Monthly Archives: May 2021

24/05/2021

Reason for State Government agencies to implement eInvoicing

eInvoicing is growing globally with governments all around the world recognizing its benefits and financial incentives. The rising popularity of eInvoicing can be seen in countries like UK, India, Singapore and US. The National Informatics Center reports that in India, more than 49 million eInvoices were exchanged in October 2020 and in the USA, the eInvoicing market is expected to grow by US$ 15.49 billion between 2021 and 2025. Governments are implementing electronic invoicing as a way to digitise trade activities. Australia also boosted electronic invoicing by announcing mandatory adoption for all federal agencies by July 2022. As a part of the digital business plan, the Commonwealth government is promoting digital transformation to create new opportunities and drive productivity on a national level. The 2021 Federal budget commits $15.3m to accelerate adoption of Peppol eInvoicing in Australia. Many state agencies still rely on traditional invoicing processes, which result in barriers to business activities, errors and inefficiency. But with the growing movement around eInvoicing in Australia, state government agencies should start to prepare now for eInvoicing, rather than wait until it’s mandated.

Why should state governments consider adopting Peppol eInvoicing?

Piggy back off the work the Federal Government is doing

The Federal government has mandated adoption of eInvoicing among its agencies by the 1st of July 2022. Piggy back off the hard work they’re doing to get their suppliers on board while eInvoicing is hot. Once the suppliers to federal government get on board, you can capitalise by onboarding those same suppliers to eInvoicing. Invoicing software providers are also getting on board now, getting ready for their supplier to issue invoices to Government agencies. The eInvoicing conversations are happening now, so now is the time to strike.

Save time and costs when processing invoices- helping on the road to post-Covid recovery

Processing paper-based invoices has some disadvantages- its costs more, needs more infrastructure and there are high chances of errors. A paper based or a PDF invoice can cost up to $30 because of the amount of time used to manually process them whereas processing an eInvoice costs less than $10. State governments can save costs immediately by adopting eInvoicing. It can significantly reduce manual processes and help to reduce costs.

Increase security

Paper based or PDF invoices bears the risk of being compromised because they’re either handled manually or is sent via email. An eInvoice is electronically sent from the supplier to the buyer which reduces this risk. Additionally, cyber-attacks are increasing and risks will only grow in the near future. eInvoicing is an effective way to secure your agency’s financial information and also reduce the risk of security breaches. Yes, it’s still digital, but there are strict measures in place, like encryption in transit and at rest, and ATO-certified processes that service providers need to meet. eInvoicing enhances security and reduces the risk of duplicate and fraudulent invoices which costs the state governments millions of dollars every year.

Streamline internal processes

Administrative processes within agencies take significant amount of employee time and effort. eInvoicing helps in automating these processes which results in improved administrative efficiency and cost savings for the government. It also ensures that suppliers get paid faster and makes the process of invoice management transparent. eInvoicing across all levels of government can help agencies to work more efficiently, save costs and maintain service to drive economic growth. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has already mandated eInvoicing for all federal agencies. Now is the right time for state government agencies to transition to eInvoicing rather than scrambling to adopt it when the requirement is extended. If you’re interested in learning more about eInvoicing, request a call from our eInvoicing experts below.

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E-invoicinggovernment

20/05/2021

Benefits of an eInvoicing mandate for businesses

The possibility of an eInvoicing mandate for Australian businesses is generating a lot of talk. Right now, the government is seeking feedback on the best way to do this. While mandates can be daunting, this one offers businesses significant benefits.

Direct benefits

  • faster payment
  • automated invoicing processes
  • reduced costs and paper use
  • fewer errors
  • improved security.
Check out our Benefits of eInvoicing for businesses infographic for more.

Businesses will get paid faster

At any given point it’s estimated that unpaid invoices for Australian businesses total $26 billion. According to sources, eInvoicing will reducing payment times and:
  • improve on-time payment by 15%+
  • reduce processing time by up to 65%.

$28b saved over 10 years

Australia exchanges 1.2 billion invoices p.a. eInvoice processing is around 70% cheaper than traditional invoice processing, saving the economy an estimated $28 billion over 10 years.

Business has a reason to get onboard

A mandate will hasten the crucial digitisation of business. More eInvoicing means more businesses on the network making it work better for users, delivering significant benefits for everyone.

The broader digitisation of business and trade

We can all agree digitisation is the future. eInvoicing simplifies trade for many businesses by reducing processes and international trade barriers while improving systems and providing more growth opportunities.

More software will allow eInvoicing

An eInvoicing mandate for business will drive software providers to integrate eInvoicing into their products.

What we’ve seen from other mandates

In Australia Single Touch Payroll (STP) was mandated. It forced employers to disclose payroll and tax information to the ATO after every payday. Without it, businesses would still be using an error prone, paper-based and manual reporting system. Employees would also need a PAYG summary when they do their tax returns.

So, what’s the takeaway of a possible eInvoicing mandate?

An eInvoicing mandate would kick off great things for Australian businesses as they streamline their legacy processes and reduce costs. But adoption is key and an eInvoicing mandate will ensure this. Get in touch with our team to learn more about how eInvoicing can improve your business.

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E-invoicingRetailers

18/05/2021

Three tips to convince senior leadership you need EDI now

Convincing senior management is key to getting a project off the ground. After all, they’re usually the business sponsor. If you’ve identified that EDI is going to benefit your business, here are some tips to convince your senior managers that you need EDI.

Put together a business case

The key thing is to highlight the cost savings of EDI – to show them the impact it’ll have to the bottom line. Here are a few calculations you can use:Orders Calculate the cost of sending a purchase order to your supplier.[vc_column_inner width="1/4" css=".vc_custom_1584660745420{padding-right: 0px !important;}"]

(time it takes to put together email or postage x orders sent x hourly rate)

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+

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printing related costs

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+

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postage costs

The cost of suppliers processing the orders incorrectly.[vc_column_inner width="1/4" css=".vc_custom_1584660745420{padding-right: 0px !important;}"]

number of orders incorrectly processed

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X

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time it takes to rectify the incorrect entries

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X

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hourly rate

Invoices Costs of processing an invoice for payment.[vc_column_inner width="1/4" css=".vc_custom_1584660745420{padding-right: 0px !important;}"]

time it takes to enter invoices into software

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X

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number of invoices

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X

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hourly rate

Costs of fixing incorrect invoice payments.[vc_column_inner width="1/4" css=".vc_custom_1584660745420{padding-right: 0px !important;}"]

Time it takes to fix errors in invoices

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X

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number of invoice payment errors

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X

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hourly rate

Warehouse Costs of updating incorrect data[vc_column_inner width="1/4" css=".vc_custom_1584660745420{padding-right: 0px !important;}"]

Time it takes to update inventory in system

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X

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number of orders with incorrect data

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X

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hourly rate

Once you’ve done that you can use these figures to work out your expected ROI.[vc_column_inner width="1/4" css=".vc_custom_1584660745420{padding-right: 0px !important;}"]

Savings

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÷

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(establishment costs + running costs)

* These calculations are to be used as a guide only

Get buy in from other departments

Having the support of internal departments can be what helps a project over the line. There are a few departments in particular that play a big part in the EDI implementation and ongoing processes.

IT

EDI integrates with your software, so your IT team will help with a lot of the technical aspects. Thinking of ways to make their lives easier will go a long way, so ask them:
  • If they’ll need new hardware or software?
  • If they’ll need additional resources to implement EDI?
  • If your EDI provider adheres to your security policy?

Buying or procurement

The buying or procurement teams will probably be concerned about any impact to their ordering process. EDI uses your existing software and automates the exchange of purchase orders, invoices and other messages. Make sure to show them how EDI will simplify their tasks, such as:
  • Providing them with more information like what can be fulfilled and when the order will arrive.
  • Faster stock fulfilment because suppliers will receive orders almost instantly.

Finance

When convincing your finance team, focus on promoting the benefits of EDI. It reduces the amount of manual inputting required and can automate a lot of their processes, leading to:
  • fewer errors: less time and costs to fix mistakes
  • reduced costs: no need to printing and archive paper invoices.
  • more time, allowing staff to work on higher value tasks
  • more accurate data for decision making.
All of this, in turn, can lead to significant cost savings.

Develop a solid plan

Having a plan will give management confidence that you’re on the road to success. Here are three things to include:

The implementation plan

The most important thing in your plan is to set deadlines for each deliverable. At the end of the day, management will want to know when it’ll be completed so they can ensure a solid return on investment. It’s also worth outlining the team members involved in each stage of the process. This’ll provide transparency for everyone involved.

Staff training

EDI will require some change (a good change!) in your business so a little training will help everyone come along on this journey and make sure they feel equipped to handle the change. The training should cover new processes, such as:
  • how accounts staff will process payments to suppliers?
  • how buying teams raise purchase orders?
  • how warehouse staff process deliveries?
It’s also worth adding back up plans to your training to cover the unlikely scenario of an outage to your EDI service. This is also useful for management to show how operations will continue.

Onboarding suppliers to EDI

The amount of trading partners you onboard is paramount to a good ROI. Having a plan for onboarding suppliers will improve the success and also provide confidence for your management teams. Check out our 10 steps to successful community onboarding to learn more.

So summing up...

Getting buy in from management can be daunting but there are a few things that can help.
  • Show off potential savings from EDI.
  • Show you have buy-in from other departments.
  • Develop a plan with dates of key deliverables.
  • Keep management up-to-date with progress as you go.
If you want to learn more about how EDI can help your business, get in touch with our team.

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