that can provide a complete solution that focuses on the entire set of business processes necessary to ensure compliance and control. Without question, an EIPP suite should go beyond simple invoice automation, and should eliminate as much paper as possible in the A/P process. This is especially critical to improving performance as paper is the root of high handling costs, error rates, and low discount capture. A solid EIPP solution must possess the ability to handle the “last run” of paper-dependent suppliers (i.e., those that prefer not to do business electronically).

The right EIPP solution will be flexible based on individual needs and circumstances. For example, it should available in both installed and on-demand software models, and help walk-through which model makes the most sense. And the right EIPP partner should be able to help finance and procurement functions rethink what world class A/P should be. With the right EIPP solution and partner, companies can become leaders in the function by addressing core areas for improvement and delivering returns that can become the foundation of future A/P initiatives.

Making the Choice to Invest in EIPP

While the right solution and partner is absolutely critical to enabling EIPP results and maximizing returns, without the commitment to prioritize such efforts, companies will continue to leave opportunity on the table.

Regardless of organizational maturity, existing A/P performance levels, or level of technology sophistication or commitment, EIPP is a one-way ticket to fundamentally improving an ancient business role – getting suppliers paid. Many top performing companies have already realized this, making the decision to prioritize EIPP as a top finance and procurement initiative. What are you waiting for?

.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Increase Productivity. Not Paper: The Power of Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP).

But there are more sources on e-invoicing and AP automation (in random order): SpendMatters, Billentis, E-invoice Gateway and the E-business Guide.

We didn’t mention them in our previous post as they are ‘less dynamic’ then the ones we mentioned before.

We know there are loads of other websites out there, but in these two posts we focus on sites with kind of a portal approach.

SpendMatters

Just as passionately as Peter Loughlin from Purchasing, Jason Busch manages SpendMatters.

Jason writes good content. In fact his content was so good that we thought we could use it on our website some years ago. However we forgot to give him the credits like we do now. For that we were (and are, Jason) very sorry.

Billentis

Two words: Bruno Koch.

EU: CEN E-invoice Gateway

Instigated by the CEN E-invoicing Workshop, the E-invoice Gateway was intended to serve as an independent platform for electronic invoicing in de European community.

They are currently looking for new ways to exploit this website as we learned from their Request for Information.

EU: E-business Guide

Founded by Anna Bjärkerud, the European E-businessguide deals with e-invoicing, e-procurement, purchase-to-pay, and Order-to-Cash.

So, did we forget a source? Just let us know.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: 4 more websites with e-invoicing and AP automation content.