Monthly Archives: October 2020

30/10/2020

Budget announcements and its impact on eInvoicing

The Australian government recently released its budget for 2020 and it’s clear that digital transformation is high on their agenda – it included $800 million to improve access to digital services. Some of the initiatives announced were:
  • accelerating the creation of a single national business registry
  • expanding the government’s Digital Identity Program
  • accelerating the take-up of 5G technology
  • promoting Australian finance technology overseas and
  • helping businesses adopt digital technologies.
eInvoicing is also high on their agenda. eInvoicing enables organisations to send and receive invoices electronically, directly to and from their software. It removes the need for unnecessary data entry and inaccurate OCR scanning. Some of the benefits of eInvoicing include:
  • cost savings
  • easier invoice processing
  • faster invoice payments
  • fewer errors
  • exchange of invoices directly to and from software
  • improved security.

So what eInvoicing initiatives did the Government announce?

The Government set aside $120 million to help businesses adopt digital technologies, which includes $22.2 million specifically for small businesses. Small businesses in Australia have a long way to go, with some figures showing 90% of small and medium businesses still use paper-based invoices. The Government allocated an additional $3.6 million to help Federal Government agencies implement eInvoicing, which was announced in conjunction with a government eInvoicing mandate. Larger government agencies need to adopt eInvoicing by the 1st of July 2021, followed by all other agencies by the 1st of July 2022. The Federal Government also announced they’ll be looking at ways to mandate eInvoicing for State Government departments in the near future. This is just one of the steps to a more digital economy, with reports indicating government agencies, both federal and state, are responsible for around 10% of all business-to-business invoices. Another focus announced in this year’s Budget is to improve digital skills for workers and SMEs. $2.5 million will be allocated to help businesses with digital skills training. This funding will be used to develop a Digital Skills Finder platform to help workers and SMEs find training courses to further their digital skills.

What can we expect from the measures?

The Government have made it clear from this year’s Budget that they want to boost small business capability and increase the uptake of digital technologies. Overall, there are more than a dozen initiatives already planned to support businesses to adopt digital technologies. Expect to see Federal Government agencies implement eInvoicing early to comply with the mandate dates. And if you’re a supplier to government, expect to start receiving communications about issuing eInvoices. Now’s a good time to start preparing at your end and looking for eInvoicing providers. Just get in touch to find out more.

Request a call

Chat with one of our experts

Just fill out your details below and we'll be in touch within one business day.

E-invoicinggovernment

28/10/2020

Getting EDI ready for peak season

Peak times can be chaotic for retailers. Christmas alone can account for almost 15% of all eCommerce transactions in a year. In 2019, sales during the Christmas period in Australia were forecasted to reach $52.7 billion. Managing an inefficient supply chain can be overwhelming at this time. Some of the main issues that businesses face are:
  • too many orders to fulfil for existing staff
  • increased costs during peak times
  • delays in order delivery for customers
  • not enough stock of goods.
The good news is there’s a way to help reduce these issues and make things easier for your business.

How EDI can help during peak season

Simply put, EDI (electronic data interchange) is the exchange of business information directly between business software. Think of a purchase order being created in one company’s accounting package, and it ‘magically’ appears in the supplier’s software; no email, no PDF, no manual data entry. Well, it’s not magic, it’s EDI!
Buyer enters the purchase order in their software Purchase order appears in Supplier’s software Supplier enters the invoice in their software Invoice appears in Buyer’s software
So how does it help businesses cope in peak times?

Reducing manual processing

Manual processes are a major issue businesses face during peak times. As orders increase, so does the work for staff. Using EDI, many processes are automated making it easier for staff to complete tasks faster and move on to others. Research shows around 75% of businesses believe they can process most inbound EDI/XML connections without a human touch. Studies also show that EDI can speed up business cycles by 61% and the order-to-cash cycle time by more than 20%. This means suppliers receive orders from customers sooner and they can process and deliver the goods faster. Overall, this helps reduce the risk of delayed deliveries and helps retailers keep stock at optimal levels. EDI can also be used by logistics companies to provide updates on deliveries. This helps reduce delays and gives more visibility for their partners during delivery.

Improving data and reducing errors

With less manual processing through EDI automation, the risk of errors is reduced. Less errors means data is more accurate and is more useful when it comes to forecasting. Data accuracy is critical for predicting demand and ensuring you have the right stock levels. Reducing errors is also important for avoiding ordering the wrong goods or amount of goods. These errors can impact your stock on hand for customers. In peak times, this damage your brand and potentially lose new customers. Using EDI removes most of the manual inputting making it harder for amounts to be incorrectly typed in.

Reducing costs

During times of high order volumes and demand, processes increase. This means businesses need more resources, including staff, to cope. EDI reduces costs through the automation of business processes. That can be the difference between needing to hire extra staff to help process orders or not. Another cost that increases as orders do are paper and filing costs. With EDI all documents are sent and stored electronically eliminating costs of printing and filing. If you’re interested in learning more about EDI and how it help your business this peak season, fill in the form below and we’ll get in touch.

Request a call

Chat with one of our experts

Just fill out your details below and we'll be in touch within one business day.

EDIRetailers

26/10/2020

Why government is so keen to implement eInvoicing?

Many organisations around the world are implementing eInvoicing, in particular government agencies. So why is government leading the charge? Here are a few reasons:

It benefits the economy

One of the key reasons government agencies are adopting eInvoicing is to stimulate the economy. It helps increase businesses’ cash flow because payment times are generally reduced. The Australian government even promises to pay eInvoices within 5 days for contracts less $1 million. In fact, studies estimate eInvoicing could provide the Australian economy with over $30 billion in benefits over ten years.

Benefits to government agencies

eInvoicing brings many benefits to government agencies themselves. These include:
  • Streamlined processes eInvoicing saves time processing invoices and payments by automating what would be manual processes. You don’t need to enter invoice information into your software, it just appears.
  • Fewer errors Less manual inputting also means less errors and more accurate data for reporting.
  • Reduced costs Because of the automation, workload and labour costs are reduced. And because there’ll be less errors, agencies avoid the added costs of fixing mistakes. Another critical cost that can be reduced is printing and filing. Overall, studies have found that it costs $30.87 to process a paper invoice, $27.67 a PDF invoice, and only $9.18 to process an eInvoice.
  • Faster payments eInvoicing can significantly speed payment processing due to automation. The average eInvoice is processed in 5 days, compared with 23 days for a regular invoice. This can help government agencies improve their supplier relationships and meet their promised payment terms.

Leading from the front

The government here in Australia is looking for ways to facilitate the adoption of eInvoicing. They’re leading from the front by implementing it with their own agencies first – they’ve mandated the use of eInvoicing for all Commonwealth government agencies by July 1, 2022. They’ve even promised $3.6million to help government agencies transition to eInvoicing and allocated $2.5 million to upskill workers and SMEs. There are a few agencies that are already accepting eInvoices. Some of them include:
  • The Australian Taxation Office (Australian government department)
  • The Department of Finance (Australian government department)
  • Services Australia (Australian government department)
  • The Treasury (Australian government department)
  • New South Wales Department of Customer Service (Australian state government department) – check out our case study
  • New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet (Australian state government department)
  • New South Wales Treasury (Australian state government department)
  • New South Wales Health (Australian state government department)
  • New Zealand Government Procurement (New Zealand government department)
  • New Zealand Inland Revenue (New Zealand government department) – check out our case study
If you’re looking at implementing eInvoicing, fill in the form below and we’ll get in touch with more information.

Request a call

Chat with one of our experts

Just fill out your details below and we'll be in touch within one business day.

E-invoicinggovernment

15/10/2020

Why finance needs to become friends with technology

Finance teams constantly find themselves battling things like:
  • a need to reduce costs
  • greater workload with the same amount of staff
  • manual processes, which often lead to errors and
  • disparate sources of data, making it hard to find information when they need it.
The good news is that technology can improve these issues. And that’s why finance needs to become friends with technology.

Here’s where technology can help

Automate your whole procurement process with electronic data interchange (EDI)

This can significantly improve the processes of ordering and invoicing for any finance team. So, what is it? Simply put, EDI is the exchange of business information directly between business software. Think of a purchase order being created in one company’s accounting package, and it ‘magically’ appearing in the supplier’s software. EDI can help:
  • Reduce manual processes EDI can ease a lot of pressure on finance teams that find themselves processing an increasing amount orders. You’ll no longer need to input data into multiple systems or email documents to buyers and suppliers. This leaves you more time to focus on the other tasks that might come up.
  • Reduce costs EDI reduces manual processes and significantly reduces the amount of labour needed to process orders. This is especially beneficial during peak times of the year where casual assistance can be required. On top of this, EDI is all digital so you can save a lot on printing and filing.
  • Reduce errors and improve data accuracy EDI also reduces the risk of errors, making the data more reliable for reporting. You could use that data to monitor suppliers’ performance around responding to orders or delivery times.

Remove manual handling of invoices with eInvoicing

Another bit of technology that can help finance teams is eInvoicing. Invoicing makes up a huge chunk of finance teams’ time. Electronic invoicing, or eInvoicing, enables organisations to send and receive invoices electronically, directly to and from their software. It removes the need for unnecessary data entry and inaccurate OCR scanning.

eInvoicing can:
  • Reduce manual processes eInvoicing automates a lot of the manual processes involved in invoicing. No need to input the invoice information into multiple software and attaching to an email before sending to the customer. Everything is done within your existing ERP or accounting software.
  • Reduce costs Reducing manual processes simplifies invoicing for any finance team leaving you more time to work on other tasks. It also helps reduce the need to additional staff cover during peak times. The sending and filing of these eInvoices are electronic reducing your paper use and filing costs.
  • Data accuracy Manual processing is reduced limiting the risk of errors and improving data accuracy. Fewer errors means fewer disputes with partners and the need to follow up or correct invoices.

Use the data from your automated processes for more

If you leverage technology, the likelihood is that you can now use the data at your fingertips in more in-depth, insightful ways.
  • Two-, three- or four-way matching Is your team manually checking orders before they pay invoices? This is something that can be completely automated. Two-way matching checks the quantity and price on the order and the invoice to make sure you’re paying for exactly what you ordered. Three-way matching also checks what was shipped (on a despatch advice). And the bee’s knees, four-way matching, checks what the suppliers has agreed to send from the order response.
  • Invoice reconciliation With a feed from your bank and visibility of your invoices, our technology can reconcile your invoices. Imagine the time that could save!
  • Reporting Now that all the raw data is at your fingertips, you can use it to report on anything. It might be DIFOT (delivered in full on time) performance, the amount of invoice discrepancies or something else. The options are only limited by your imagination.
If you’re interested learning more about how eInvoicing or EDI can help you, request a call from one of our EDI experts.

Request a call

Chat with one of our experts

Just fill out your details below and we'll be in touch within one business day.

E-invoicingEDIRetailersSuppliers