16/02/2021

The benefits of eInvoicing for Government: An infographic

eInvoicing is gaining popularity especially with government. The Australian government has even mandated the use of eInvoices for government agencies by July 2022. This is how many invoices are sent annually in Australia and New Zealand:With that amount of invoices, you can imagine the savings to the economy that could be made by switching. Here are other benefits that government agencies can expect by moving to eInvoicing:

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E-invoicinggovernment

12/02/2021

Creating an EDI compliance program for onboarding suppliers

When you implement EDI for the first time, comprehensive testing is undertaken. This testing is on the mapping from your software’s format to that of the standard you’re using, like EDIFACT D01B or D96A, is correct and working as expected. But what about when you onboard suppliers? Compliance testing with suppliers is often overlooked, but if you’re onboarding large volumes of suppliers, it’s something that can bring huge payoffs in the end. It makes sure your suppliers can correctly process the EDI messages you send them, and checks that the messages they send back to you match what you’re expecting. Imagine onboarding suppliers, sending out hundreds of orders in those first weeks and having them fail. Not only will your stock not arrive, but your team will have to spend time troubleshooting the issues and getting the orders to your suppliers again. This is all when your stores are expecting stock to arrive.

What is an EDI compliance program?

In short, the process checks the EDI messages your supplier will send you. The checks are done early on in the process, so you don’t run into issues like the one above, where you’re scrambling to get things corrected. The compliance program can be administered manually, or you can choose an automated program like we offer on Colladium.

What does an EDI compliance program check for?

You can design the compliance program to be as simple or as complex as you need. What you choose will depend on your business. It can check things like:
  • File format Like making sure they’re sending an EDIFACT D01B message rather than a CSV file.
  • Syntax Like making sure the elements are in the correct spots.
  • Business rules within a message Like making sure the invoice number doesn’t have any special characters.
  • Business rules within the procurement conversation Like making sure the invoice date is after the ASN date. Or making sure your supplier can send the correct messages to ship goods in one despatch as well as multiple.
  • and more.

Why use an EDI compliance program?

Basically, it helps you find any issues before you move to EDI in production with your suppliers. Just look at the example above – the last thing you want is to have sent out a whole bunch of orders, which your stores are waiting for, only to find out they’ve failed somewhere along the way. Without it:
  • stock could be delayed arriving
  • stores will expect stock that won’t arrive
  • your team will need to scramble to troubleshoot the issues
  • customers might not receive the stock they ordered when they expected.

What do I need to do to prepare for the EDI compliance program?

First, decide and document the workflow you want to check

For example:
  1. Send your supplier a test purchase order.
  2. Ask your supplier to confirm they can process it successfully.
  3. Ask your supplier to send you a test purchase order response, fully accepting the order you sent them in step 1.
  4. Confirm the message you received is as expected. If not, start again from step 3.
  5. Ask your supplier to send you a test purchase order response, rejecting the order you sent them in step 1.
  6. Confirm the message you received is as expected. If not, start again from step 5.
  7. Ask your supplier to send you an advanced shipping notice for the order response they send you in step 3.
  8. Confirm the message you received is as expected. If not, start again from step 7.
  9. Ask your supplier to send you the SSCC labels they generated from the ASN they sent you in step 7.
  10. Scan the labels at your end and ensure they meet your requirements. If not, start again from step 9.
  11. Ask your supplier to send you an invoice relating to the ASN they sent you in step 9.
  12. Confirm the message you received is as expected. If not, start again from step 11.

Then decide and document business rules you want to check

This could be:
  • The date formats you require
  • Dates must be in the future
  • Whether prices on the invoice and order must match
  • Whether quantities on the invoice must match or total those on the order
  • A vendor number is present on all messages
  • Invoices must be received within seven days of shipment
  • Order response must be issued within a day of the order
  • One invoice is issued per ASN.

What are my options for an EDI compliance program?

As we’ve mentioned above, you can choose to do this manually or choose an automated program.

A manual EDI compliance program

You could probably start using this today. You can generate a test order and email it to your supplier, they’ll ingest it into their software, generate the next message and send it back to you. The really time-consuming part comes in when you need to check the file manually to make sure it meets all the criteria you documented in the workflow section above. Let your supplier know the issues you find and what you’re expecting instead. Continue this for each step. The obvious downside to this method is the amount of manual labour involved. If you’re onboarding even a couple of suppliers a week, this could easily take up days of work. Not to mention, you may be dictated by when you and your supplier are both ready to test.

An automated EDI compliance program

An automated EDI compliance program requires far less manual work for you. If you chose to use Colladium, for example, we’d spend a bit of time configuring your requirements, like workflow and business rules. Then all you need to do is invite your suppliers. They’ll be prompted to download an order (this will be generated automatically), then confirm that it was successfully processed, all from within the portal. When they upload messages, like an order response, the portal validates everything in the message against your business requirements. It displays all of the errors on the screen for your customer to see. The good thing is, that they can continue to upload their files as many times as they like, and have it validated there and then. There’s no waiting for your staff. And you have full visibility of everything – where your supplier is at in the workflow, what’s been successful and more.

What are the benefits of an automated EDI compliance program?

  • there’s no need to be on the phone or sending emails to suppliers constantly to fix errors
  • it’ll cost you less
  • there’s no need for additional labour
  • your team can spend more time on other tasks.
If you’re interested in learning more about EDI compliance programs, request a call below.

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EDIRetailers

04/02/2021

Getting your accounts payable department ready for eInvoicing

eInvoicing can help businesses improve their processes and save money. But often the success is dependent on the collaboration within the business – how well you can bring everyone on the journey. One of the key departments to be involved is accounts payable.

Think about your accounts payable team’s current processes and how they’ll change

The processes of traditional invoicing and eInvoicing can be different for your accounts payable team. Traditional invoicing looks something like this:
  1. Receive email with PDF invoice
  2. Send to accounts payable team
  3. The invoice is downloaded, reviewed and approved
  4. Accounts payable inputs invoice information into relevant software programs
  5. Invoice is paid and archived
eInvoicing cuts out a lot of the manual processes by automating the inputting into your software. It looks a bit more like this:
  1. The seller sends the invoice electronically from their software. The invoice is sent, almost magically, through the Peppol network directly to the buyer’s accounts payable team’s software.
  2. Accounts payable match the received invoice against the PO for payment authorisation.
As you can see, your accounts payable team’s processes will change with eInvoicing – they’ll no longer have to input invoices into their software.

Planning for eInvoicing

There are a few things you can do to plan ahead for receiving eInvoices.

What’s in it for them?

Figuring out what’s in it for each team when it comes to eInvoicing, is an important step to bring them along on the journey. In this case, your accounts payable team won’t need to spend nearly as much time on entering invoices into your software. And if you’ve setup automated matching in your software, the automation could handle with mismatches like incorrect prices, or the absence of a purchase order number – something that your accounts payable team would have handled in the past. So all in all, it’ll mean less work for them, and more time they have to spend on the more important things.

Knowledge sharing

You not only need to get buy-in from each team, but you also need to make sure they’re armed with all the information they’ll need. It’s worth running a session with your accounts payable team to explain to them:
  • what eInvoicing is
  • what’s in it for them
  • what will change for them
  • what’s in it for your customers and suppliers
  • what the process be for your customers and suppliers
  • what questions they might get from suppliers and how to answer them
  • and who to contact for help.

Who will look after the supplier onboarding and communications?

If you’ve decided that your accounts payable team hold the relationship with your customers and suppliers, you might task them with the onboarding and communications. Skill the team up before the rollout to make sure they’re well equipped with the information and collateral they need, as well as making sure they’re familiar with what you’re asking of your customers and suppliers. We’ve got a handy resource you can use as a starting point, ten steps to successful community onboarding.

What if something goes wrong?

Your accounts payable team need to be ready if things go wrong or if they get curly questions and know what process to follow. If a supplier says they’ve sent an invoice but they can’t see it in your software, should they contact your IT team or Access Point provider? If your team are contact by a supplier who’s received a notification to say their invoice has been rejected, who should your accounts payable team contact? It’s also worth having a plan for the case that your suppliers can’t send an eInvoice because of an issue on their end. Perhaps you offer email as a last resort. If you’re interested in learning more about getting your accounts payable ready for eInvoicing, request a call below.

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E-invoicingRetailers

03/02/2021

Traditional invoicing vs eInvoicing: An infographic

This isn’t sending a PDF and or sending an email, eInvoicing is software to software and 100% automated. By comparing traditional invoicing and eInvoicing we can see just how efficient e-invoicing can be for both buyers and sellers.

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E-invoicingRetailersSuppliers

27/01/2021

EDI: Debunking the myths

Electronic data interchange (EDI) automates procurement, eliminating a lot of manual processes. But there are some myths that make some businesses think twice about implementing it. Here are some of those myths busted.

EDI is costly

There’s an assumption that EDI is too costly and not worth the investment. This myth is often based on outdated technologies. Technology has advanced ignorantly in the last couple of decades though, and EDI service providers can provide a range of cost-effective options for businesses. For businesses looking to comply with retailer requirements, a good option is to use a simple EDI web portal, where you send and receive EDI messages. This can cost the same as a monthly phone plan and many see EDI as a small price to pay to maintain their retailers’ business. EDI integration can work out to be extremely cost-effective too. EDI integration involves the exchange of business information directly between business software. This method can be more expensive than a web portal, but the benefits can definitely justify the investment. EDI integration automates manual processes and sends documents electronically, which creates significant cost savings. Some sources calculate the cost of processing an order manually to be around $38 compared to just $1.35 using EDI.

EDI is complicated to implement

There’s a perception that EDI is complicated to implement, with some believing EDI is difficult to understand and needs expert skills. EDI messages are just another coding language, sometimes even XML or CSV. Once you understand how they’re constructed and what each element means, it’s as easy as pie. There are now even EDI standards, which have simplified this even further. In the end, EDI will make your processes more streamlined and improve your business communications. Plus, if you partner with an experienced EDI provider, they can often hold your hand through the process.

EDI creates errors

Some believe EDI can cause bugs and errors. There are a few reasons why this is wrong. These days there are a range of tests and approvals before a company goes live with EDI. For example, here at MessageXchange, we perform testing between you and us, the EDI provider, as well as end-to-end testing with your trading partners. It’s only once these tests are completed and passed that EDI is moved to production.

EDI slows down business processes

Many worry that moving to EDI will be disruptive to their businesses. It is believed that EDI interferes with business processes which slows down workflows. Overall, EDI can be quick to implement, depending on your goals and solution. If you stage your EDI implementation correctly, and gear your implementation to achieve your biggest objective first, it’s can really improve speed and productivity. This gives staff more time to work on other tasks. It also reduces the risk of errors and therefore the time needed to correct them. Studies show paper orders can take upwards of 10 days to fulfill, while EDI orders can take less than a day.

EDI is used less and less

You might’ve seen comments about EDI’s declining use and its possible replacement by other technology like APIs. APIs are actually used by most current EDI service providers. They shouldn’t be thought of as an opponent to EDI, but as just another connection protocol for EDI, like sFTP or AS2. After all, APIs don’t follow a generic standard, whereas EDI does. That means it’s faster and easier to onboard new trading partners. EDI use is in fact growing around the world. Over 60% of businesses across the United States already use EDI in their daily operations. If you want to learn more about EDI and how it can help your business, request a call back from one of our team.

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EDIRetailersSuppliers

21/01/2021

What’s the difference between EDI and eInvoicing?

Some of the main issues businesses face include too many manual processes, high supply chain costs and errors in supply chain documents. Electronic data interchange (EDI) has helped a lot of businesses overcome these issues through process automation. But now a new technology called eInvoicing is gaining popularity. We’ve compare the two and show when each should be used.

Comparing eInvoicing and EDI

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eInvoicing

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Electronic Data Interchange

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Message Types

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  • Invoices
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  • Invoices
  • Purchase Order (PO)
  • Purchases Order Response (PORs)
  • Purchase Order Acknowledgement (POAs)
  • Advance Shipping Notice (ASNs)
  • And more
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Governance

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  • Separate network providers that send EDI messages in the correct format to recipient.
Multiple standards
  • Common standards include EDIFACT, XML ANSI X12, EANCOM
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Security

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  • This is set by the Peppol authority
  • Access Points must comply with security requirements or can have access revoked.
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  • Security is set according to EDI standard used and each company and VAN’s security requirements.
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Connection protocols/message file format

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  • Any connection protocol and file format can be used between you and your Access Point
  • Universal Business Language (UBL) and AS4 is used between Access Points
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  • Any connection protocol and file format – often determined by one party

Which is better for you

EDI

This technology has been around for a long time. As a result, it has become the norm in a few different industries. Some of the main industries include retail, groceries and logistics. Businesses that operate in an industry that EDI is commonly used, should consider using EDI. EDI can send more message types compared to eInvoicing. For businesses looking to take their digital technology further and automate their entire supply chain, EDI could also be the choice for you.

eInvoicing

eInvoicing is great for businesses looking for a quick way to automate their invoicing processes. If you send and receive a lot of invoices, and aren’t really concerned about other data in the procurement chain, eInvoicing could be the right choice for you. eInvoicing is also useful for businesses that work with government agencies. As more government agencies move to eInvoicing it’s likely they’ll onboard their suppliers too. You can also benefit from 5 day payments for contracts less than $1 million from government agencies that are eInvoicing enabled.Want to learn more about these two technologies? Request a call with one of our eInvoicing or EDI experts today.

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E-invoicingEDI

19/01/2021

The A-Z of Peppol

What is Peppol?

Peppol is a set of specifications that help make cross-border eProcurement easier. The Peppol interoperability framework is currently used for e-invoicing in Australia and New Zealand.

The network (Peppol eDelivery Network)

The Peppol eDelivery Network connects systems with a set of standardised business processes and technical requirements. This provides an interoperable and secure network connecting all Access Points. All Access Points in the network use the same electronic messaging protocols, formats and digital signature technologies. This helps ensure secure messaging and makes it quick and easy for trading partners to connect and trade.

The document specifications (Peppol Business Interoperability Specifications ‘BIS’)

Peppol developed the Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) to standardise the electronic documents exchanged and validated in the network. It specifies the process within the eDelivery network. The BIS requires the Universal Business language (UBL) to be used for documents within the network.

Governance

The Peppol framework is governed, owned and maintained by OpenPEPPOL. OpenPEPPOL is a non-profit international association that looks at ways to enable businesses to easily deal electronically. Peppol Authorities also have the responsibility to govern the eDelivery network and BIS within a defined jurisdiction. They also can approve and remove Access Points in the e-invoicing network.

Where are Peppol standards used?

Peppol is in use in 32 countries with 15 of those using Peppol authorities. Here is a list of the Peppol authorities and the countries where they operate:
  • Agency for Digital Government (DIGG), Sweden
  • Agency for Digital Italy (AGID), Italy
  • Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Australia
  • Coordination Office for IT Standards (KoSIT), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen – Germany
  • Danish Business Authority (ERST), Denmark
  • Department of Health and Social Care (NHS), UK
  • Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Ireland
  • Federal Public Service Policy and Support (BOSA), Belgium
  • Financial Management Authority (FJS), Iceland
  • General Secretariat of Information Systems – Ministry of Digital Governance (GSIS), Greece
  • Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), Singapore
  • Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), New Zealand
  • Ministry of Economic Development (MR), Poland
  • Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (NPA), Netherlands
  • Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management (DFØ), Norway
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E-invoicing

15/01/2021

eInvoicing around the world

eInvoicing is just starting to build momentum in Australia and New Zealand. In 2019, Australia and New Zealand signed the Trans-Tasman eInvoicing agreement, making it easier for businesses and government to exchange eInvoices, both within and between those two countries. Since then, we’ve seen an increase in government agencies implementing eInvoicing. And the Australian Government has promised to pay eInvoices in 5 days for contracts up to $1 million. They’ve also mandated the use of eInvoicing for all Commonwealth government agencies by the 1st of July 2022. So, eInvoicing in Australia and New Zealand is increasing. But how are other regions faring?

North America

In 2015, the US government mandated eInvoicing for federal government agencies by the end of 2018. The transition to eInvoicing was expected to bring a range of benefits including savings between $150 million and $250 million. Aside from Government, the largest adopters of eInvoicing are large enterprises. Some say a major issue in gaining adoption has been a lack of standards and too few eInvoicing service providers. In order to increase uptake, an eInvoicing framework is being created by the Business Payments Coalition (BPC) – a group of organisations and individuals that promote the adoption of electronic business-to-business (B2B) payments.

Latin America

Mexico has been one of the pioneers in eInvoicing globally. They started their eInvoicing journey in 2004, being one of the first in the world. Even though it wasn’t made mandatory, eInvoicing was largely adopted by businesses and government. In 2010, Mexico managed to achieve 100% adoption by businesses. The volume of digital invoices issued between 2011 and 2017 increased from 1.7 billion to 6.5 billion. Mexico’s success has led to other countries implementing eInvoicing. The Latin America region sends 36 trillion eInvoices a year and have achieved some of the highest adoption rates of eInvoicing in the world: Chile has over 88% adoption and Brazil has achieved 100% adoption for B2B transactions. The high adoption in the region is due to the mandating of eInvoicing in both public and private sectors. Many countries who have implemented eInvoicing have seen reduction in fraud and easier tax preparation for businesses. This is in addition to cost reductions from eliminating manual processes.

Europe

In 2019, the European Union made it compulsory to send eInvoices between B2G. And if adopted between businesses, it’s expected that eInvoicing in the region will generate savings of €40 billion a year. Many countries have started to mandate its use both in public and private sectors. For example, Finland has used eInvoicing since 2010 for public sector procurement and now uses eInvoices for 100% of its transactions. Most Finnish businesses have also adopted eInvoicing. And in Italy, eInvoicing was made mandatory for both B2B and B2C transactions in 2019. France is joining them by making eInvoicing compulsory for SMEs and microbusinesses from 2020.

Asia

Asia is one of the regions where eInvoicing is expected to grow the most in coming years. Singapore made eInvoicing compulsory in 2008 for B2G transactions. It was the first country outside of the EU to use the Peppol framework, chosen in part to facilitate international trade. Singapore is providing grants to cover up to 50% of implementation costs for enterprises and S$200 for SMEs who join the network. One of the reasons countries in the region are adopting eInvoicing is to reduce fraud. In 2016, Indonesia required taxpayers to issue invoices electronically in order to notify the enforcing authority. Mongolia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have also implemented eInvoicing to curb the risk of fraud. It’s an exciting time for eInvoicing as we see a lot of countries, particularly in our region, move more and more towards a digital economy. If you’re interested in learning how eInvoicing can help your business, request a call back from our team.

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E-invoicing

10/01/2021

Four signs you’re outgrowing your EDI solution

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is used in several industries to automate ordering . There are a couple of types of EDI to choose from: EDI webforms (where you do everything from a portal) and integrated EDI (which uses your existing software). It’s not uncommon for businesses to start by using a web portal because all you need is an internet connection (no additional software) and it’s usually pretty affordable. However, as you more orders start to flow in, the more labour it involves. So, what are the signs that it’s time to make a change?

1. More customers are moving to EDI

You’ll start to notice more requests to use EDI when more customers make the move. This can be a sign that it’s time to move to an integrated solution. Manual processing of orders is likely to increase so switching to integrated EDI solution will reduce your team’s manual handling, giving them more time to work on other tasks.

2. You’re getting an increased number of orders

If you’re growing your customer base, introducing new products or just seeing more sales (good on you!), the number of orders you receive is going to increase. As your orders increase though, so will your manual processes. The increased workload can get overwhelming for your team. So how can you tell when your order numbers are getting too high for your current EDI solution? A common sign is having to hire casual staff to help process the orders you’re receiving. This obviously increases costs and resources, without making processes more efficient. Integrated EDI can help to automate manual inputting and reduce the need for more staff as your orders increase. As a rough guide, if you are processing 30 orders a week, you’re likely to benefit more from an integrated EDI solution.

3. Your customers are asking you to send them more information

You can start with very few messages when trading with customers using EDI. It could be as simple as just receiving a purchase order and sending back an invoice. If you’re using a web portal, this might not seem like much work at all. But what if your customers start asking for additional message types? Retailers introduce more message types for a number of reasons – to get more visibility of what can be fulfilled, so get a more accurate picture of when and how stock will arrive, and to have more accurate, real-time information at their fingertips. As they add more EDI documents, like purchase order responses or advanced shipping notices, your workload will increase. This can be a good time to switch to integrated EDI. It removes double-handing and allows the information to be sent automatically.

4. You’re struggling with too much manual processing

Are you struggling to cope with the amount of manual processing required when you receive an order? It might be time to switch to an integrated EDI solution. Integrated EDI significantly reduces the amount of work that your team needs to do. You won’t need to double-handle things – you enter it once and it’s automatically sent to your customer.

How to switch

Before switching to an integrated EDI solution, there are a few things you can do in preparation.

Check your software

You’ll need to find out what your software is capable of. This includes things like:
  • The documents your software supports. For example, if your customer requires an advanced shipping notice and SSCC labels, does your software support that?
  • The file formats it can import and export, like XML or CSV.
  • The connection protocols it’s able to use, like sFTP or API.

Our process

We try to make our process as simple as possible for businesses to switch to integrated EDI:[vc_column width="1/4"]

Let us know what you want to achieve and we'll suggest the best solution

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Start our partnership

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Connect to MessageXchange and test connectivity and messaging

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Go live!

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EDISuppliers

16/12/2020

Tips for successful onboarding of your partners to eInvoicing

eInvoicing is gaining popularity as more organisations look to benefits from its efficiencies. 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. To get the most out of eInvoicing, one of the most important things is successfully onboarding your customers and/or suppliers.

Why is onboarding so important?

It maximises your ROI

Every invoice you can process through eInvoicing increases your ROI. Generally, your setup cost is fixed, so get the most out of it through onboarding as many customers or suppliers as possible. Having all of your partners trading through the same method also reduces your costs because you don’t have to maintain several processes.

You use one process with all your suppliers

Businesses that don’t onboard all their partners have different processes for each. This makes invoicing for your teams more complicated and time consuming. If you still receive email and PDF invoices your accounts payable team still need to manually input the figures into your system.

The process of onboarding

There are a few steps in the process of onboarding partners to eInvoicing. It’s important to prepare for each one.

Segmenting

This stage assesses the ability of your partners to implement eInvoicing. Segment your partners into different levels of capability such as:
  • Those already using eInvoicing They’re ready to start sending you eInvoices and you send them eInvoices.
  • Those with the capability to start using eInvoicing Mainly those with ERP or accounting software and just need to enable eInvoicing.
  • Those currently not using software and physically receiving and sending invoices They could be using paper or sending documents via email.
These segments will require tailored communications and onboarding methods.

Communications

When onboarding your partners, it’s important to have a plan for communicating your transition to eInvoicing. This provides clarity and direction for the project. First things first, let your partners know you’re transitioning to eInvoicing. Communicating any type of change internally or externally is always daunting, but it’s important. At some stage, you may want to include requirements and message implementation guide (MIG) documents if you have them. MIGs are guides that detail what data in what format will be required to be exchanged. When onboarding your partners, it’s important to have a plan for communicating with them. It’s more than just announcing that you’re moving to eInvoicing. The main things you want to do when communicating with them is:
  1. Bring them along on the journey You may want to communicate with your suppliers giving them updates on the progress of your onboarding.
  2. Get their buy in Talk about why you’re transitioning to eInvoicing but also mention the benefits for your partners to use eInvoicing.
  3. Give them the info they need and make it as easy as possible At some stage, you may want to include requirements and message implementation guide (MIG) documents if you have them. MIGs are guides that detail what data in what format will be required to be exchanged.
If you’re interested in learning more about the process and best plan for onboarding, read our whitepaper, A guide to successfully onboarding trading partners to eInvoicing.

Certification and testing

The Peppol eInvoicing framework has certain fields that can be used within eInvoices. If you require certain fields on your invoices outside of these you’ll need to test your partners messages to ensure they include these fields. Once you’ve decided on these additional fields make sure to document it in a MIG or elsewhere. You will then need to ensure the eInvoices that your suppliers will send to you include these fields and are Peppol-compliant. MessageXchange provides customers with message compliance testing (MCT) service that is customised to each business’ needs. Your supplier will upload their Peppol eInvoice file to a portal, which will check its syntax, business rules and more against your requirements. It’s a simple interface for suppliers to test their messages and ensure it meets your requirements before they start to send you production-ready invoices. It also saves you from manually testing with your suppliers, which can require constant back and forth.

Managing a hybrid process while you onboard

It’s normal and expected that businesses maintain multiple invoicing processes while they’re onboarding suppliers. After all, not every business is in the same level of readiness when it comes to eInvoicing. Some may be more advanced than others. Some may be reluctant to change. For this reason, you’ll need to have different processes for different businesses. Initially you will need to continue operating in the same way with some businesses as you transition others to eInvoicing.

Tips for success

There are a few things to keep in mind to make the process go smoother.

Stage your onboarding process

It might be a good idea to start with the partners you know are ready and get them onboarded first. Then you can focus on other partners that might be less capable. Start with a small number at a time to make it more manageable, and to give you an opportunity to learn what to do, or not to do.

Remind partners of the benefits for them

It’s one thing to communicate your reasons for jumping on eInvoicing but it’s a good idea to make it clear how it’ll benefit your partners too. Reinforce these benefits in your communications throughout each stage. This will help them transition and comply with your process.

Give them options for compliance

We touched on your partners’ ability earlier on. It can be helpful to suggest options for compliance. You might think suggest a web portal to issue eInvoices for those who use their existing invoicing software. This can make it cheaper and easier for them to comply. We provide a free portal, Colladium, for these types of businesses to issue and receive eInvoices.

Seek help

If you’re stuck at any point in the process or need help always look for help. Your eInvoicing Access Point, or provider, can be a good starting point. They’ve likely seen the issue before, or know someone who has. If you’re interested in implementing eInvoicing for your business, request a call back below.

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E-invoicinggovernmentRetailersSuppliers

15/12/2020

eInvoicing and goods not for resale (GNFR): A recipe for success

Retailers are forever looking for ways to cut costs. Typically, it’s operations and supply chain that are targeted to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Retailers often adopt electronic data interchange (EDI) to automate the procure-to-pay process. But another, often overlooked area where processes can be optimised is also in procurement; it’s goods not for resale, or GNFR.

What is ‘goods not for resale’?

Goods not for resale covers anything that’s purchased without the intent of being re-sold. Things like:
  • store fittings
  • training
  • facilities and office space
  • utilities
  • professional services
  • marketing
  • travel
  • IT.
Procurement in these areas can be forgotten because they’re often managed by individual departments and can fall through the cracks, making it difficult to get an overall picture. A solid GNFR strategy gives you better visibility and understanding of your total costs, allowing you to identify unnecessary spending and achieve business objectives.

Find new areas to reduce costs. Enter, GNFR.

During tough times, businesses often push their efforts to cost reduction. And this normally happens in supply chains and operations like:
  • reducing locations
  • reducing staff
  • cutting prices and increasing discounting
  • looking for cheaper suppliers and products.
Continuing this path is unsustainable, so it’s important to look at other areas for efficiencies. Some sources claim GNFR can represent around 25% of a retailer’s total operating costs. One way to manage and improve GNFR procurement processes is eInvoicing.

eInvoicing: one small change for business, one giant leap for cost savings

eInvoicing enables organisations to exchange invoices electronically, directly between invoicing software. eInvoicing happens through a four-corner model, where corners one and four are the supplier and customer, and corners two and three are Access Points, like MessageXchange. Access Points connect to each other to exchange eInvoices. You can think of it like a telephone network – your phone and your friend’s phone are corners one and four, and your network provider (like Telstra, Optus or Vodafone) are corners two and three.When purchasing goods for your business, invoicing is one of the most time-consuming and costly processes. As a result of the automation from eInvoicing, a few benefits are:
  • Cost savings Studies have found that it costs, $27.67 to process a PDF invoice, and only $9.18 to process an eInvoice.
  • Easier invoice processing Removes the need for unnecessary data entry - the invoice just appears in your software. And by exchanging invoices directly between software, there’s less risk of them going astray.
  • Faster invoice payments The average eInvoice is processed in 5 days (compared with 23 days for a regular invoice).
  • Fewer errors Because much of the data entry is removed, reducing the risk of paying more for goods. This also improves data accuracy for use in reporting and optimising processes.
  • Better security Security measures, like encryption at rest and in transit, are implemented throughout the eInvoicing network so your data remains secure along the way.
GNFR typically accounts for 20% of a retailer’s spend but covers 80% of its suppliers and a high percentage of transaction volumes. If you compare the cost of a manual procurement process and an automated eInvoicing process in the GNFR space, it’s easy to see the cost savings add up. Request a call from one of our experts to learn more about how eInvoicing can help manage GNFR costs.

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E-invoicingRetailers

25/11/2020

OCR vs eInvoicing

Some of the challenges that finance teams, particularly accounts payable teams, can often face include:
  • too many manual processes
  • data entry errors
  • high costs from labour, printing and archiving
  • paying fraudulent or misleading invoices.
Two of the most common approaches to overcoming these issues are optical character recognition (OCR) readers and eInvoicing. So what should you choose?

What is OCR?

OCR is a technology that distinguishes printed or handwritten text characters of physical documents, such as a PDF document. The basic process of OCR involves examining the text of a document and translating the characters into code that can be used for data processing. OCR can be hardware using a physical scanner or software which takes advantage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for character recognition.

How does it work?

Generally accounts teams upload the PDF or scanned document to their OCR software where the invoice is read, captured and input into their accounting software.

Pros and cons of OCR

From afar, it can seem that OCR reduces the amount of effort it takes to process and invoice, makes for faster processing and depending on the volume of invoices, can reduce costs. But because it’s not true data exchange because it scans an unstructured document and tries to interpret it, it can produce mistakes. Some consider 70% OCR accuracy as ‘good’. Identifying and fixing up these mistakes can be time-consuming and costly. Some of the other cons are:
  • a limited range of document types can be read
  • it isn’t always accurate, so further checks and balances need to be in place (often manual)
  • technology experts may need to be hired to look after your technology
  • upfront costs can be high.

What is eInvoicing?

eInvoicing enables organisations to send and receive invoices electronically, directly to and from their software. No need to scan an invoice before uploading it into your software like you do with OCR scanners.

How does it work?

eInvoicing in Australia and New Zealand is provided through a network of interoperable Access Points, like MessageXchange, that exchange your eInvoices using the Peppol standard that has been adopted around the world. You can think of it like a telephone network.

Pros and cons of eInvoicing

eInvoicing has a few key benefits:
  • cost savings from data entry, printing and archiving
  • easier invoice processing
  • faster invoice payments
  • fewer errors
  • exchanging invoices directly to and from software
  • Enhanced security.

Next steps

There are a few things you should think about when looking at eInvoicing:

Getting your business ready

To prepare your business, think about these things:
  • Define your objectives
  • Look at your business processes
  • Get the relevant teams involved
If you want to learn more about preparing for eInvoicing, check out our whitepaper, . At MessageXchange, we try to make things easier to get started with eInvoicing:[vc_column_inner width="1/3"]

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