This post is transposed from Oriol Bausà’s original post: http://blog.invinet.org/?p=951

Billentis’ Bruno Koch managed to build bridges between Europe and America this time, organizing a well-balanced EXPP conference with speakers of both sides of the Atlantic. We had the opportunity to know how they are implementing electronic invoicing on both continents. It was very interesting to see the results in accordance with the policies that have been established in recent years.

Latin America
In Latin America, the main catalyst for the deployment of the electronic invoice is the tax fraud control. The laws of some Latin American countries have made it possible for the electronic invoice to reach a market penetration level of up to 90% and growing in a fast pace during recent years.

Service providers in Latin America assist in thousands of monthly transactions and the growth is exponential. This has led some European providers attaching themselves to these markets by introducing their services and products.

Europe
In contrast, the main force behind the deployment of electronic billing in Europe is not the tax control, it is the competitiveness of enterprises. Becoming more agile and being able to improve their processes and efficiency have been the main challenges marking Europe for more than a decade.

With this policy, the adoption of electronic invoicing is up to the companies, which are free to choose whether a change of this type is beneficial or not. In Europe a lot of training is necessary to convince CEOs and CFOs that the change from paper processes to electronic processes is really worthwhile and offers them real benefits.

Equal treatment and digital signatures
Therefore, the principles of “equal-treatment” (equal treatment between paper invoices and electronic invoices) are still the guiding messages from the EC.Producing electronic invoices should be as simple as making paper invoices, and therefore technical barriers that could be considered an obstacle to its adoption in enterprises, should disappear.

It’s funny how some companies (especially auditing) confuse this effort to simplify the way of the adoption of electronic invoicing in Europe by eliminating the requirement for electronic signatures, with the imposition of complex controls and audits that should guarantee the traceability of business operations.

Once again the process is considered to be very complex and expensive when in fact it is not. Our interpretation of the new directive is that electronic invoices are to be audited as paper invoices. Point.

Advantages and disadvantages
Regarding the continental approaches, both have advantages and disadvantages. In Latin America electronic invoicing is getting a high level of penetration, but only for tax purposes. Much remains to be done in the field of process integration between companies. Define the processes, establish required information models (in Mexico encapsulated in Addenda) and homogenise them to provide the knowledge that every company can benefit from these electronic processes, is their next challenge.

In the European case, the lack of obligation only enables the adoption to grow by proven profit. This results in a slow take-off for electronic invoicing in the European B2B market, but in return, users are presented with some environments and tools that will greatly facilitate the digitization of its processes. Initiatives such as the CEN BII or PEPPOL are driving this change.

National standards versus interoperability
Oriol Bausà of Invinet made ??a presentation on national standards and the road to interoperability in Europe. The message of this paper is that we cannot pretend to have a single language for electronic invoicing in Europe.

There have been too many investments in national standards written in different languages, which means that in this situation, one central language does not meet the specific requirements of each country.

What we can do is build European interoperability as one builds a castle amongst all participants, taking into account the particularities of each individual. This is what the EC does with projects such as the CEN BII or pilot deployment as PEPPOL border. PEPPOL builds bridges between communities that have their own electronic billing systems, functions as the path towards interoperability in Europe and, why not, between Europe and Latin America.

Conclusions: PDF is at its peak
Bruno Koch’s conclusions at the close of the event emphasized the differences between these two approaches and pointed to trends in the market for electronic invoicing in Europe, both from the point of view of operators and from the point of view from formats to be used: In this aspect we are currently at the peak of maximum use of PDF as the format of electronic invoices tend to grow toward a greater adoption of PDF + XML invoices while invoices in EDI format are going to be stuck in the existing models.

Source: Invinet Sistemes

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EXPP Summit 2011 in Barcelona: observations.

STORK2: Call for Proposal
The original STORK project is coming to an end with success. Consortium partners have decided to continue with the work and initiate STORK2 project, which will follow the results of previous initiative. The current call is to be found at http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/participating/calls/call_proposals_11/index_en.htm.

Now what does have to do this with e-invoicing?
The new initiative will extend the original project in the areas of business following a scheme of 5-7 pilot projects. The focus is still on eIdentites and as one of the key elements of e-invoicing is still the question of origin (which has to do with eIdentities) the consortium has decided to give it a go.

The new initiative (at least one of the pilots) will focus on recognition of identities (issuer, recipient, payer…) as they appear on every e-invoice. As there are no de-facto standards for e-invoice structures across EU, this comes very useful when documents are crossing borders, i.e. a receiving party may request identification of identity of document origin and perform validation of identity as being enclosed with the e-invoice (or whatever other document which takes part in the procurement process).

The STORK project management sees this the STORK2 project as a supplement to the PEPPOL (www.peppol.org) initiative, albeit solving specific issues. The PEPPOL project was funded by European Commission using the same financial instruments.

Call for Partners: end date 1 June 2011
STORK is currently looking for are partners across Europe that would like to join the initiative and help set up pilot infrastructure. So far Slovenia, UK and Austria have joined the e-invoicing e-identity pilot initiative.

Unfortunately time is not on their side. The call closes on 1st of June so when your interested a prompt response is needed. You can find more about the call including financing from the European commission from the link above.

Contact details
Aljosa Jerman Blazic
aljosa[at]setcce[dot]si>

SETCCE
Tehnološki park 21
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Europe
t: +386 1 6204501
f: +386 1 6204509
w: www.setcce.si

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: STORK2 on e-invoicing: Call For Partners.

Some months ago Antti Larvala discussed the idea of how there should be one solution where my all e-invoices or actually all important messages would come.

He came up with iManage: the idea comes from iTunes, where with a single username and password one can manage their purchases from all kinds of app developers.

He posted this intriguing thought on getting to grips with e-invoices on http://bit.ly/gL88bo

What do you think? Does it make sense? How does this benefit BSP’s and Banks?
Leave an answer below or react on LinkedIn

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Getting to grips with e-invoices with iManage my invoices.

The application automates the collection, pricing and invoicing processes of events. It significantly enhances Basware’s operations in an environment where the volume of transmitted documents is in the tens, even hundreds of millions per month for tens of thousands of different organisations. In addition to processing efficiency, the application offers advantageous pricing, discount and product packaging solutions for Basware’s services.

Experience
“We chose the Qvantel solution because Qvantel has years of experience in the collection of large event masses as well as pricing and billing in the telecom business. Qvantel offers Basware a centralised, effective and globally scalable application, with which we can ensure controlled growth of our business,” commented Baseware General Manager Esa Tihila.

“Basware is the market leader in electronic processing and automation of businesses’ financial processes. Cooperation with Basware is an excellent start to the wider offering of Qvantel’s core competencies on a growing market,” says Qvantel Oy Chairman of the Board of Directors Ilkka Aura.

“Qvantel has specialised in handling large amounts of events with small economic value cost-effectively and accurately. We believe that electronic documents replace paper printouts at an ever accelerating pace, and that the market for automation of businesses’ financial processes will be growing by tens of percents annually in the coming years,” Aura says.

Qvantel Group
The Qvantel Group is a 150-person strong international information technology services company. Qvantel offers demanding, business-critical IT consulting services and business support systems those are easily implemented and cost effective. Customers include TDC Nordic, TeliaSonera Group, Elisa Group, Finnet Group as well as Academica Oy, Ericsson AB and ST Ericsson AB. Qvantel has customers in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Spain and Indonesia. The privately owned Qvantel Group has offices in Espoo and Jyvaskyla in Finland, Malmo in Sweden, Singapore, as well as Hyderabad and Bangalore in India.

More information about Qvantel Oy’s services is available at http://www.qvantel.com.

Basware Oy
Basware develops successful solutions for electronic processing of procurements, purchase invoices, travel expenses, online billing and financial management. More than one million users utilise Basware products for automation of financial processes. Basware Oyj was founded in 1985 and its shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

More information about Basware Oy’s services is available at http://www.basware.fi.

Source: Basware & Qvantel

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Qvantel sets up billing platform for Basware e-Invoicing business.

Latest release of business-to-business commerce platform enables more buyers and suppliers to connect and collaborate more quickly and efficiently

Each year, over 340,000 buyers and suppliers use Ariba^® Network to connect and transact more than $160 billion in business. And now they can do it faster and better than ever. Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the leading provider of collaborative business commerce solutions, today announced the availability of Ariba Network (AN) 49, the latest version of its industry-leading business-to-business commerce platform. Embedded with powerful new features designed to automate the trading partner enablement process, the release allows buyers and suppliers to quickly connect, more effectively collaborate and ultimately, enhance their relationships and the results that they deliver.

“Finding the right trading partners can be hard. Connecting with them can be even harder,” said Jason Kurtz, Vice President, Network and Financial Solutions, Ariba. “AN49 simplifies these tasks by providing companies with a robust set of tools they can use to discover and connect with global suppliers and key business partners in a truly collaborative manner.”

Collaboration: The New Strategic Capability

Companies used to focus exclusively on internal activities and trust that their business would run itself. But those days are long gone. In today’s global economy, it’s all about being connected, efficient and informed across enterprises.

Connected to commerce networks that facilitate collaboration and alignment around key business processes. Efficient by automating key commerce activities to drive greater efficiency and productivity. Informed by participating in communities that deliver market insights and best practices to fuel optimal performance and decisions. With AN49, companies can achieve all three.

Connected

Leveraging enhanced enablement tools embedded within the release, buying organizations can connect suppliers to the Ariba Network in a matter of minutes and achieve quicker value with suppliers who are already enabled. And selling organizations can expand enablement to new trading relationships and increase satisfaction with existing customers.

“In today’s uncertain economy, our business needs can quickly change and it is critical that we have tools and processes in place to respond to them,” said Chris Uriarte, Sourcing Manager, Stage Stores. “The Ariba Network is a unique platform through which we can connect to the right partners in the right places at the right time to achieve our goals, and we currently use it to manage the majority of our sourcing. Having so many qualified vendors at our fingertips has proven invaluable to our business, driving lower costs and operating efficiencies that have positively impacted our bottom line.”

Efficient

With AN49, trading partner enablement is completely automated. So buyers and sellers can eliminate manual tracking tools such as spreadsheets or offline databases and the costs and inefficiencies associated with them. And they can collaborate more efficiently to reduce the cost of invoice and payment processing, increase visibility and control of cash flow, mitigate supply-chain risk and manage cash better.

Informed

In the connected economy, it’s not about the information within an organization, but the intelligence generated through networks. With AN49, there is a direct link from the Ariba Network to Ariba Exchange, an online community of peers and thought leaders where buyers and sellers can gather to share insights and best practices. In addition, new information portals enable buyers to capture supplier questions at registration and post answers in the form of additional content and reference files that can be accessed by the entire supply base.

“Ariba has helped us to transform our business,” said Kevin Govin, CEO, MarkMaster. “Through the Ariba Network, we have created a robust online sales channel that has allowed us to expand our base of new customers by 65 percent and grow our overall business 20 percent year-over-year.”

Get on Board

More than 400 of the companies in the Fortune 500 use the Ariba Network. Over 325,000 selling organizations in 130 countries use it too. Each year, these buyers and sellers transact more than $160 billion in business. They process 20 million in purchase orders and 13 million in invoices. And they send and receive access to 5 million new leads. Want a piece of the action? Visit www.ariba.com/go/network today and get on board.

About Ariba, Inc.

Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of collaborative business commerce solutions. Ariba combines industry-leading technology with the world’s largest web-based trading community to help companies discover, connect and collaborate with a global network of partners – all in a cloud-based environment. Using the Ariba^® Commerce Cloud, businesses of all sizes can buy, sell and manage cash more efficiently and effectively. Over 340,000 companies around the globe use the Ariba Commerce Cloud to simplify inter-enterprise commerce and enhance results. Why not join them? To get on the path to Better Commerce visit: www.ariba.com/commercecloud/

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Ariba Network grows bigger and better.

Any business or organization generating high volumes of business communication for their customer base such as financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities, telcos, hospitals, or government agencies, has a critical need to disseminate the most up-to-date information quickly and accurately to end users. However, if a law is changed or terms/conditions are revised and the material reflecting these changes is either inaccurate or not distributed in a timely manner, an institution leaves itself vulnerable to potentially massive fines for non-compliance or even litigation.

Additionally, business and marketing users are pressed hard to keep up with shorter product lifecycles, rapidly shifting consumer behavior and new channels of customer communication. Yet too often their dependency on IT can make simple text or layout changes for marketing messages, legal disclaimers, logos, or new contract templates a matter of months and finally outvalue the potential gains. A common approach to overcome this dilemma is to decentralize document composition using standard office tools or island solutions but this again creates issues with compliance and CI and increased time-to-market and usually turns out to be even more inefficient and costlier.

The ideal solution would therefore unleash the power of multi-channel communications, reduce time-to-market, enable document reuse, and enforce compliance while business and marketing users retain control over their documents and reduce their dependency on IT.

The Papyrus Platform from ISIS Papyrus provides the ability to automatically close the communications loop across all channels and to deliver personalized communications, integrated marketing campaigns, TransPromo campaigns, and structured ad-hoc communication for increased customer retention while achieving full compliance through process-embedded regulation and audit control.

Watch the ISIS Papyrus presentation on video

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-Documents: Cost savings and simplified compliance bij ISIS Papyrus.

This recent development is part of the new strategy of ISIS Papyrus to support mobile applications and will be followed up by support for Windows Mobile 7 and Symbian.

We have investigated the benefits of the Papyrus iPhone app and asked people who already employ it in their everyday business. A senior product manager at a major telecommunications provider put it like this:

“We want to offer this app both to our customer service reps as well as to a very well-defined target group of customers as a value proposition. Our staff will now have a huge amount of documents available to service their clients instantly without the need of opening and connecting their notebook first or even the need of having their notebooks with them. On the customer’s request and with proper authorization they can edit or annotate those documents and the changes will be reflected throughout the entire organization. Customers are given access to their documents without any intermediary and at any given time. But this is only part of the story.

However well designed a customer offering may be, it will fail when poorly executed. We use the advantages of the Papyrus Platform in its entirety to provide a unified experience for the customer. First we enable and promote the collaboration of cross-functional teams from sales and marketing to logistics and supplies in our own organization and with partners and we highly value any communication with our customers as a precious resource. Because it is not so much data mining and other statistic guesswork that tells you what your customers want, they will rather tell you personally if you are ready to listen to them. And we certainly are!”

On asking if they were just jumping the bandwagon to capitalize on the popularity of the iPhone he adds the following:

“This all is not just a new random offering but part of an integrated strategy of providing a service platform for highly targeted individuals. Papyrus allows everyone in the organization to understand, subscribe to and fulfill the importance of the customer experience and our commitment to make it valuable and pleasant. This is not a one-off effort but a an ongoing process which we couldn’t manage without an integrated communications platform.”

At this point he is assisted by the VP of Costumer Services who had joined our conversation earlier and points out:

“By integrating the whole communication with the customer at each touchpoint we can focus on the entire customer experience. Each interaction of the customer with different departments of our company is equally important and Papyrus gives us the complete transparency to track these interactions by providing all of our staff with access to all customer-related communications together with real-time data in a single view.”

To find out how the WebArchive iPhone app can help you in fulfilling your organization’s strategic goals read a detailed description and a list of features here or get it at the Apple Appstore.

www.isis-papyrus.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: ISIS Papyrus: WebArchive goes mobile with iPhone.

After rumours that Paypal was to invest $16 million  in Tradeshift, a few weeks later Zuora, a subscription billing provider, announced that it has received $20 million in a Series C round of funding.

It is predicted that industry after industry is shifting to the Subscription Economy: Enterprises and consumers shift from buying outright to subscribing to broad libraries of products and solutions.

Many companies are rethinking their core products and value propositions as services and investing rapidly in subscription revenue models, including:

·         Cloud computing is disrupting the $3.4 trillion technology industry as enterprises move to elastic compute clouds that are enabled by subscription billing’s ability to meter, price, and bill cloud services.

·         App marketplaces, led by Microsoft, Google, saleforce.com, Apple, PayPal and others, are creating more opportunities for developers to offer software-as-a-service.

·         The media industry recognizes it needs to monetize online content, and it requires billing to create promotions and bundles of digital and physical content that push out to multiple devices and platforms.

·         Online consumer service providers are using subscriptions to innovate the pricing and packaging of freemium, try-before-you-buy, and cross-sell service models that best meet consumer demand.

·         Telecom and wireless technologies in WiMax, satellite, geo-location and 4G are creating a new wave of telecom services and service providers which are being enabled by subscription billing.

We find it interesting to see how this is going to develop in Europe towards and after the 2013 e-invoicing liberalisation.

EEI Platform

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoicing in a subscription and social network economy.

The EUR 550,000 programme is co-financed by Europe’s FEDER regional development fund. Information on e-billing will be sent to over 80,000 Spanish firms, in addition to the running of an internet advertising campaign. Agreements have been reached with e-billing solution providers for them to offer discounts on their products and services to businesses ready to implement e-billing by March 2011.

The companies that were selected in an open tender were Telefonica Soluciones, Camerfirma, Sage, Edicom, Pixelware, Seres, Eadtrust, Zerocoma, Indra Sistemas and Microsoft. Collaboration agreements were also signed with water, electricity, gas and telecom utilities to provide their customers with incentives to use e-billing. The selected companies are Repsol, Iberdrola, Gas Nautural Fenosa, Orange, Ono, Vodafone, Cepsa and Telefonica. According to the national statisitics institute, off the 45 percent of Spanish businesses with internet connections which use B2B electronic data transmission, 51.2 percent receive e-bills and 25.1 percent send them.

Source: Telecompaper

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Spanish government launches e-billing initiative.

This is no small task and it requires not only the proper use of technology but also change. Change in our Ways of Working (WoW) and change in our corporate culture. It requires change in the way we think. This is perhaps the hardest challenge of all. Going paperless and the change required to get there.

The technology is here but is your corporate culture ready for it? That is the true question and the reason we have put this simple guide together for you. We have identified a few simple things you can do today that will help you move toward a paperless business operation and help the world go paperless. Help us to improve this list of tips.

Add your tips, comment on these, modify them. Let’s make this practice into a ‘best’ practice together!

1. Use document scanners to convert paper documents to electronic format through document scanning then shred them – if allowed by law and industry – and send the shredded paper for recycling
2. Do not print or copy any documents unless absolutely required. Send all documents via e-mail or electronic fax as the preferred method to your customers.
3. If you do have to print, be sure to spell/grammar check before you print to eliminate reprinting. Also, try saving or printing to PDF instead.
4. Use Web 2.0 technologies like wikis and blogs for internal communication and collaboration
5. Use single source repositories and shared digital workspaces to develop, manage and refine documents like contracts, marketing materials and any other type requiring review and refinement
6. Use web interfaces and forms for online applications and order placement, replace paper forms with eForms
7. Sign up for e-bill delivery or online billing from your suppliers rather than paper statements, and pay your bills electronically
8. Develop and deliver all promotional materials in electronic form rather than paper using links and downloads for online and thumb drives or CD media at tradeshows and seminars
9. Map, design and manage all business processes electronically. You can begin by mapping the processes and assessing how they can be improved as they are, then address process automation using what you currently own and/or may purchase
10. When a signature is required, match the signature solution to the signature requirements. While “click-wrap” is the easiest and most common, there are numerous options. Electronic signature tablets similar to those used in retail are one option; you can even get them sophisticated enough to capture the unique biometric characteristics of each individual for future comparison if the signature is questioned
11. Sign up for the digital versions of all trade magazines and newsletters, and make sure others in your organization do the same
12. Use direct Printed Barcode on the corrugated boxes or on the Product manual or use other Emboss technique for object tagging & Retrieving on the product itself instead of separate Paper based barcode stickers.
13. Paper is widely used between Business to Customer, Business to Business, Government to Business Vise Versa, and Customer to Business for day to day transaction purposes. Government & Corporate have to frame policy & implement paper less processes. Elevate, educate and provide Hands-on support to the non IT savvy customers to use self service applications. This Reduce paper transaction cost, Increase customer base through customer satisfaction.
14. Outsource paper document digitization to a document imaging company. You may get more cost benefit outsourcing to a company that focuses entirely on scanning than trying to keep the scanning in house.
15. Where possible convert your paper based data capture to e-Forms.
16. Encourage end users to upload scanned copies instead of mailing the documents

Use the above tips and join us for World Paperfree Day, October 28, 2010

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Thursday 28th of October: World Paper Free Day!.

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.

Swift has named the 11 finalists that will battle it out in a Dragons’ Den-style Innotribe start-up competition at this year’s Sibos.

The competitors, unveiled by Swift’s Peter Vander Auwera on his blog, will each be given five minutes to make their pitches to a panel of venture capitalist judges in Amsterdam on 28 October.

After the pitches there will be a quick Q&A with the judges while the audience will have its say using a “high-tech” applause meter.

Swift has chosen the finalists based on four themes for its Innotribe 2010 programme: cloud, mobile, smart data and Long Now.

The finalists are:

• AcceptEmail: E-billing and payment via e-mail
• BehavioSec: Behavioural analysis of keyboard/ mouse usage
• Canatu: Printable devices based on nano-technology
• Collibra: Business semantics glossary for data management
• Cumulate: Mobile payments based on cloud and semantic Web
• Hypios: Semantic Web for finding experts
• Kinamik: Data Integrity and in-stream archiving
• MiiCard: Identity and dematerialization of bank account creation
• MyWOT: My Web of trust
• FX Capital Group: The currency and payments platform
• Smartlogic: Semantic analysis of contracts/legal documents

The winner will be revealed in the final closing plenary later in the day.

Finextra@Sibos will be bringing you all the breaking news, along with blogs, videos and photos from Amsterdam.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Swift to host start-up contest at Sibos: AcceptEmail is a finalist.

Ricoh Europe, a specialist in office solutions, managed document services and production printing today announced the launch of Ricoh intelligent invoicing (i-invoicing) – a Document Process Outsourcing service that allows customers to outsource the receipt and production of all invoices to Ricoh.

The migration from paper to electronic invoicing takes place at the customer’s own pace and frees up both time and resources allowing businesses to focus on their core competencies while realising savings of 70-90 per cent.*

European businesses can achieve significant savings by switching their invoicing processing to electronic. With Ricoh’s i-invoicing service the whole invoicing process is outsourced leaving companies to focus on their core business. This leads to productivity gains, enhanced customer experience and improved business performance.

Ricoh i-invoicing takes e-invoicing a step further by providing customers with a complete service, not just a software solution. By mapping a customer’s current processes, developing a transition plan and implementing a service delivery platform, Ricoh steps in to completely manage the invoicing process allowing businesses to make better use of their human resources. The solution is both flexible and entirely scalable allowing migration to take place at the customer’s own pace. Customers do not need to invest in equipment to implement Ricoh i-invoicing and can therefore avoid upfront technical costs and ongoing service fees.

“Ricoh i-invoicing offers more than an e-invoicing software solution to customers. It offers a full, end-to-end service, looking after a company’s invoicing processes, saving them time and money. Because it can include a mixture of hard copy and electronic invoicing, the service makes full use of Ricoh’s strengths, both in print and IT services. The offering also facilitates a seamless transition to e-invoicing, from initial consultation to customer accounts receivable education,” says Martin Hurley, Vice President and General Manager, Outsourcing Services, Ricoh Europe. “With Ricoh’s unparalleled experience in knowledge management, our global footprint and ISO certification, customers can have the peace of mind that they are working with a trusted business partner.”

Ricoh Europe already processes millions of invoices a year for its customers, who have all benefited from the Ricoh i-invoicing consultative approach and blended electronic and paper invoicing model. This includes invoices from a leading global sportswear manufacturer. Sending out 4.5 million invoices on paper each year, the company’s annual invoicing process added up to €4 million. Now, using Ricoh i-invoicing, the customer’s target is to migrate 80 percent of its invoices away from paper, a goal which will result in an annual saving of €3 million. In addition, the migration will contribute to a reduction in paper usage, which will further contribute to the company’s overall sustainability goals.

Ricoh i-invoicing will be available in France, the Netherlands and the UK from 1 October 2010, and in Belgium, Germany and Spain in January 2011. For more information, visit www.ricoh-europe.com/i-invoicing.

* ‘Use Supplier E-Invoicing to Help Optimize Operating Costs’, Gartner, 2009

www.ricoh-europe.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Ricoh Europe launches intelligent invoicing.

The initiative, titled the OB10 Green Program, is a continuation of OB10’s strong foundation of facilitating good environmental stewardship among its global customers and their suppliers. Paper-based invoicing is still a regular practice among many companies, whether they are sending and receiving invoices through the mail, implementing OCR or e-mailing an invoice that is printed at the recipient’s end.

By transitioning to OB10’s electronic invoicing network, companies have saved over 60 millions of sheets of paper as well as additional resources that go into the manufacturing and distribution of paper such as trees, oil, electricity and water. OB10 is recognizing a select number of customers and suppliers that have demonstrated a commitment to sustainability and e-Invoicing by awarding them the OB10 Green Award.

“OB10’s e-invoicing network automates and streamlines back-office accounts payable procedures in a manner that is environmentally prudent and makes good financial sense,” said Jamie Gunn, Chief Executive Officer for OB10. “In the course of our relationships, OB10 customers and suppliers have demonstrated an enthusiastic commitment to positively impacting our environment. We will continue to work with our customers and suppliers around the globe in a way that extends their sustainability programs while improving their bottom lines.”

For Accounts Payable OB10 Green Award winner and OB10 customer Mohawk Industries, a leading supplier of flooring for both residential and commercial applications, selecting OB10 as its e-Invoicing solution has complemented its sustainability platform that focuses on the five “Rs” – reduce, recover, reuse, renew, and recycle.

“Within five months of selecting OB10 as our e-Invoicing solution provider, more than 75 percent of our initial suppliers had enrolled in the OB10 Network, enabling our company to eliminate more than 400,000 paper invoices a year,” said Tracy Bryant, Accounts Payable Manager at Mohawk Industries. “The recognition of Mohawk’s sustainability efforts by Newsweek, Wal-Mart and the US General Services Administration is a testament to the strategic position that sustainability is given within our organization.”

As an OB10 customer, supplier to Mohawk and Accounts Receivable OB10 Green Award winner, Congoleum is another organization enhancing its green initiatives by leveraging the OB10 Network. To date, the New Jersey-based manufacturer of resilient sheet and tile flooring for both residential and commercial uses has saved more than 375,000 sheets, or three tons, of paper since joining the OB10 Network.

Congoleum isn’t the only supplier on the OB10 Network committed to sustainability. OfficeMax, a leader in business-to-business office products solutions and recipient of the Accounts Receivable Award, has saved over 300,000 sheets of paper, or the equivalent 40 trees, since joining OB10.

“We look for partners, like OB10, who deliver a value proposition that goes above and beyond the norm and helps us extend our environmental policy,” said William Bonner, Senior Director, External Relations at OfficeMax. “We believe there is more that we can achieve, so we always invite our associates, customers, shareholders and neighbors to join us in our effort to minimize adverse environmental impacts.”

In addition to the above, HP, an OB10 customer since 2003, also received the Accounts Payable OB10 Green Award. The recognition of HP illustrates the company’s commitment to electronic invoicing as a component of its overall environmental sustainability initiative.

OB10 will continue to recognize those organizations transacting on its network that are committed to sustainability. “As more organizations and their suppliers join the global OB10 e-Invoicing network, we’ll have a greater opportunity through the OB10 Green Program and accompanying award to hasten the permanent transition from paper to electronic invoicing,” said Jamie Gunn. “In addition, we offer a substantive way for our customers to decrease energy consumption, protect more of our green spaces, and facilitate good corporate citizenship and environmental sustainability.”

For more information about the OB10 Green Program, visit http://ob10.com/Country/US/OB10_Green_Program

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: OB10 launches environmental program.

A unique web-based platform, it contains everything businesses need to buy, sell and manage cash more efficiently and effectively than ever before.

• Technology: Market-leading applications for spend management, collaborative finance management, and sales acceleration management.
• Community: The Ariba Network, the world’s largest Web-based trading community, where more than 300,000 global businesses to discover, connect, and collaborate. And Ariba Exchange, the industry-leading customer community for networking, sharing best practices, and collaborating with partners and peers.
• Capabilities: Market, category, technical, strategic and other expert capabilities that can be accessed on-site or via the Web to support ever-changing business needs.

Whether looking to control costs, increase sales, minimize risk, or enhance cash flow, companies can do it better in the Ariba Commerce Cloud.

Read the brochure: Ariba Business Commerce Solutions

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The Ariba® Commerce Cloud.

The Sterling e-Invoicing Savings Calculator provides estimates of savings you could achieve through the automation of manual invoice processing, archiving and auditing. The calculations are based on data derived from a study commissioned by Sterling Commerce and completed in 2010 by Forrester Consulting on its behalf with companies across multiple industries and geographies.

Try the Calculator at:
www.sterlingeinvoicingsavings.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Sterling Commerce Savings Calculator outcome of Forrester study.

Basware, the global leader in purchase-to-pay solutions, today announced the addition of supplier functionality to its Basware Connectivity services.  Basware Connectivity for Suppliers enables Accounts Receivable departments to deliver all sales invoices electronically to their customers, irrespective of the invoice format required by the customer organization.
.

Basware Connectivity for Suppliers ensures timely delivery of sales invoices through the Basware Business Transactions service. Accounts Receivable can send all their sales invoices to all customers through one single service, which generates instant time and cost savings in reduced postal charges.  Basware routes the invoices to the appropriate delivery channel according to customer capabilities. To ensure delivery in the correct format for all customers, Basware provides Accounts Receivable with an outsourced printing service and the ability to deliver invoices by email to customers not yet able to receive e-invoices directly to their invoice processing solution. Once invoices have been delivered, they are archived to guarantee integrity, enabling future compliance where there are legal requirements for storing e-invoices.

According to independent research company Billentis, organizations can save as much as 57% per invoice in costs by turning their sales invoices electronic.  Toshiba TEC Germany, a recent Basware Connectivity for Suppliers customer, found in an internal study that by the time a paper invoice was printed, enveloped, stamped and sent to the post office for delivery, the total cost per invoice averaged € 1.61. A comparable electronic invoice costs a mere € 0.40. According to recent calculations, Toshiba is experiencing 75% savings in invoicing costs.

“Electronic payment and purchasing has clear business benefits. The more you get connected with your customers, the more likely it is that they will stay with you,” says Klaus Dieter Leifgen, IT manager at Toshiba TEC Germany Imaging Systems GmbH.

“An increasing number of Accounts Receivable departments are facing demand from their customers to provide e-invoices. We are already seeing this become a key criterion in vendor selection processes as they seek to improve collaboration across their supply chains,” said Esa Tihilä, SVP, Basware. “With these new services, Basware Connectivity allows Accounts Receivable teams to switch to e-invoicing instantaneously, without having to manage paper processes concurrently to cater for customers who are in the early development phases of their e-invoicing strategy. This allows suppliers to gain competitive advantage over their competitors while catering to the billing needs of existing customers.”

To learn more about these new services, please visit http://e-invoicing-for-suppliers.basware.com.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware introduces services for accounts receivable processes.

Read the entire article:
.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Publication: “Final step of an efficient invoicing process”.

It seems that text messages and e-mails are becoming the preferred and most effective way to increase collections. I know of at least one collection agency that has seen a 12 percent increase in collections by using electronic communication.
.
E-mail and text messages seem to be a less invasive form of communication than a phone call, and your customers have the sense of being in control of when and if they respond.

Some collectors obtain customer consent for correspondence by text before the sale by simply adding a bit of wording to the credit application. The wording is similar to this:

“By signing this document, customer agrees to accept and understands that text messages may be used when servicing the account, including the collecting of debts.”

Others have taken it a step further, adding a more detailed outline of how text messages will be used and having customers sign and acknowledge the following provision:

“You the customer authorize us (company name) to send you (customer) a text message at any mobile number at which we reasonably believe we can contact you, for any lawful purpose, including but not limited to:

* Suspected fraud or identity theft on your account
* Obtaining information necessary to service your account
* Collecting on your account
* Notifying you of important issues regarding your account.”

If this is something you’re considering, it’s important to remember that all messages must include a mechanism for the consumer to opt out of receiving further text messages at any time. This protects the consumer as well as the collector, especially since the law does not specifically address text messages being sent as a form of dunning. If you decide to send billing alerts to customers by text message, it’s imperative the customer not be charged for the text and that your company incur any charge associated with the text.

Here are some dos and don’ts for using electronic communication in your debt-collection efforts:

Do:

* Skip tracing or locating debtors
* Researching collection tools, such as software or skip tracing tools
* Credit reporting
* Use database technology to maintain account information on customers
* Get authorization for each payment
* Research place of employment

Don’t:

* Send instant messages to a debtor about a debt
* Initiate unauthorized additional payments on a bank account.
* Send a friend request to a debtor on any social networking website

Michelle Dunn is an award winning author and columnist and has been called the nation’s authority on collecting money. She is the founder and CEO of Michelle Dunn’s Credit & Collections Association, one of the top 5 women in collections, and one of the top 50 most influential collection professionals in the industry.

Source: Entrepeneur.com

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Take Advantage of Electronic Communication.

For several years the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (CEFACT) has been developing a set of electronic standards for international trade data.

Progress has been slower than had been hoped for, and CEFACT is currently reassessing stakeholder needs and priorities to ensure that its work is addressing the most urgent requirements.

CEFACT has formed three project teams to report quickly on:

• The current needs of stakeholders for open international standards for electronic international trade data messages; and which standards stakeholders would like CEFACT to deliver as priorities; “stakeholders” answering questions are likely to be those who are users or implementers of message standards;

• An assessment of the knowledge that stakeholders have in the CEFACT Core Component Library (CCL), which contains the data elements needed to complete messages, and the usability or otherwise of the CCL; “stakeholders” are likely to be organisations involved in developing standards for their own industry/region and implementers of message standards;

• The technical specifications that underpin message assembly and assure messages can be interpreted by different systems; “stakeholders” are likely to be the organisations involved in developing technology infrastructure standards, technology users and implementers of message standards.

CEFACT is consulting those already involved in CEFACT’s work as well as a selection of stakeholders that are not, in order to submit a report to CEFACT by the end of February 2010.

The project teams would like your urgent responses to a set of questions that address these issues, by 28 February 2010 at the latest. You are asked to complete only those that are of interest or relevance to your organisation.

The survey is available here

Source: UN/CEFACT

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: UN/CEFACT project teams request for participation in survey.

And the feedback was overwhelming. The result is an ambitious plan for 2010 which is currently available for download and review. The deadline is 31 March 2010.

So, take a look at our concept activity plan and let us know if there is anything you’d like to see added or changed.

(And yes, as quite a few of you mentioned we also think to believe that we’ve developed a good impact ratio per euro. We can only imagine what an extra bit of funding would do…)

[download] CONCEPT EEI Platform Activity 2010

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EEI Platform Activity Plan 2010 available for review.

This community now welcomes both those who are interested in e-invoicing (or invoice automation) and parties who offer products and services in the field of e-invoicing.

As e-invoicing is encouraged across national borders, the EEI Platform is now part of a larger community which brings together users, experts and providers from across Europe.

The communities of Platform ELFA (NL) and EEI Platform (Europe) are linked, creating a large free of charge community for anyone who wishes to contact (future) users, experts, providers, suppliers and policy makers. Soon, the newly set up EEI Platform Belgium is expected to be added to this community. The mission of this community is to give e-invoicing and invoice automation an extra impulse in the Netherlands, Belgium and of course Europe.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EEI Platform launches online community on e-invoicing.

You can go through our survey at http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2229849. If you haven’t  filled out our poll, you still have the opportunity: the survey ends at 31 December 2009.

So, take a minute and speak up.

Thanks a lot.

Diagrams
Underneath is a circular diagram with the current interim results:

The bar diagram makes it even more visible:

At this point it becomes clear that the EEI ‘community’ (newsletter, twitter, RSS, LinkedIN) gives priority to:
- Statistic research on e-invoicing usage and adoption
- publication: “Starting with e-invoicing”
- suppliers guide
- EEI Conference
- Online community: online before 31-12-2009

Reuse before buy, buy before make
The EEI Platform is a convinced believer of this formula. Why not reuse what is already available.

For instance SEPA International presented its “E-invoicing Guide for SME’s” (which more targeted on Medium Sized Enterprises and Developers of financial software though). It is a starting-guide-on-e-invoicing-ish. The EEI Platform will publish it next week on its website.

And in its publication, SEPA International presents some of the findings from a SME questionnaire that the EC Expert Group sent out in 2008. But maybe a broader and more profound survey would also be welcomed.

So the EEI Platform will try to incorporate as much material as possible (and allowed) to enhance the impact of the results, before developing proprietary instruments.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Interim report: activities and instruments in 2010.

The software is aimed at public administrations that wish to try out electronic procurement, including cross-border procurement.

The software is meant to bridge the legacy systems used by public administrations and the systems of their suppliers. João Rodrigues Frade, one of the IT architects involved with e-Prior, explains that “Public authorities can use Open e-Prior to manage their procurement processes electronically. They can use it to receive catalogues digitally, they can submit their orders on-line and they can manage their invoices this way, simply by exchanging electronic business documents.”

The system is built respecting specifications meant to facilitate public procurement, and that focus on cross-border interoperability, specifications eleborated by a workshop on Business Interoperability Interfaces for Public procurement in Europe (CEN BII).

Open e-PRIOR should also make it easy to connect to the Pan-European Public eProcurement On-Line project (Peppol), since it will come with a built-in Peppol gateway.

However, this Peppol gateway is not included on the version that was published on the OSOR Forge earlier this month, says Frade. “What we made available is a sneak-preview for the European Member States.”

He hopes that many public administrations will try out the e-Prior tool. “I hope they will join the OSOR Forge, so they can take part in the development.”

e-Prior is published using the European Union Public Licence (EUPL).

The DIGIT initiative supports the objectives of the i2010 e-Government Action Plan, aimed to accelerate adoption of e-Procurement in Europe.

Source: www.osor.eu

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: EU: E-procurement and e-invoice management tools published.

The aim of the EEI Platform is to reach as many people as possible and provide them by selecting instruments and activities with the biggest impact.

Looking forward to the second year of existence of the EEI Platform, we would like to ask your opinion on which instruments you think are the best to fit this aim. Of course you are invited to add your own thoughts.

Therefore, we will regularly post polls to have a clearer view on the community and to adapt our scope where necessary.

This first poll is about the focus on next year. What is your opinion on the following activities and instruments?

Thank you very much for your help!

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Poll: What should be the EEI Platform focus in 2010?.

The webinar attracted almost 400 registrants interested in overcoming various obstacles when initiating an e-Invoicing project at their company. Each step outlined during the session provided practical tools that anyone in AP can utilize to help streamline the invoice receipt process and, ultimately, reduce costs.

Donna McGuinness, director, OB10 Western Region, was the featured speaker and walked participants through details of overcoming the seven barriers, starting with a need to understand where to begin as well as knowing what is important to which internal departments.

“Many organizations struggle with knowing where to start, let alone understanding what’s important to which internal groups while working to gain support,” said McGuinness. “Once you know where to begin and you’ve identified the issues that are important to your organization’s departments that may support such an initiative, the other five obstacles can be addressed more readily.”

An organization must then complete their due diligence in steps three and four; fully understanding which options and features are available from which vendors. “There are so many variations out there from so many different providers, it’s easy to become confused about which vendor may be right for you,” added McGuinness. “Organizations should take the time to ask as many questions as they can because it’s important to know and understand exactly what vendors will do and what they will not do. It’s also important to have a thorough understanding about what will be required by you, the buying organization, when implementing an e-invoicing initiative.”

Step five offers details on ensuring a return on investment (ROI) after implementing an e-invoicing initiative. “With other solutions such as OCR and EDI, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to extract a compelling ROI,” said McGuinness. “Organizations considering these other solutions should note that costly hardware and software investments often make implementation cost-prohibitive. With e-Invoicing, significant ROI can be realized in as little as a year.”

Understanding all the details of an agreement and ensuring the selected vendor delivers on an organization’s expectations are critical to step six. Step seven offers insight into ensuring all the right questions have been asked and enough information has been collected to allow the buying organization to make an informed decision.

Duncan Jones, senior analyst for Forrester Research, in the Forrester Wave Report AP-EIPP, Q2 2008, states, “A major challenge for sourcing professionals who want to lead an AP-EIPP selection project is the diverse range of companies claiming to offer invoice automation solutions. Complete solutions will deliver four key capabilities: enable suppliers to submit invoices electronically, straight from their own systems; transform the data into a usable format and layout; validate data, using supporting records and discrepancy approval workflows; and provide process monitoring so buyers and suppliers can work together to reduce errors. Complete AP-EIPP solutions will automate the functions necessary to support these four stages of the invoice-to-pay process.”

“Organizations must also understand that success ultimately lies in the supplier enrollment process,” said McGuinness. “You can’t obtain ROI, cost savings or optimization without ensuring that your suppliers have been enrolled and are transacting. By following these simple but important steps, organizations can be better equipped to make informed decisions when selecting an e-Invoicing provider.”

To listen to the webinar in its entirety, including the FAQ session, and to fully understand what it takes to initiate a successful e-Invoicing project in your organization, log onto the OB10 web site at http://ob10.com/Country/US/Webinars_2 and click on the link near the bottom titled Overcoming the Top 7 Barriers to e-Invoicing.

About OB10
OB10 (www.OB10.com) is the leading global B2B e-Invoicing network. OB10 simplifies and streamlines the complex invoice-to-pay processes. Neither client organizations nor their suppliers are required to implement any hardware or software, and OB10 is independent of data file formats. OB10 can reduce the cost of paper invoice processing by typically 60 percent and can deliver an ROI in less than a year if the program follows OB10’s best practice guidelines. Operational across Europe, North America and Asia, OB10 is compliant with the requirements of VAT, tax and e-Invoicing legislation and receives invoices from suppliers in over 100 countries. To ensure unrivalled and rapid supplier enrollment, each new customer’s suppliers are supported by an implementation services team responsible for getting them up and running on the OB10 network.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: OB10 helps overcome top 7 barriers.

www.ez.nl

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Dutch State Secretary launches website for digital billing.

As stated in the interim report of the E-invoicing Expert Group communication is of the essence. More so this communication should not be one-off exercises but should be part of a regular plan and process to communicate regularly, both periodically and event driven.

The EEI Platform identifies four segments OBTAIN+KNOWLEDGE,  BUILDING+NETWORKS, SHARING+INFORMATION and PROMOTING+INTERESTS. These segments lead the way for a coherent set of activities and instrument, combined in a comprehensive activity plan for the year 2009.

The 2009 EEI Platform Activity Plan aims at generating the following activities and instruments:

- Best practices
Collecting and disclosing best practices on –cross border- e-invoicing and related domains

- Common body of definitions
Formerly part of the CEN/ISSS e-Invoice workshop but now part of the EEI Platform, the website www.einvoicen.com and its contents regarding a ‘Common Body of Definitions’ will be finished, reworked and presented mid 2009.

- Company Profiles
Members and Founding Partner will receive company profiles which enables them to broadcast their proposition, product and services throughout the EEI Platform channels.

- Documentation
Collecting and disclosing documents on –cross border- e-invoicing and related domains

- E-invoicing Innovation Guideline
A guideline for end users, service providers and accounting software suppliers how to effectively develop and implement e-invoicing into their existing portfolio of products and services.

- Internal newsletter
Members and Founding Partners are the first to learn from recent developments on e-invoicing, invoice automation and their related domains.

- Interaction Framework
An interoperability framework for the sole purpose of understanding each other in human interaction. See also the ‘Common Body of Definitions’

- Newsletter
Broadcasting a newsletter containing headlines, reflections, best practices, documents and events.

- Online community
Creating an online community by combining the website, the social network sites, forum and mailing lists into one single instrument.

- Social networks
Broadcasting and connecting using LinkedIN, Twitter, SlideShare, Forum, Youtube, and so on.

- Website
A website containing a total of more than 200 (this year) of fresh headlines, reflections, best practices, documents and events.

Similar to the successful Dutch initiative Platform ELFA from which the EEI Platform originated, only those activities and instrument are considered that:

-          can be guaranteed to be effectively and successfully carried out and

-          facilitate and promote the Founding Partners and Members and their investments in the EEI Platform.

The EEI Platform Activity Plan 2009 is distributed to non-members on request.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The EEI Platform Activity Plan 2009.

Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: “It is important to have sound, efficient and secure payment systems in order to ensure a proper functioning of the internal market. With the development of our policies in the area of payments, in particular in the context of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), we have a growing need for regular and high-level stakeholder input at the earliest stage of our policy-making. New and complex areas of activity, such as the prevention of payment fraud or the development of innovative payments, will also mean new needs for specialist expertise.”

The call for applications will be open until 6 February 2009. It is addressed to experts in payments, including fraud prevention, coming in particular from the payment industry and the payment users. A maximum of 50 experts will be selected.

The PSMEG’s tasks will be: to assist the Commission in the preparation of legislative acts or policy initiatives regarding payment systems, including fraud prevention issues related to payment industry and users; to provide insight concerning the practical implementation of that policy; and to exchange views on up-to-date best practices and ensure monitoring of potential issues of concern for the market. The group will meet in Brussels and will be chaired by the Internal Market and Services DG of the European Commission.

Below you can read the publication about the Payment Systems Marrket Expert Group:

Source: European Commission

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: European Commission creates Payment Systems Market Expert Group.

More information:
www.ePractice.eu
IDABC

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: First version of the eProcurement map including eInvoicing available.

The bank will benefit from a broad range of services, prior to the launch of SEPA DD payments in November 2009, including a payments capture process which removes the need for unnecessary intervention by directly recording clients’ payments. It is hoped the pilot, introduced in Q1 2009, will assist migration and cut infrastructure and development costs.

A management module that can centralise critical mandate information on behalf of the bank and its clients is a key component of the installation. The pilot is intended to ease the migration towards a SEPA-compliant infrastructure.

Commenting on the pilot, Joseph Laughlin, a member of the management board at BAWAG, said: “The initiative will demonstrate to our corporate customers that the bank is ahead of the market. The value-added services, such as payments capture, validation, mandate management and exceptions management, will make a real impact with our customers.

Source: fstech.co.uk

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: SEPA Direct Debit pilot scheme launched with Austria’s BAWAG Bank.

Avanza SME has several lines of action:

- outreach programmes to expand the use of the Internet and new technologies;
- provision of technological advice;
- training and awareness-raising on the efficient use of ICT;
- implementation of projects and actions to develop and adopt business solutions;
- preparation of studies and analysis;
- programmes for content creation;
- provision of computer equipment.

Mr. Cierco reminded the audience that the new plan Avanza2, “the normal evolution of the Plan Avanza,” pursues qualitative and specific objectives, through five areas of action: infrastructure, security and trust, technological training, digital content and services and industrial development.

Prointur is a project of the foundation Fundetec whose aim is to promote the use of Information Technologies and Communication Technologies (ICT) within the internal and rural tourism accommodation sector, as an instrument to professionalize the business management while increasing the activity. The initiative is funded jointly by Fundetec, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade – through the Plan Avanza – and the European Union.

Source: www.epractice.eu

Further information: Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Spanish Plan Avanza supports new technologies in SMEs.

Read more on epractice
 

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Case: NemHandel – Open Infrastructure for Danish E-Business.

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.

Registration
Online registration for this workshop is now open. Attendance at the workshop is free of charge and open to everyone.

This event is in the past

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: ETSI: 4th Security Workshop in Sophia Antilopis (F).

This white paper reports the results from the FullSEPA project which concentrates on promoting and researching electronic payments and electronic  invoicing. FullSEPA is the first phase in the Real-Time Economy (RTE) program. The RTE program is a four-year program focusing on real-time technologies and business transactions. It is conducted in collaboration between the Helsinki School of Economics and TietoEnator, and it is funded by Tekes – Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation through Verso – Vertical Software Solutions programme. 

Download the white paper (pdf)

Source: Tekes

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: eInvoicing initiatives in Finland and in the EU.