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.

It’s a statement any project implementation team in any function could make, which isn’t necessarily helpful  if you’re in the middle of automating purchase to pay (P2P) and struggling with adoption. Nigel Chapman, Change Management Facilitator at ABB, a provider of power and automation technologies, revealed how he helped to transform P2P.

Speaking on a sharedserviceslink.com webinar with Basware, he told the audience how they not only increased ABB’s purchase-order-compliant invoices from 60% to over 99% but also achieved closer relations with its suppliers and internal businesses.

It’s worth taking note of ABB’s key lessons learnt for delivering a successful automation programme:

• Be clear in your communications about why changes are happening and provide a high-level route map for your P2P journey
• Change management is key
  • Adopt a robust methodology
  • Build and maintain stakeholder engagement and communication
  • Deliver consistency in messages and actions
• Involving the supply chain management function was critical to our success
• Maintain commitment and be willing to dig deep and provide support during tough times
• Recognise that this is a journey and be prepared to work with changes that emerge as the project proceeds

Sound advice for all project managers.

If you missed the webinar, the recording of this session will be available soon.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware/ABB webinar useful for project managers.

A few weeks ago Europol, EU’s defence against the dark arts, released their rapport (or iOCTA as they call it) on cybercrime. Underneath or some highlights from this illusive rapport:

• Global corporate losses because of cybercrime stands at around €750 billion per year (source: McAfee). That is per year almost 19 times more than the maximum amount that can be saved with e-invoicing and e-billing. And new illegal activities, including crime-ware distribution and the hacking of corporate databases are increasing that number. That gets one thinking.
• Criminals are trading credit card data for up to $30 per card, bank account information for between $10 – $125 and even your email account data is worth up to $12 in this sophisticated and self–sufficient economy.
• Here comes the scary part for online e-invoicing and e-billing: ‘Criminals are not only interested in details of credit cards and compromised bank accounts, but also our addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, full names and dates of birth’. So, the more widespread e-invoicing is becoming, the likelier the rest will become that cybercriminals are going to focus on (online) billing service providers). So another key action towards 2020 massive e-invoicing adoption: be sure to have made security a non-issue.
• EU Member States already rank amongst the most highly infected countries in the world when it comes to computer viruses and malware. The EU is a key target for cybercrime because of its advanced Internet infrastructure, rates of adoption and increasingly Internet-mediated economies and payment systems.
• Emerging trends like cloud computing and corporate social networks (like Yammer) pose problems when it comes to cybercrime: a threat to users and a challenge to law enforcement. Or the other way around.

More information:
Press release: http://www.europol.europa.eu/index.asp?page=news&news=pr110106.htm

Rapport: http://www.europol.europa.eu/publications/Serious_Crime_Overviews/Internet_Facilitated_Organised_Crime_iOCTA.pdf

Go to our Open LinkedIN Discussion and leave your comment

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: The impact of cybercrime on e-invoicing: five highlights.

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.

Connectivity Services include outsourced Scan and Capture which transfers paper invoices into electronic format and Basware Business Transactions Service enables the customer to receive and send invoices in an electronic format. The number of invoices to be transacted through Basware’s service averages approximately one million in a year. The solutions will initially be implemented in Central and Southern Europe, with further deployments planned altogether to 25 countries.

“We are pleased to see that electronic invoicing is gaining more and more ground on the markets which supports our strategy. Our solutions are modular and can expand together with our customers’ businesses to meet their growth demands,” says CEO Ilkka Sihvo, Basware Corporation.
The Basware Connectivity service offers a variety of ways to exchange e-invoices and purchase messages between suppliers and buyers.  Outsourced Basware Scan and Capture services transfers paper invoices into electronic format. Basware Business Transactions Service enables the customer to receive and send invoices in an electronic format.  Basware Supplier Portal publishes or downloads information and completes transactions online.

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Basware signs agreement with Siemens.

Check out these 23 invoicing applications that may just help you out!

Click here for the apps

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Get Paid: 23 useful invoicing applications.

Every dollar counts. This is more than a mere fact in any business, big or small. There are days when everything was inked ledger. With modern technology comes innovative ways of making invoices and estimates. It’s always about the fastest solution that gets you paid in a fraction of a second. In other words, it’s all about CONVENIENCE.

Time is essential for business owners and having a better way of getting cash from customers is always a never-ending struggle. Grandma might have dealt with time-consuming ways of doing invoices. Aren’t you lucky you don’t need to suffer the same fate? Now, you have more options of creating, sending, and tracking invoices – if only you know what features to look for. They are listed here.What Should Online Invoicing Provide?
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1. E-mail Reminders
Choose a solution that helps you keep track of your payment schedule and customer invoices by sending you a notice through e-mail. You need an option to send alerts to your customers before their invoice is due, and remind them when their invoices are past due. Customers also need an email verification when you receive their payment and YOU need to know when you are paid!
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2. Automatic Invoicing
If there are clients who need recurring invoices, be sure your online invoicing solution allows you to set your e-Bill to autopilot. Set it and forget it!
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3. Customized Invoices

Your online invoicing needs to allow your personal touch to your invoice, e.g. your company logo, payment terms, thank you note. Look for a solution that lets you give discounts to your customers, show images of your products or services, and gives you the correct tax type for your region (i.e. Sales Tax, VAT, GST).
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4. Merging Estimates
Look for an online invoicing solution that lets you change an existing estimate into an instant invoice. It saves you precious time.

5. Compatibility
Choose an online invoicing solution that runs on any platform – PC, Mac, the Web, or even a handheld smartphone. Make sure it can work with your existing data. It’s all about integration, less work and faster pay!

6. Handy Format
Your customers may want to download their invoices and estimates in PDF, or view them online in HTML format.

7. Accepts Online Payment
When more business is done online, it is only logical to have a solution that accepts payment on the web, like having a gateway such as Paypal that accepts instant payments from customers.

8. Security
The most important feature that online invoicing provides to its users is SECURITY. Be sure that the online invoicing solution you choose protects all data with the latest of SSL technology, and that backups are done FREQUENTLY.
9. Great Customer Service
Look for a service that has a 24/7 support group which you can contact for help worldwide. Get that timely, professional and friendly response when, where, and how you need it. Make sure they are accessible!

10. Good Reputation
When you are investing your time and money in a solution that will help you manage your business finances, be sure to do your homework. Being the cheapest, the biggest, or the oldest does not automatically signal being the best. You build your business on a good reputation. Find online invoicing solutions that do the same.

Ergo: Think of Your Needs First! Always choose the best solution to help you manage your finances. Survey says that 60% of business owners have cash flow issues. This means you need something user-friendly, faster, safe, and efficient when it comes to getting an online invoicing solution that will work for you. You should spend more time on growing your business, not on a mountain of invoices. Get Smart!

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Top 10 things to look for in an online invoicing solution.

As of this week, senders of Digitale Nota who are serviced by Billington, can also reach their customers who are using the Postbank internet banking environment (mijnPostbank.nl). By connecting ING with the 3 main Biller Service Providers, the Digitale Nota is now fully operational and there is no reason anymore not to realize a full scale roll-out of the Digitale Nota. The number of senders is now expected to grow rapidly.

“Because of this milestone, we expect that organizations will make the step towards implementing the Digitale Nota and offer it to their customers very soon. The market will grow exponentially and competition will be fierce. But Billington, being a 100% subsidiary of ING, is ready for this”, says Job van Luyken, Managing Director of Billington.

For more information: www.billington.nl

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: ING connects to the Digitale Nota via Billington.

Almost all enterprises in the Netherlands and Finland have internet access
In January 2008, the highest proportions of enterprises with internet access in the EU27 were recorded in the Netherlands and Finland (both 99%), Denmark (98%) and Belgium, Austria and Slovenia (97% each). The percentage was less than 90% in only five Member States: Romania (67%), Bulgaria (83%), Hungary (86%), Latvia (88%) and Cyprus (89%).
 
The proportion of enterprises with a broadband connection in January 2008 was above 90% in Spain, France and Finland (92% each) and in Belgium (91%). Only in Romania (44%), Lithuania (56%) and Poland (59%) did less than 60% of enterprises have a broadband connection.
 
The data show that while internet access appears to be approaching saturation in nearly all Member States, the level of broadband internet access is still increasing.

Below you can view the outcome of the survey:

 
Source: Eurostat

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Majority of enterprises in the EU27 had a website in 2008.

Here you are able to view the entire data overview per country:
Source: Eurostat

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: Growing internet access and use in the EU27 in 2008.

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.

ID-card was used by four out of ten enterprises with Internet connection. ID card was used mostly for giving digital signature and for authorising users in information systems. The most active users of ID-card were the enterprises of financial intermediation; two thirds of them used ID-card.

The general trend of reducing the paperwork has increased the interest of public authorities in websites. The enterprises download more and more forms and return them via Internet. Over three quarters of enterprises downloaded forms and two thirds returned them via Internet. Two thirds of enterprises had their own websites.

In January 2008, 97% of enterprises used computers; 99% of them had also access to the Internet. These indicators have not changed much during the last five years. As before, most of the enterprises needed the Internet for banking and financial services; fewer enterprises used the Internet for training and education purposes. The most popular type of Internet connection was DSL broadband connection, used by three quarters of enterprises. Other types of broadband connection, such as cable TV, leased lines, etc., were used by two out of ten enterprises. Non-broadband connections (dial up, ISDN, mobile Internet) were used less and often in combination with broadband connection.

Statistics Estonia has surveyed the use of information technology in enterprises since 2001. In 2008 3,500 enterprises participated in the survey. The survey involves enterprises with 10 and more employees. The usage of information technology in enterprises is studied by statistical organisations in all European Union Member States on the basis of harmonised methodology.

Source: Stat

This article is from E-invoicing Platform. Read the original post at: E-invoices gain popularity.