Hawaiian Electric Company

The Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric Company and Hawaii Electric Light Company serve more than 400,000 customers on the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai and Molokai, home to 95% of the state of Hawaii’s population. Hawaiian Electric Company is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries.

More effective and efficient

The multi year agreement enables Hawaiian Electric to more effectively and efficiently manage their legal spend and matters, while at the same time optimizing their outside counsel relationships.

“Hawaiian Electric and its subsidiaries engage nearly 50 outside law firms at any given time and by leveraging CounselLink, we believe we can become much more efficient in how we work with these firms in order to control costs so we can keep rates as low as possible for our customers.” said Susan A. Li, vice president and general counsel, Hawaiian Electric Company.

LexisNexis

Part of Reed Elsevier, LexisNexis Legal & Professional serves customers in more than 100 countries with 10,000 employees worldwide.

LexisNexis helps professionals at law firms and legal departments of all sizes manage the business element of their practice with innovative software and mobile solutions for customer relationship management, competitive intelligence gathering and assessment, time and billing management, matter management, client analysis, legal holds and more.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The Hawaiian Electric Company contracts LexisNexis for e-billing.

E-invoicing heaven

All those are not going to bring us to the e-invoicing heavens. That place where the leafs of the trees consists of billions and billions Dollars, Yen, Euro and Yuan notes. Where the birds thank you for saving the environment and where people, animals and plants can communicate with each other thanks to a UML: Universal Mammal Language.

So what is it?

So what is it that delivers us e-invoicing heaven? It is the unforeseen and the obvious: stamps. Stamps, just plain old stamps. To be more specific: the pricing of stamps. We found out that there is a more than coincidental correlation between the price of a stamp and the adoption level of electronic invoices:

Step 1: Take a look at these stamp prices (courtesy of DHL)

Step 2: Compare this table with those in our post “Is your Country a Digitization Hero or Laggard?”

Conclusion

Start increasing the stamp pricing for domestic and –especially- cross border letters and the e-invoicing uptake will ramp off.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The ultimate instrument to promote e-billing adoption.

Facts and figures on e-business in India

Here are some facts and figures that show why India is probably one of the best places to be when you want to earn some petty cash with e-invoicing:

1. India is the 2nd most populated country in the world, with a population of 1.21 billion as per Census of 2011, it contains 17,5% of the total global population.
2. Only 8.4 per cent of the Indian market is currently online but this translates to 100 million users, which makes it the fourth largest online country in the world. This is set to grow rapidly with online travel accounting for 80 per cent of the commerce in India.
3. India currently records 2.1 billion non-cash transactions, compared to 15 billion transactions in Brazil, 5.4 billion in China and 2.8 billion in Russia, according to a recently published joint report by Capgemini, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and EFMA.
4. E-commerce in India is a $5 billion market and according to industry body IAMAI estimates, it is expected to touch $10.27 billion by the end of 2011.
5. The number of global e-payments (online payments for e-commerce activities) is said to grow from 17.9 billion to 30.3 billion transactions between 2010 and 2013, while mobile payments are expected to grow from 4.6 billion to 15.3 billion transactions during the same period.

Ogone EBS acquisition details

EBS was co-founded by Nishanth Chandran and Prabhu Ram in 2005 and it claims to hold 20 per cent of the market share (in terms of merchant base) in the Indian payment gateway industry.

EBS will continue to operate under its current management structure, retain the same name and brand, continue to expand and will be responsible for running the operations, according to Ogone.

Ogone offers solutions for managing electronic payments across several domains including e-commerce, ticketing, call centres, airlines and travel in B2C and B2B environments.

Peter De Caluwe, CEO of Ogone Payment Services, commented on the deal: Acquiring a leading company such as EBS represents huge potential for us and our European merchants.”

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Ogone Payment Services buys Mumbai-based E-Billing Solutions.

We want to help near future adopters to make it as easy as possible to start the engine and make a smooth ride on the highway to e-invoicing. A lot of organisations are aware of the advantages that e-invoicing can reveal for them, but they are not well informed on the tools to prepare their bike.

Do you have any tips for free online tools, services or software or perhaps an idea to lower the threshold, please leave your comment or email to info@eeiplatform.com.

Inspiration:

- advanced AP/AR calculators, communication to suppliers/customers, software, free (online) services, mapping tools, tech stuff

- homemade (preferred) or to be found on the Internet

- free of charge

- and (when found on the Internet): without user registration

Thank you!

The EEI Platform

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: What FREE tools are out there to kick start E-invoicing / E-billing?.

WorldPay operates in over 40 countries worldwide and processes millions of transactions on a daily base. With more than 75 national and international payment methods WorldPay offers businesses a wide range of online payment methods. With more than 100 billers and 3 million recipients, AcceptEmail is the de-facto standard for electronic billing and payment by email. “AcceptEmail is superior in functionality and quality, therefor we have selected them to cooperate with,” said Matthijs Koorn, VP Business Development EMEA WorldPay. He continues “WorldPay mainly focuses on companies with large volumes of transactions. We expect that this cooperation will allow us to enter new markets. Conversely, the cooperation provides existing and new customers of AcceptEmail the opportunity to pay an AcceptEmail via multiple payment methods.”

Peter Kwakernaak, CEO of AcceptEmail adds “WorldPay is a leading PSP with an excellent reputation, who understands that the next big wave in online transactions arises from e-billing. Since the founding of our company, millions of AcceptEmails have been sent and paid. In The Netherlands we are recognized and acknowledged as the creator and the standard in e-billing and payment via email. The next step is deploying AcceptEmail in other European countries and worldwide. WorldPay will play an important role in this process. ”

The agreement marks a major step for AcceptEmail towards extending the service to other countries.

AcceptEmail

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: WorldPay and AcceptEmail introduce e-billing and payment by email.

This post is based on the original blog post, that can be found on: http://klyritysblogit.flockler.com/blogit?blog=421&article=5021

E-billing has been on the agenda for a decade in Finland. B2B e-invoicing adoption is picking up at a decent pace, especially in medium-sized and large companies. However, the current adoption rate in B2C e-billing is estimated to be below ten percent. Reason for this low adoption rate lies in consumers’ reception practices.

In a recent study it was calculated that  (http://www.fkl.fi/materiaalipankki/julkaisut/Sivut/saastaminen_luotonkaytto.aspx) about 90% of the Finnish pay their bills via online banking.

So, the theoretical readiness to receive an electronic invoice directly in an online bankenvironment is high, but a recent study showed (http://www.fkl.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/Sivut/sepa_valmiudessa_parantamisen_varaa.aspx) that still only a fifth of the Finnish receive electronic bills.

The outcome of this study is bothersome, as Finland is considered as one of the leading countries when it comes to the adoption of new (online) innovations, like e-invoicing. Let’s hope that the new EU initiatives on e-invoicing help to achieve massive e-invoicing adoption.

More information can also be found in an earlier post on the EEI Platform.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Recent Finnish research shows: decreasing adoption rates of e-billing by consumers.

This article was originally posted on redOrbit: http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/2034324/california_dwc_issues_ebilling_rules/index.html?source=r_health

The much anticipated e-billing rules that the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced some time ago have now been signed into existence.

These new rules not only are an opportunity for providers and payers to more effectively manage medical billing processes, but also represents a number of years of collaboration between a wide array of stakeholders,

The new rules embrace national transaction standards which should facilitate the overall implementation process. These rules also reflect some of the specific needs of the California Workers’ Compensation system.”

The new California rules also require payers to be able to accept electronic medical bills and their related attachments in 18 months. And, the rules also mandate changes to paper billing practices and data capture requirements within 6 months of the effective date, or October 15, 2011.

Californian service providers ” applaud the efforts of the DWC and all of the stakeholders. The current focus on the federal Affordable Care Act, and in particular efforts led by the American Medical Association to reduce the estimated $200 billion of administrative waste in healthcare in such areas as billing, collections, and remittance management – highlight the need for these rule changes.”

Even though Workers’ Compensation is a small segment of total U.S. healthcare spend annually, the use of electronic medical billing in the group health world has a proven track record for improving communications and coordination between providers and payers.

Source: redOrbit

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Californian DWC Issues eBilling Rules.

Ebilling Functional/Technical Expert

Job Description:

eBilling Experts would form part of the Application Expert Services (AES) group within Advanced Customer Services (ACS) EMEA Support team and will concentrate primarily on providing support for Oracle Application implementations. The group covers all Oracle Applications including: Siebel, OBI, Peoplesoft, Hyperion and eBusiness Suite, EBilling, BRM, AIA etc. This role is focused on providing support for eBilling implementations.

Ebilling Expert role is a customer facing job with the aim of providing support to the customers production and non-production systems in the following areas: Production support, assessments, knowledge transfers, go-live/Production Rollout, upgrades, migrations, change management etc.

Job Requirements and responsibilities:

• A minimum of 3-4 years IT experience.
• Technical and Functional Knowledge of EBilling product.
• Management of complex engagements in Oracle eBilling implementation projects
• Issue troubleshooting, Gap analysis, package evaluation, implementation and testing
• Tailor methodologies and macro issues to customer’s needs
• Model business processes in a functional area on to the package using prior        implementation experience
• Provide guidance during all stages of the life cycle of a project
• Strong analytical, diagnostic, and troubleshooting skills are required.
• Strong interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills are required. Successful candidate must also excel at presenting technical findings directly to Oracle customers, at all levels of the organization.
• Can demonstrate operational administration skills for an Oracle application
• Knowledge of Siebel Application is very desirable.
• An understanding of the three tiers of an Application architecture (Web, Application and Database tier) is desirable.
• Ability to travel
• Good  verbal/written skills in English

Technical Skills Required:

• Experience as a lead consultant in a leading IT organization in billing implementation projects – preferably for Telco companies
• knowledge on Oracle eBilling and billing operations
• Knowledge of other billing packages and eBilling 6.
• JAVA, Java script
• Struts Framework
• WebLogic
• Spring Frameworks
• Web Services
• Experience with complex system integration, TIBCO, TUXEDO desirable
• Experience with data migration / data cleansing
• ETL experience (OWB/Powercenter/HP Exstream/ODI)

As part of Oracle’s employment process candidates will be required to complete a pre-employment screening process, prior to an offer being made. This will involve identity and employment verification, salary verification, professional references, education verification and professional qualifications and memberships (if applicable).

Check more info

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Oracle searches Ebilling Functional/Technical Expert.

In 2011, it is estimated that approximately 5 million European invoice senders and 75 million recipients exchange electronic bills/invoices. Since practically all large European companies are using this new electronic process, e-Invoicing is quickly spreading among medium-sized and small companies. Therefore, market growth rates of 30-35% are expected in the coming years.

Due to increasing globalization, North American companies are being affected by the electronic process operations of their trading partners and subsidiaries inEurope andLatin America. Consequently, there is a great need for information on the use of e-Invoicing in an international environment. As an aid for companies that want to choose the best suitable solution, there is a new market report written by Bruno Koch, an independent and internationally renowned industry analyst and owner of the consulting company Billentis.

The report is intended to support invoice senders and recipients who want to replace expensive and paper-based invoice processing with electronic and automated processes. It contains the most important figures and information about the market. In addition to facts on market development and relevant initiatives (standards, laws), readers will also find qualitative assessments and details of solutions offered by more than 20 providers.

A 16-page excerpt from the report is available free of charge:
http://www.expp-summit.com/marketreport.htm

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-Invoicing and E-Billing – From Evolution to Revolution.

NACHA CEBP and PayItGreen quantified the size of the U.S. e-Billing(electric billing) market, indicating that a total of 5.1 billion electric bills were delivered in 2010 alone. However, some consumers are moving to adopt electric bills more slowly than anticipated. NACHA and PayItGreen suggests that e-Billing is gaining momentum across business industries with more billers expected to come online in 2011 and 2012.

Study: survey
The study asked 200 people across multiple industries and business sizes about their eBilling programs and about customer adoption rates. The purpose of this research is to help billers compare their progress relative to peer organizations and assess opportunities for increasing paper to electronic billing migration.

Biller’s perspective
e-Billing is important to billers. Results showed that 88% of participants rate
e-Billing adoption to be a significant opportunity for their organization.

Billers view eBilling as a significant opportunity to reduce expenses, eBilling can save 40- 50 cents per bill instead of paper billing. A secondary motivation to convenience is that eBilling is a green messaging that will be used widely! 82% of participants report eBilling adoption is growing.

Source: https://admin.nacha.org/userfiles/File/eBilling%20Study%202_3_11.pdf

Consumer’s perspective
There are any obstacles besides the benefits of e-Billing:

“We have e-Billing, but our billing system is not completely integrated and we cannot turn off paper statements so it costs us more.”
But also the habit of the customer to need a paper bill to remind them. Some customers are computer illiterate or do not read English.  Or they have concerns about the security and privacy. But electronic bills can be more secure than bills in mail.

Message
So the next question is: which message do we have to communicate?

Billers report that convenience is the most compelling consideration followed by the simplicity of payments.
Customers can view and click to pay in one step, pay at the last minute and can pay bills directly through their own bank. Besides, e-Billing will saves postage and printing and no more stacks of paper and clutter. But the most important benefit of e-Billing is, electronic bills are more secure than bills in snail mail!

Source: https://admin.nacha.org/userfiles/File/eBilling%20Study%202_3_11.pdf

The study also looked at the marketing of e-Billing, and where survey participants had the most success:

• The most compelling argument for e-Billing adoption is convenience, including viewing and paying a bill in one step and paying at the last minute.
• The least compelling argument for e-Billing is that it is more secure than paper billing.
• The largest obstacle to customer acceptance of e-Billing is unwillingness to give-up the paper statement.
• Most study participants use an opt-in approach to e-Billing, but are considering an opt-out approach to increase adoption.
• Customers are often apprehensive about e-Billing.  Email and printed messages with a self-enrollment process are often not enough.  Having a live operator walk the customer through the process to explain why information is being collected and how it will be used can significantly improve adoption.

So, when will e-Billing overtake paper billing?  According to the study, most U.S. participants (52%) believe that it’s more than 5 years out 2016.  With the right technology in place, and a great marketing and education campaign aimed at the customers, chances are one could get way ahead of the curve!

More information:

https://admin.nacha.org/userfiles/File/eBilling%20Study%202_3_11.pdf

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Survey: Adoption of e-Billing in the U.S..

Billable is ridiculously simple. When you visit the Billable website you’ll be able to click in any field and start typing. Once you’re done entering all your info, you can print your invoice or save it as a PDF. Pretty simple, and definitely useful if you ever need to create a quick invoice.

Source: Lifehacker

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Billable makes creating an e-invoice ridiculously quick and simple.

The US-based company aims to win new business by offering digital invoice management to companies across Europe as costs of handling invoices are high and e-invoicing has not picked up due to the lack of standards.  Bettina Wonsag, chief of the new European unit, told Reuters that “There is a huge potential here … especially in financial services and retail we see a very big market”.

Iron Mountain also said its recent market study shows that companies are unaware of the true costs of handling invoices, and shy away from e-invoicing due to its complexity. The study also revealed that only 4% of invoices are transferred electronically in Europe these days. However in Germany, Britain and Spain 36 to 40 percent of large companies would introduce e-invoicing if they were a single standard, Iron Mountain said referring to its market survey.

This American surprise raises some questions though:

1.       Are all of these 550 newly hired all signed up for invoicing automation and e-invoicing?
2.       If yes, in what way will the personnel costs affect their pricing model?
3.       If standards are the main issue, how are they going to/ can they change the behavior of companies?
4.       Why can’t we find more information about this on their sites?

Still, it sounds great. This way the EU doesn’t have to wait until 2020 to let e-invoicing become predominant.

More information
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/ironmountain-invoicing-idUSLDE7280ZB20110309

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Iron Mountain to hire 550 people in new invoicing unit.

By Jon Warner, CEO of  PaySwyft (UK)
This article was originally posted on Ezine @rticles

The question posed by this heading might seem to be quite simple at face value, but when we think about it, the answer is not exactly a straightforward one. This is because we are not always aware of the real costs of performing this quite complex task in all of its steps (whether it is done by traditional means or by online means).

In addition, while direct or tangible costs are relatively easy to identify, indirect costs are less easily identifiable and some of these are often very well hidden. Let’s therefore look at what tends to fall into these three categories of costs when comparing traditional paper-based billing versus full on-line or digital billing.

Direct Costs

At face value most people would estimate that a few “direct” costs are involved in paper-based billing. These may include:

•Invoice bill/file preparation/printing
•Paper invoices/bills
•Printing (ink or cartridge replacement)
•Envelopes
•Postage/Franking
•Offering basic payment options (debit, credit, other at standard fees)

Costs will fall as bill volumes increase for most of the above but even if they do postage or franking at about £0.40 to £0.45 pence will always be the biggest fee here. And the others will typically add as much as 30 to 35 pence making for a total of £0.70 to £0.80 of direct costs. Of course, if a merchant emails invoices (with a PDF attachment), instead of physically mailing them this may fall in half perhaps.

Indirect Costs

Costs are often deemed to be “indirect” because they are either fixed and/or cannot be wholly charged to the billing costs (especially if it is only part of a person’s job). However, even proportional costs add up here. Indirect costs may include:

•Customer service manpower to handle calls/queries
•Accounting/Reconciliation manpower
•Lost invoices (and the time taken to deal with this)
•Undelivered bills (and the time taken to deal with this)
•The cost of bill storage (space rental or fixed costs)
•Bill query handling time

Once again there may be some economies of scale in the above but all of these items (except bill storage perhaps) mainly involve having staff on the payroll or at call. Even at 500 bills a month, at least quarter a person would typically be involved in issuing and reconciling invoices and another quarter in handling queries, re-issuing bills or handling “special requests” related to invoicing or payments. If the cost of this person (or two part-timers) were £12,000 a year (£8,000 plus 50% salary/overhead burden) or £6,000 each, this £1,000 a month would amount to £2 per bill.

Hidden Costs

Costs are often deemed to be “hidden” because no-one is scrutinising or controlling them (they go unmeasured or unaccounted for or are lost in general overhead or the broad costs of doing business). Hidden costs may include:

•Extra or hidden payment transaction fees (which may be fixed or higher than necessary)
•Invoice/billing run or payment processing errors
•The need for a higher than wanted or necessary float/overdraft at the bank
•Possible added customers or more business from having more payment options
•Quicker settlement/cycle time (by use of SMS or email alerts)
•Easier training of staff/opportunity to focus staff elsewhere with time saved
•Potential cash-flow acceleration
•Easier/cheaper compliance and audit work with digital billing
•Lower/No cost digital marketing opportunities
•Overall incremental “Green” benefits/credits

The benefits to an organisation of the long list above are obviously much harder to calculate but a variety of studies in recent years have suggested that these can conservatively add up to as much as 3% of revenues or as much as 15% of profit. If we assume our little company doing 500 bills a month has an average transaction or “ticket” value of £40, turnover per month is £20,000 or £240,000 per annum. If we assume that profit is 15% of this or £36,000, this all means that the cost per bill is somewhere between £0.90 to £1.20.

So in summary, if we add all of these costs together which have a total traditional or paper-based billing cost of £3.60 to £4 or 9.5% of the revenue collected each time (£40 average ticket value). Now that’s a quite a serious amount of money for this little company not to take pretty seriously! But what about your company?-what is 9.5% of your revenues? And when you have calculated it in cold hard cash, can you afford not to investigate the potential to save as much as half of this as recurrent savings every year by moving to digital billing?

___________________________

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Warner

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: What is the real cost of paper versus electronic billing or invoicing?.

Doxo makes it much easier for people to directly connect and go paperfree with their providers. Unlike other e-payment solutions, doxo enables customers to connect with multiple businesses in one place to receive and store bills as well as other important documents. By connecting with a business on doxo, the user is granting permission for that business to turn off paper mail and deliver documents securely and privately to their doxo account. With the addition of doxoPAY, doxo users not only receive their documents electronically, but also track due dates and pay bills directly from within doxo.

Read more at: http://www.pymnts.com/doxo-adds-payment-capability-to-address-the-e-billing-elephant-in-the-room-20110201005601/?t

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Doxo claims to have nailed the user experience for massive adoption.

Go to the poll and give your answer

Read more about Gartner’s Hype Cycle in this article: Is electronic invoicing currently in the ‘trough of disillusionment’?

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Poll: Where do you currently plot electronic invoicing in Gartner’s Hype Cycle?.

The founders of Dwolla were troubled by the fact that PayPal (which they had been using for quite a while) charges 30 cents per transaction plus 2.9% for receiving purchase payments under $3,000 and that chunk of change can add up quickly.

Leveraging social networks into the financial space Dwolla was able to set its transaction fee to a mere 25 cents per transaction.

How it works
You can register on their site by logging in with your e-mail address or a Facebook or Twitter account. Once you’ve registered and confirmed your e-mail address, add your Facebook and Twitter accounts under the “Send Money” tab. Once your accounts are connected, sending money to friends is really, really easy. Just search for their name, for example, “Alex” and every Alex you know on Twitter or Facebook will appear. From there it is easy to send money on the site and it is transferred in a Twitter DM or in a Facebook wall post. The guys call it “passing the Dwolla.”

Impact on e-invoicing and e-billing
Dwolla proofs itself to collect money using social network addresses by sending bills to Twitter and Facebook. Dwolla instantaneously numerous social channels addresses to an already diversified e-invoicing landscape. The good part is that it opens up hundreds of millions of adresses where one can send and e-invoice or e-bill to. Even better is that almost every SME (99% procent of the business population) has some kind of social profile/ social address. Now it is just a matter of searching the right address and there you go. So social billing just made e-invoicing adoption towards the SME population a whole lot easier. Putting vested interests, politics and lobbyism aside, we could now achieve massive e-invoicing adoption well before 2020. On one tiny little thing remains, Dwolla is currently only operational in the US, but with a multi-billion Euro business case, there sure is someone interested in bringing this to the EU. Right?

More information
A general introduction to Dwolla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn9SyMzkGGI
Here is a video of using Dwolla with Facebook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOJbhMYDVO0&feature=player_embedded
And this is the original post: http://bit.ly/dYGAgH

Go to our Open LinkedIN Discussion and leave your comment

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Is it real? E-billing just got social by using Facebook and Twitter addresses!.

Last year, a particular mobile phone service provider launched a campaign on paper saving with the apparent intention of “saving the environment”. The publicised reason for this campaign was to reduce the cutting of trees and the destruction of forests for the manufacture of paper used for hard copy bills sent to customers every month.

While that may have been a noble effort towards environmental conservation and reduction of pollution and waste, one customer feels that that good intention was taken a little too far.

Read al about his thoughts here (link: http://aliran.com/3875.html)

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: How green are you? E-billing from a consumer’s perspective.

OnGuard Netherlands BV and AcceptEmail BV have signed a strategic partnership agreement. Part of the cooperation is a generic link between OnGuards’ credit management software and AcceptEmails’ e-Billing & e-Dunning solution. This allows companies from 2011 on to facilitate more efficient and user-friendly payments and reminders for their customers.

Innovations in credit management
Digital payment methods such as iDEAL are already widely used in Credit Management. Oddly enough, many organizations still send by ordinary post. AcceptEmail is a new way of paying bills and reminders via email. It combines the power and reach of email as a channel with the speed and convenience of Internet payments. By linking with OnGuard credit management software, companies can create and send AcceptEmails in any stage of their invoice-to-cash process directly out of the OnGuard application.

Edwin Merk, Commercial Director of OnGuard: OnGuard is very involved in the further development of the credit management market. In our role as market leader, we encourage further innovation in credit management and we gladly work with parties with innovative solutions. AcceptEmail is such a party. Through our collaboration, our customers’ collection policy becomes more efficient and customer friendly which will contribute positively to the outstanding receivables balance.

Peter Kwakernaak, CEO AcceptEmail: “We are honored and excited about the integration and cooperation with OnGuard, a longstanding name in credit management. The current economic climate requests from companies to optimize their collection process with a balanced use of channels, but at the same time to retain their customers. Email definitely has a role in this. Integration with OnGuard also strengthens our position as a market standard for billing, reminding and paying via email.

About AcceptEmail
AcceptEmail combines the power of email with the ease of Internet banking in a complete, safe and accessible SAAS solution. The service of AcceptEmail, which can be used throughout Europe, is now used by more than 85 companies and institutions, including T-Mobile, Nuon, Ziggo, Cordaid, neckermann.com, KPN, AB Inbev, Overtoom and many others. More information is available at www.acceptemail.com.

About OnGuard
OnGuard is market leader in the development and implementation of credit and collections management software. Its mission is to provide customers with the best possible software and service, achieving measurable financial and efficiency benefits. OnGuard serves more than 850 clients in 30 countries with software solutions and supplementary services, which enable them to produce an efficient and successful credit and collections policy. In the development of innovative products OnGuard uses proven successful technology; hereby the requirements and desires of the user are key. In short: credit management solutions that take you a step further. OnGuard: Taking credit management to the next level. More information is available at www.onguard.com.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: OnGuard and AcceptEmail join forces.

Perceptant, a pioneer of cloud computing business solutions for supply chain rationalisation, einvoicing and electronic data interchange (EDI) today announced a range of solutions designed for mobile computing.

Designed to drive new efficiencies and increased collaboration between field operatives, supply chain professionals and customers, the solutions include mobile electronic invoicing, transport ordering, delivery tracking, proof of delivery (POD) issuing, inventory reporting, stock-out validation and point of sale (POS) visibility via Android, Windows Mobile 7 and Apple iPhone & iPad devices.

“Whilst many companies have built strong EDI alliances, some using cloud based solutions, we have yet to see smart applications filter down to intelligent mobile devices”, says Matthew Slinn, CEO and founder of Perceptant. “The computing power and internet access speed that’s now in the palm of our hand means we can now deliver pioneering supply chain software solutions via mobile computing that are both cost-effective and feature rich”.

According to recent estimates, the global mobile applications market is expected to be worth $25.0 billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 29.6% from 2010 to 2015, yet business applications have been slow coming to market.

“Mobile supply chain and einvoicing solutions can have a dramatic and positive effect by improving working practices and business processes”, says Mark Taplow, Director of Supply Chain Consulting. “They also generate a substantial ROI by improving profit margins and sustainability across the industry, which until this announcement from Perceptant, just didn’t exist”.

Perceptant’s range of mobile solutions (perceptant.com), require no upfront investment and are simply rented to customers on a monthly basis. In addition, a standard API is available to partners wishing to integrate existing back-office ERP, Accounting and Management applications with their growing range of “off the shelf” and customised mobile solutions.

Source: NewsWire

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Supply Chain Management and eInvoicing on mobile devices.

ComReg recognises the desire by providers of electronic communications services to move their customers to e-billing and understands the potential benefits accruing from increased take-up of e-billing (including cost and environmental benefits). ComReg also recognises the desire by some consumers of electronic communications services to move to e-billing. However, as previously set out, ComReg is of the view that any move to e-billing should take full account of, and safeguard, the legitimate preferences and interests of consumers and comply fully with licence and other applicable legal requirements.

ComReg proposes to commence a consultation process on the issue of e-billing in November 2010, which will provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to state their views on this issue. ComReg would note, however, that in most cases where regulations with respect to billing apply, an e-bill is permitted where positive consumer consent is obtained, and that a paper bill is to be provided, as standard, where such consumer consent is not obtained.

ComReg looks forward to working collaboratively with all stakeholders towards developing a policy that both meets the legal obligations of providers of electronic communications services with respect to e-billing, and addresses the legitimate concerns of consumers of electronic communications services.

Source: comreg.ie

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: ComReg notifies O2 of non-compliance with respect to e-billing.

My business can do without online invoicing and billing

There has been a rapid increase in the number of companies switching to online invoicing and there are enough evidences to prove it. A study in the year 2002 reveals, payment of more than 500 invoices was made online and in 2007 the figure made a high jump with the number increased to 3.6 billion, an increase of 620%. With such a stupendous growth of online invoicing, the companies which are still adamant to follow the traditional practice of business and refuse to follow the online business are certain to suffer a heavy set-back.

Little or no impact on invoicing cost of online invoicing

With the modernization of time, the commerce has also been transformed and the advent of e-commerce has completely changed the outlook of business world and the customers. Today, customers require fast and advanced services than in the past. They have multiple options which give them an opportunity to switch from a poor service to a better service. They are quick and more conscious now. Hence, it is just a misconception that customers do not entertain invoice online but nearly 44% of the users showed their interest in online invoicing.

Online invoicing software and application are complicated

Most of the companies also believe this misconception that online invoice software would unnecessarily invite lot of hassles since it is complicated. However, it is just the other way round. Online software is simpler, faster and also cheaper than manual bills and invoices which are time consuming and cost you hefty. As far as online invoice is concerned, you can begin sending invoices immediately after you have signed up in any invoicing application.

Online invoicing will do no good to improve ROI

This is another myth that implanting online invoicing would be futile to improve ROI. In fact, your clients can enjoy accessing billing history and details at any hour (24*7) and you are more likely to get your payment on time with no delays.

Source: http://creativeoverflow.net

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Misconceptions faced by businesses regarding online invoicing.

The Dutch project on e-Invoicing  by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZ) started in 2008. The aim of this project was to introduce electronic invoicing to the government. Concerned citizens wonder if e-invoicing does take up more energy than paper invoices.
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Several international studies have been set up to take a closer look at the use of energy by e-invoicing. The fact that in other countries a significant beneficial effect is found for e-billing does not mean that this automatically counts for the Netherlands.
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The Ministry of Economic Affairs has asked TNO to make a calculation of direct and indirect impacts on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This calculation is made in a transition situation from a chain with 100% of paper invoices to a chain with 100% e-invoices. Analysis shows that paper invoices use up nearly two times more energy and 50% more CO2 emissions than digital invoices.

Take a look at the presentation by Paula van Hoorik, Senior Consultant, TNO

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Dutch Technology agency TNO: survey on e-invoicing.

The use of eBilling has been promoted for at least the past ten years. Why isn’t it more popular than it is at this moment?
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I had a most frustrating experience today with eBilling. I had forgotten to pay my son’s phone bill of March. The simple reason for forgetting it was, that I didn’t notice it in the service providers eBilling portal. They usually send me an email to inform me of a new bill but this time the notice failed. Now I will have to pay the bill plus an extra fee for the reminder. Not acceptable.
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So what then is wrong with the current systems? First, the technology doesn’t seem to be ripe enough for eBilling. At least not with all solutions I have been using. Second, the process of eBilling hasn’t been thought of properly. I am currently using three portals to handle my payments. That is two too much. Ideally I would handle all my payments in my bank’s portal. Now I will have to go to two other portals and go to my bank’s portal anyway for the actual financial transaction.

Of course, the second problem has nothing to do with IT but goes to show, that you simply cannot implement technology without taking into consideration the high level process, in this case the whole billing process.

What was the result of this experience? I simply told the service provider to send me a paper bill in the future.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: “Why website ebilling will never result in widespread paper suppression”.

“The joint solution offered through our partnership with Cortex will enable Apache to strengthen its supplier relationships and provide the company with improved efficiency and transparency throughout its financial supply chain,” said Ari Salonen, general manager, North America, Basware, Inc.

“Our automated solutions, combined with Cortex interoperability network, make it easier for an increasing number of companies to embrace electronic e-invoicing and to reap the benefits that can be gained from eliminating manual invoicing processes.”

“We are impressed to see immediate results from our agreement with Basware. This project with Apache is one example of the work we are doing in growing our network and expanding our supplier relationships across North America,” said Ryan Lailey, Vice President of Business Development at Cortex.

“Not only is this our third major buying organization to join our Network this year, but this project will also continue our momentum in the marketplace with other large buying organizations. Our Trading Partner Network and support services continue to deliver superior value for our clients in a reliable, low cost, low risk implementation.”

Apache will be able to receive e-invoices from its suppliers via Cortex, which will be processed using Basware’s Invoice Automation solutions. This process automation will streamline the invoicing process, and minimize the time and money spent manually handling invoices.

Basware’s global e-invoicing network includes more than 60 partners in the U.S., Europe and Scandinavia, providing direct connections around the world, and transmitting more than nine million transactions annually.

About Apache
Apache Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Canada, Egypt, the United Kingdom North Sea, Australia and Argentina. Apache posts announcements, updates and investor information, in addition to copies of all recent press releases, on its Web site, www.apachecorp.com.

About Cortex Business Solutions Inc.
Cortex Business Solutions Inc. is an industry leading service company that improves efficiencies, reduces costs and streamlines procurement and supply chain processes for its customers. Accessing the Cortex Trading Partner Network enhances the exchange of business critical documents, such as purchase orders, receipts and invoices resulting in improved cash flow management and business controls, while reducing day’s outstanding and administrative costs. Cortex is a low cost, low risk solution that can be implemented quickly by leveraging its customers existing business environment. More information can be found at www.cortex.net.

About Basware
Basware is the global leader in purchase-to-pay solutions with more than 1,500 customers and 850,000 users in over 50 countries around the world. With Basware, organizations can reduce the cost of buying and paying for goods and services and gain visibility and control of their entire spending process by automating manual processes, from sourcing, contract management, purchasing and supplier collaboration to invoice automation.

Basware solutions and services enable substantial cost reductions across businesses and deliver value by providing compliance and control, as well as fast return on investment. The solutions are distributed and implemented, either on site or as a service, in Europe, the U.S., and Asia-Pacific through an extensive network of Basware offices and business partners. The company’s U.S. business, Basware, Inc., is headquartered in Stamford, Conn. More information can be found at www.basware.com/us.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware and Cortex announce e-Invoicing project.

The following articles below are worth reading as they are about e-billing software, Euro industries, electronic invoicing and the role of the banks.

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“The hard road to electronic invoicing”
“The bigger prize”

“A challenge for the banks”

“The business imperative for legal-specific e-billing software”

www.raconteurmedia.co.uk

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Publication: E-MONEY articles about e-invoicing.

In 2008, roughly 1 million European businesses and 23 million consumers exchanged one billion electronic invoices. Every day in 2009, 1,200 businesses and 11,000 consumers are expected to become new E-Invoicing users. Owing to the attractiveness of this market, around 350 service providers and another 150 application providers are offering their solutions and services.

This purpose of this report is to support invoice issuers and recipients wishing to replace expensive paper based invoice management. It gives all the relevant information on the larger European markets and helps by focusing on the most promising solutions. The report not only provides facts, but also qualitative views, evaluation and details about the products offered by many providers.

The document costs 590 Euro, but a table of contents and download preview are free available online:

www.expp-summit.com/marketreport.htm

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-Invoicing / E-Billing in Europe – Taking the next step towards optimised processes.

As pressure mounts on organisations to be more “green” in their business operations and the continuous drive for greater efficiencies, eBilling is set to change the way companies send invoices to their customers. The market for eBilling solutions is expected to have massive growth in the next few years so Anachron and zumzum have forged a strategic partnership to capitalise on the UK market.

“Having reviewed over 50 eBilling providers across Europe it became very clear why Anachron is in the top 3 eBilling solution providers in Europe” explains Bashrat Din, Managing Director of zumzum. “Anachron is the only vendor that has solutions for large billers through to very small companies. The particular expertise demonstrated by Anachron in the B2B eBilling sector, the advanced set of features and the total commitment to quality of service means that Anachron is ideally positioned to increase their market share across Europe. We are very excited to be working with Anachron to increase their footprint in the UK.”

Continued Bashrat Din, “Anachron established the business in 1999 so is a survivor of the dot com meltdown, but not just survived but prospered by accumulating a very impressive set of reference customers. The investments Anachron has made in technology means that they are unique with a total set of solutions for both the Biller-direct model, which is well suited to large accounts and also the Biller-Consolidator model (Ingis) targeting the SME market. This latter solution is as a result of an investment made in Anachron by ING bank so this is an example of the very creative partnerships Anachron is capable of developing.

“From our very first contact with Anachron we have been incredibly impressed with the people at Anachron, and they constantly demonstrate a creative and flexible approach to partnering. They are just great people to be working with and we are delighted with the early results we are achieving” concluded Din.

Source: www.anachron.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Anachron and zumzum launch eBilling Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in the UK.

Anachron, the leading e-Billing supplier in Europe, was selected by Multi Service Europe to develop an e-Billing solution for Multi Service Europe. The e-Billing application is integrated within the online customer portal of Multi Service Europe.

Rutger Gassner, Managing Director Multi Service Europe explains the reasons for e-Invoicing: “Multi Service Europe delivers customized solutions for billing and payment systems in the transportation industry throughout Europe. Our customers can view and download detailed information regarding their transaction online within our customer portal. In order to enhance our customer service even more we decided to implement a solution to present invoices online within our customer portal. Sending invoices the traditional way throughout Europe led to a delay of an average 5 days. We definitely knew that we could optimize this process, so that our customers would have all the relevant information simultaneously at one online location”.

Anachron was delighted to be chosen to develop the e-Invoicing portal. Anachron is known for their cutting edge functionalities and fast implementation periods. The e-Billing application is integrated within the customer portal of Multi Service Europe. Multi Service Europe generates a PDF of the invoice within their business application. Anachron receives the PDF via a secured line. The PDF is then signed with the advanced digital signature so that requirements of the Sixth EU VAT Directive are met.Erik van Os, Project Manager Multi Service Europe continues on the solution: “The e-Invoicing solution results in a direct and indirect cost reduction. We will experience a direct cost reduction because of a decrease in paper usage, printing and handling. Indirectly we will experience faster customer payments as our customers have immediate and direct access to their invoices and related information. This also enables our customers to invoice their customers even faster. The extra benefits for our customers are the easy access to information as they can view invoices from any location and have an online archive for the complete legal period”.

The e-Invoicing application includes a management console that is especially developed for Multi Service Europe to monitor all web actions of the customers. Authorized employees can access the online archive and create and manage user accounts for the e-Invoicing application.

Rutger Gassner concludes: “The e-Invoicing solution is an important step for Multi Service Europe as we can present our invoices immediately throughout Europe. We chose to work with Anachron as our service provider because of the extended experience with e-Invoicing in Europe. Our e-Invoicing solution complies with the EU regulations and is available in multiple languages. By the end of December 2008 all customers can experience the added value of the e-Invoicing platform”.

Characteristics of the solution:

• Online presentation through IFrame
• Signing PDF file with the advanced digital signature
• Sorting functionality
• Notification e-mail
• Multi-lingual & multi-currency
• Online archive for customers and MSE employee
• Management Console

Source: www.anachron.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Anachron solution helps Multi Service Europe to start e-invoicing in Europe.

About Anachron
Anachron has been an e-Billing specialist since 1999. Anachron is market leader in the Netherlands
and in the top 3 e-Billing companies in Europe. As solutions supplier to renowned nationally and internationally operating companies, Anachron has proven to be able to deliver the right solution,
to both business and consumer oriented clients.

More information:

Joop Geesinkweg 310
1096 AW AMSTERDAM

T  +31 20 5313 900
E   linda.vankampen@anachron.com
W  www.anachron.com

About the EEI Platform
The EEI Platform’s main objective is to support the penetration of electronic invoicing and automated invoicing in Europe in order to enable anyone to benefit from the great advantages that it offers. The EEI Platform focuses on the activation of individual companies, trade associations and the public sector to apply electronic billing and payment.
In addition, participants will achieve results on publicity, penetration of electronic invoicing, standardization, accreditation and promotion of the participants. EEI Platform is a variant of the Dutch Electronic Invoicing Platform (ELFA), a grouping of organisations in the Netherlands that play an important role in the implementation process, as well as substantive information, news, background and developments in the fields of electronic invoicing.

Participation in the EEI Platform
Participation in EEI Platform is not only for providers of electronic invoicing and automated invoicing. Participation is also open to users, public institutions, educational institutions and industry associations. Moreover, organizations whose activities border to electronic billing services -such as credit organizations and financial institutions- are also invited to join.

Visit www.eeiplatform.com for more information. Here you can check the latest European news, the EEI Platfom Business Case and the subscription form

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Anachron confirm their role in EEI Platform.

IMNederland, one of the leading Credit Management organizations within the Netherlands is setting the scene with interactive online Debtor Service Center. IMNederland is now the first Credit Management organization in the Netherlands that allow their debtors to view, manage, and pay their overdue debts at any given moment from any location. e-Billing market leader Anachron has developed the online Debtor Service Center (DSC) in collaboration with IMNederland.

Robert der Kinderen, Director Marketing and Product Innovations explains: “The online DSC is the perfect addition to our current services. IMNederland was all ready making use of e-mail and telephone messages to notify our debtors on the outstanding debts. This was an effective method to reach debtors, but it was also resulting in allot of administrative work for our agents, as they had to enter the data manually. The online DSC was the best solution for IMNederland to optimize our collection process and reduce the manual work. We can now provide debtors with a complete solution to manage and pay their overdue debts. Our Credit Management software IMpact creates a user name and password that is send per letter to the debtor. We capture the e-mail addresses of our debtors by making this mandatory with their first log on. Within their personal account the debtor has all functionalities and hand so therefore they are no longer dependent on our opening times or assistance of our agents”.

Marco Eeman, CTO Anachron continues on the innovative solution: “The data of the overdue debts changes on a continuous basis. We therefore decided to present the solution within secured web services. When a debtor logs on or makes an adjustment a soap request or update takes place via an interface that is connected to the server of IMNederland. This allows real time processing of the adjustments within Impact and therefore presenting the latest information available to the debtor. Within their personal account, debtors have the option to view, dispute and pay the overdue debts. We present the online DSC is completely in the look and feel of IMNederland”.

“The Internet is also being recognized by Credit Management organizations as a very important and effective channel to reach debtors”, says Frank Hoekstra, CEO Anachron. “By providing their debtors with an online DSC IMNederland has not only enhanced the service to their debtors but also accelerated the collection process significantly. The online DSC has also resulted in a considerably cost reduction as debtors can manage their without any debts without involvement of an agent”.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Anachron co-founder of Dutch Online Debtor Service Center.

- Anachron

- Isis Papyrus

- OB10

We welcome these three well respected companies, active in the e-invoicing and e-billing market, to the expanding group of EEI Platform Founding Partners. 

Click here to view the current list of Founding Partners

To read more about how to become a Member of the EEI Platform, please dowload the documents below:

BUSINESS CASE

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Three more organisations become EEI Founding Partner.

Read the entire article here:

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: CEN / Adobe: Intelligent PDF and XML for legally valid electronic invoicing.

In addition, participants will benefit from the results achieved by a wide range of activities, namely, publicity, implementation, standardisation, accreditation and promotion.

Currently, a lot of effort is devoted to composing a strong international group of Founding Partners which will form the roots of this initiative. Meanwhile, over ten organisations have signed up as Founding Partners, or participants with the EEI Platform.

EEI Platform is a variant of the Dutch Electronic Invoicing Platform (ELFA), a grouping of organisations directly or indirectly linked to electronic invoicing: software providers, industry associations, government institutions and users.

In the Netherlands, Platform ELFA plays an important part in the implementation process of eBilling while providing substantial information, news and background documentation through its interactive website. In addition, it is possible for audiences to communicate with each other on eInvoicing and related topics via several social tools.

Participation in the EEI Platform is not only suitable for specialists such as billing service providers. It is also possible for users, banks, public institutions, educational institutions and industry associations to join and benefit from this initiative. Furthermore, organisations whose activities are neighbouring the main sectors, such as credit-management organisations and financial institutions, are also invited to participate.

Source: www.epractice.eu

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: ePractice: European Electronic Invoicing Platform introduced.

Accountis Ltd, a division of Fundtech (NASDAQ: FNDT) and leading global provider of secure financial document exchange and payment systems, has been working with DHL for two years developing their e-Billing capabilities, and will support their expansion into most major European territories by the end of this year.

Environment
The environmental benefits of e-Billing were high on the agenda when DHL launched the service for customers in Belgium in 2007. Brian Thumwood, DHL’s e-Billing manger for Europe said “The success of our e-Billing project has already delivered significant environmental savings but this is a drop in the ocean compared to what we intend to achieve in the near future. We are currently experiencing a 30% increase in the number of e-invoices sent through the system each month, proving that organisations across Europe are ready and able to embrace this greener technology.”

Brian Thumwood continues, “Protecting the environment is very important to DHL and e-Billing plays an significant role in our organisation’s social responsibility and sustainability plan. The marketing strap line for this project is “e-Billing – loved by trees” since we know that this issue really matters to our customers too. Valuable resources including paper, ink, electricity and fuel are all consumed unnecessarily in the paper invoicing process every day. We want to play our part in reducing this waste and the detrimental impact it is having on our planet.”

DHL aims to improve the carbon efficiency of its own as well as its subcontracted services by 30% by 2020 and in addition is constantly expanding its climate-friendly services for customers.

Greener processes
Peter Radcliffe, Executive Chairman, Accountis, said: “Accountis enables organisations like DHL to achieve their green objectives by imply implementing a more sustainable technology. The paper invoicing process consumes vast quantities of energy and produces huge volumes of waste which is unacceptable in this day and age, especially when an alternative is readily available. Paper delivery notes, purchase orders, statements, remittances and other related documents can all be taken online using our system. We are delighted that more and more companies across Europe are switching to a greener, faster and more efficient invoicing process.”

1) Calculated using figures from ‘EBA: E-Invoicing 2008′
2) Calculated using latest industry estimates of approximately 1 invoice = 100g C02 footprint

Source: www.accountis.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: DHL aims to cut paper invoices by a third with Accountis.

Under the agreement, Ecotricity’s domestic customers can now use OneVu’s unique service to view and pay their bills through the secure environment of their online bank, whilst contributing to an initiative that reduces carbon dioxide emissions and lessens the pressure on natural resources.

Ecotricity’s main focus is building new green energy sources, and in 2007 alone, the company invested £25 million in wind energy. This figure, equating to over £550 per customer, is more than 100 times the national average when compared to other UK electricity suppliers. To achieve and increase such levels of investment, the company is committed to streamlining business process and reducing overheads by identifying and using cost-effective and responsible solutions such as the OneVu service.

The OneVu service is free for consumers to use and offers a convenient and secure access to a large and growing number of biller websites, saving the consumer time and providing a greater control of personal finances. For billers there are significant savings to be gained through the reduction in processing and postage of paper bills, a decrease in call centre costs and reduced debtor days.

Ecotricity founder Dale Vince commented: “OneVu provides an ideal service for us – a big step on the way to a fully online retail offering. Our customers are already fighting climate change with their electricity bills … taking their actual bills online will reduce the environmental impact of our supply operations and help us on our way to becoming a Carbon Zero business”.

Miles Quitmann, CEO of OneVu, said: “Ecotricity joins over 30 other major billing organisations who have already signed up to our service, particularly in the utilities sector where more than 75 per cent of companies in the UK now use the system.”

Source: Sibos Online

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Energy firm Ecotricity introduces bill payments with OneVu.

The technology is moving to the mainstream as the European Commission pushes it as part of its drive to cut costs in supply chains.

The Corporate Action on Standards project, set up by the European Payments Council, said that e-invoicing allows companies to cut the average EUR30 cost of processing a paper invoice by 80%.

Businesses that want to take advantage of e-invoicing can do it themselves, use an e-invoicing service provider or work with their banks.

Stefan Foryszewski, senior vice-president at e-invoicing service provider OB10, says businesses are looking at e-invoicing but only “the more enlightened ones.”

“The market is still fairly immature but awareness is beginning to grow,” he says.

Forysewski advises businesses moving to e-invoicing to ensure that their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are compatible with the system they chose. They must ensure the system they chose can be easily integrated with all suppliers. And they must ensure they comply with the taxation laws in the different regions they receive invoices from.

Building an e-invoicing system is challenging for companies to do on their own and the capital investment required may be hard to justify as the economy slows.

DHL began rolling out an electronic invoicing and payment system from Accountis in July last year. The project aims to save millions of pounds across Europe by reducing billing costs by 15%.

Brian Thumwood, e-billing programme manager at DHL, says the company chose a third-party supplier to avoid the risks of building its own system. “We looked at doing it ourselves but the complexities associated with the legal structure in different countries and the technology made us work with a supplier.”

Businesses only need minimal technology in place to use a third-party service, such as dedicated servers, a connection to the e-invoicing service, and the use of workflow systems.

Peter Ratcliffe chairman of Accountis points out that many e-invoicing suppliers have been bought up by larger businesses which means their software is no longer commercially available. For example, E-invoicing software providers Harbor Payments and Xign were acquired by American Express and JP Morgan respectively in 2007. As a result, companies that set up their own e-invoicing services would have to write their own software, he says.

Banks are using e-invoicing service providers to create their own services. Abbey launched a corporate e-invoicing service in July last year in partnership with e-invoicing network provider OB10, as part of a service to offer finance to supply chains.

Tom Crowe, director of sales and delivery financial supply chain solutions at Abbey Corporate Banking, says take up of e-invoicing is slow because it is a new concept in the UK.

But he said that businesses will take it up because of the savings that can be made. “Anything they can do to make businesses more efficient they are keen to look at particularly in a period of economic uncertainty,” he says.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced that the first customers of its e-invoicing system, provided by Accountis are going live this month.

In the current economic climate an 80% reduction in the cost of a paper invoice will be attractive to business managers attempting to cut unnecessary costs. IT departments must, however, decide how they are going to implement e-invoicing to maximise the return on investment.

What is E-invoicing?

E-invoicing is an alternative to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) as a method of dealing with supply payments electronically. It also helps get the best out of ERP systems by automatically putting more accurate information into the systems.

E-invoicing uses the internet to connect businesses with their suppliers and automates the processing of invoices in accounting systems. It speeds up payment times, improves the information in ERP systems, reduces the human resources required and eradicates inputting errors. It also cuts postage costs and reduces waste paper.

EDI is a point-to-point computer connection between a business and a supplier which uses a network provider to process transactions. Large businesses use this method to connect with their major suppliers.

Source: Computerweekly

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing could help firms through recession.

The European systems integrator will deliver Xenos’ high-performance data and document software solutions for organisations across The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg, enabling them to reduce costs, improve information access and meet Green IT objectives.

“Document Dialog has long been using Xenos’ leading edge solutions. The Xenos Integrated Document Solution™ (IDS™) complements the specialised document management products in our own portfolio,” comments the Managing Director of Document Dialog, Ton van Raaij. “Our expertise and knowledge combined with Xenos’ solutions deliver significant benefits to our customers and we are very happy to renew and continue our relationship with Xenos.”

Managing Director of Xenos Europe Ltd., Jeff Mills comments, “We have enjoyed much success in Europe, with our business growing fast throughout the continent. In fact, Germany is one of the largest customer bases for Xenos Europe outside of the UK and we look forward to building on this success through partnership with Document Dialog.”

In addition to Document Dialog, Xenos has a long established presence throughout Europe including VAR partner relationships with EMC Document Sciences, viadoc in Norway, Help Print Solutions in Spain and C.T.I – Caleidos Tecnologias de Informação, Lda in Portugal.

About Xenos
Xenos (TSX:XNS) high-performance software solutions streamline enterprise information supply chains. We enable our customers to process, transform, repurpose, personalise and deliver their data and documents when they need it, where they need it and how they need it. Xenos extends the value of existing IT investments, enabling organisations to increase efficiency, agility and accountability, while supporting Green IT initiatives.

By streamlining, standardising and automating the handling of information on demand, our customers reduce costs while increasing a powerful competitive advantage—adaptability. Xenos has customers worldwide in financial services, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, logistics, transportation, retail and government sectors. Xenos sells and supports its solutions directly from offices in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and France and through a global partner network. For more information, visit www.xenos.com/europe

About Document Dialog
Document Dialog provides consultancy and solutions relating to the multi-channel production, digitisation, archiving, security and presentation of documents. The company’s name is indicative of it mission: “Let’s Talk About Your Documents — Let Your Documents Do The Talking”.  Document Dialog’s customers are document-intensive organisations requiring assistance during the planning, implementation and management of powerful and scalable document systems in support of their customer-focused business communication. Headquartered in Bunnik (The Netherlands), Document Dialog also has offices in Belgium and Germany. For more information on Document Dialog, please visit www.documentdialog.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Xenos renews reseller agreement with Document Dialog.