08/08/2022

The future used to be paperless. Now it’s PDF-less.

Not too many moons ago, there was a big push towards a paperless office – everything needed to be digital. No more faxes and no more mail – email was the new hero. This was a big progression at the time. It was more sustainable, there was less chance of things going awry and it was just more efficient. But times have changed.Nowadays, technology has advanced a lot more. And yes, while emailing PDFs is still much more efficient than snail mail or faxes, there are still downfalls. Many companies ‘scan’ or use optical character recognition (OCR) to truly make their invoices digital. However, many companies who come to us report only a 70% accuracy rate with OCR. Imagine then having to find the errors and on top of that, fix them. No thank you! And companies who don’t use this technology are still typing invoices in letter-by-letter, number-by-number. Yikes! We’re lucky to be in such a time where we now have better options. You might have heard of electronic data interchange, or EDI. It gets data from a supplier’s software to their customer’s software. Instead of the customer having to scan (or OCR) a PDF invoice or manually type it in, a machine-readable file is sent to the customer’s software. There’s no manual intervention required and it just appears, almost like magic. This also happens for other procurement documents like purchase orders and shipping notices. The Australian and New Zealand Governments have also identified that going truly digital brings massive benefits. $28 billion in benefits to the Australian economy over the next 10 years, to be specific. Because of this, the Australian and New Zealand Governments have worked collaboratively to bring an electronic invoicing (eInvoicing) standard to businesses: Peppol. This works in a similar way to EDI – it sends invoices from the supplier’s software straight to the buyer’s software. No typing, no scanning, no nothing. And major accounting software providers are onboard too. Both MYOB and Xero allow their customers to send and receive eInvoices. How good is that. So next time you find yourself typing another invoice into your software or fixing up an invoice mistake, have a look into eInvoicing or EDI. After all, the future is no longer paperless, it’s PDF-less!

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E-invoicingEDI

08/08/2022

The art of writing MIGs

When you onboard suppliers it’s important for them to understand what the requirements are for the messages they need. A Message Implementation Guideline (MIG) refines a generic EDI standard such as UN/EDIFACT and details how it will be used for your company. In simple terms, it tells your suppliers what messages they need to send, what information the messages contain and how they’re formatted.Here are important things you need to know…

Choosing an EDI standard

There are different EDI message standards used around the world. Once you choose a standard it will be used as the base for your MIG. Here are a few of the common ones and where they’re most used:
UN/EDIFACT Standard coined by the United Nations and the most commonly used worldwide, and heavily used in the Australian retail supply chain industry.
ANSI X.12 Commonly used in North America
EANCOM Commonly used in the European retail industry
ODETTE Commonly used in the European automotive industry
EbXML Global standard developed by United Nations body for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business Information Standards (UN/CEFACT) and Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS ).
TRADACOMS Commonly used in the UK retail industry
HIPAAhow Commonly used in the North American Healthcare industry
SWIFT Commonly used by financial institutions worldwide.
 

Choose the message types you want to use with your suppliers

This comes down to what your objectives are as a business. Here are some of the common messages and what they do:
  • Purchase order Sent from buyer to supplier to order goods or services
  • Purchase order change Sent from buyer to supplier if the original purchase order has changed
  • Purchase order acknowledgement Sent from the supplier to the buyer to acknowledge receipt of the order
  • Purchase order response Sent from the supplier to the buyer to let them know how much of the order can be fulfilled, and any discrepancies from the original order
  • Advance shipping notice (or despatch advice) Sent from the supplier to the buyer to let them know when and how the goods will be shipped
  • Invoice Sent from the buyer to the supplier for payment of the goods or services
  • Recipient created tax invoice (RCTI) Sent from the supplier to the buyer for payment of the goods or services
  • Remittance advice Sent from the buyer to the supplier to confirm payment
  • Price/sales catalogue Sent from the supplier to the buyer with up-to-date product and pricing information
  • Product activity data Sent from buyer to the supplier with the number of units sold and units on hand
  • Transport instruction Sent from a buyer to a transport supplier (and related parties) to communicate transport arrangements
  • Transport response Sent from a transport provider to confirm instructions
  • Functional acknowledgement An automated response sent from a receiver of an EDI message to confirm receipt of the message.

Find out what data your ERP system requires to process your message types

This is important because it’ll determine what fields and values you need from your partners. This includes things like:
  • character limits
  • whether only integers are allowed
  • if it needs to be number
  • how many decimal places
  • whether the field is dependent on another field (conditional)
  • whether a field is used for particular use cases only
  • how calculations are made.
From here you can provide a list of values that can be used, If not, all values in your chosen EDI standard. We have a range of MIGs from various companies you can check out here.

Putting your MIGs together

This is where you take everything from the previous steps and document it. Writing MIGs can involve a bit of work and so you can get an external party to help. This where an EDI provider, like MessageXchange, comes in. We can assist or lead the MIG writing process, developing it from scratch or upgrading your MIG. Find out more here. Have more questions? Ask our experts by getting in touch below.

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EDIRetailers

08/08/2022

How eInvoicing delivers a better procure-to-pay (P2P) experience for your suppliers

eInvoicing is strongly emerging here in Australia and New Zealand as one of the key digital transformation activities in 2022. Its dominance is being led by the Government because of its massive benefits to the economy (think $10 billion to the Australian and New Zealand economies). But that’s not its only benefit – it can deliver a much better procure-to-pay (P2P) experience for suppliers too.

What is eInvoicing?

In short, when your suppliers create an invoice in their invoicing software, it’ll almost ‘magically’ appear in your accounting software. To find out the nitty gritty, have a look at our whitepaper, an introduction to eInvoicing.

So how does it benefit your suppliers?

It’s sent directly from the supplier’s software into the customer’s software

Once your supplier enters it into their software, they can be rest assured that it’ll be delivered straight into their customer’s software. And if, for whatever reason it can’t be, the supplier will be sent a notification, so they’re always in the loop. This means their invoice will be received in record time, and the payment process can begin. Winner!

It doesn’t get lost among emails or people forgetting to forward it on

Gone are the days of emailing a PDF invoice, waiting for the person the supplier deals with to approve it, pass it onto the accounts payable team for processing and then joining the payments queue. eInvoices go straight into the customer’s software, so there’s not getting lost in emails – it joins the queue, which is often automated by the customer, to speed up the process.

Suppliers can get notified of the status of an invoice

One of the real benefits for suppliers is getting notifications of the invoice status. The eInvoicing network (Peppol here in Australia and New Zealand) has a ‘response’ message that goes back to the eInvoice sender to let them know if the eInvoice has been received (or failed or rejected for whatever reason) and can also update the supplier on things like whether it’s been approved for payment, whether it’s been paid, and more. eInvoicing has heaps of benefits for you too, not just your suppliers. You can have peace of mind invoices won’t go missing, plus you don’t have to worry about entering the data incorrectly into your software.

Ready to get yourself or your suppliers onboard to eInvoicing? Here’s how…

First, get yourself eInvoicing-enabled

You’ll need an eInvoicing service provider. This is called an ‘Access Point’. The Access Point gets the invoices into your software (and also out of your software if you’re using it for accounts receivable invoicing too). It’s your gateway to the eInvoicing network. Get in touch with us to find out what the best option is, or have a look here.

Then get your suppliers onboard

Depending on our suppliers, it could be worth breaking them down into groups to get them onboard. This is handy so that you’re not overwhelmed with the task, but also allows you to tailor your communications, depending on your suppliers. Take a look at our whitepaper, a guide to successfully onboarding trading partners to eInvoicing.

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E-invoicingSuppliers

03/08/2022

EDI documents explained: The retail industry

The retail industry has been using EDI for decades. It’s been proven to give retailers more visibility, better accuracy and truckloads of savings. And there are even benefits for suppliers too, especially those who fulfill large volumes of orders. The use of EDI is mature in the retail industry and covers basically all use cases of the procurement process. Let’s have a look at the different EDI message types that are used in the retail industry and why.

Purchase order

This is sent from a buyer (retailer) to its supplier. It will tell the supplier exactly what they want supplied. It will tell the supplier where to ship the goods to, and it might even tell them when the retailer expects the goods by. A purchase order typically starts the procurement process. In the EDI world, you might see a purchase order referred to as ORDERS (EDIFACT) or 850 (ANSI X12).

Purchase order response

A purchase order response is sent from the supplier to the buyer (retailer) to let them know whether or not they can fulfill what’s been requested on the order. Typically, there are three scenarios – the supplier accepts the order in full (if they can fulfill everything as requested), the supplier rejects the order in full (if they won’t fulfill any of the order), or the supplier proposes changes to the order. Changes on the order response are typically changes to the quantity, the price or the delivery date. In the EDI world, a purchase order response can be called ORDRSP (EDIFACT) or 855 (ANSI X12).

Purchase order change

A purchase order change comes after a purchase order or purchase order response. It’s sent from the buyer (retailer) to the supplier. As the name suggests, it can be used to make changes to the original purchase order. Or if the supplier sends a purchase order response, some retailers send a purchase order change to confirm the supplier’s changes (response).

Advanced shipping notice

This can sometimes be referred to as a despatch advice. It’s sent from the supplier to the buyer to let them know what’s being shipped and when. There are a couple of ways that retailers use a despatch advice. The first is a relatively simple one – it basically tells them how many of each product is being shipped, to where and when. It just gives retailers a bit of visibility. The second one is much more detailed. The retailer requires the supplier to tell them exactly what’s being shipped, how, to where and when. These ASNs have SSCC, or serial shipping container code, details on them. SSCCs are unique numbers that identify a unit. This can be a pallet, carton or something else. The supplier tells the retailer how many of each product are going into each pallet, for example, and what the corresponding SSCC number is. The retailer may also require the supplier to tell them the batch number, best before and expiry dates of the products in that pallet. The supplier then prints labels, with the SSCC number represented as a barcode and sticks it onto the pallet they’re sending. This information is sent to the retailer on the ASN ahead of the goods being sent. When the retailer receives the goods, they can scan the barcode to know exactly what’s on the pallet. In the EDI world, this message is called DESADV (EDIFACT) or 856 (ANSI X12).

Invoice

An invoice is sent from a supplier to a buyer to let them know what to pay them for the goods or services they’ve supplied. Unlike invoices that you might send and receive by email, EDI invoices don’t typically have bank details on them, because these are usually agreed on as part of the supplier agreement. The EDI invoices generally just outlines the total to be paid, the breakdown of what’s to be paid and sometimes the payment terms, although these can also form part of the supplier agreement. In the EDI world, you might see the invoice referred to as INVOIC (EDIFACT) or 810 (ANSI X12).

Product catalog

A product catalog gives the retailer details of the products you’ll be supplying to them. It can be as simple as supplying them with the GTIN or item number, product description and unit price. In the EDI world, this is called a PRICAT (EDIFACT) or 832 (ANSI X12).

Functional acknowledgement

Unlike the other message types we’ve discussed here, functional acknowledgements aren’t your typical procurement messages. These are usually handled behind the scenes. They tell the sender of the message whether it’s been received and if it’s A-OK or why it might have been rejected. In the EDI world, these are called CONTRL (EDIFACT) or 997 (ANSI X12).If you have any questions or need help getting started, just get in touch!

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EDIRetailers

03/08/2022

eInvoicing around the world: A March 2022 update

eInvoicing is continuing to gain momentum here in Australia. More incentives are being offered, with businesses with a turnover of up to $50m now eligible for a $120 tax deduction on every $100 spent on digital technologies, including eInvoicing. And don’t forget the Federal government mandate is set for July this year, so all Federal government agencies will be able to receive eInvoices. NSW has followed suit too, requiring all state agencies to be able to receive eInvoices by July 1 this year. There’s also talk of a possible mandate for B2B transactions, so stay tuned on that one. The Federal government made the promise to pay eInvoices from suppliers with contracts under $1m within five days. And come the 1st of July, this will apply to all suppliers, regardless of their contract size. But Australia isn’t the only place where eInvoicing is gaining momentum. Let’s have a look at where the rest of the world is at…

Europe

Poland

The Polish Government is mandating B2B eInvoicing countrywide by 2023 through their national eInvoicing system (KSeF). All suppliers will be required to issue eInvoices and all buyers will be required to receive eInvoices via KSeF.

France

In France, mandatory B2B eInvoicing will begin from 1 July 2024 for the 300 largest enterprises. All large enterprises will be required to receive eInvoices from the 1 July 2024. 8,000 medium-sized enterprises will need to be able to receive eInovices from 1 January 2025 and remaining businesses will need to have the ability to receive eInvoices by 1 January 2026.

Portugal

The Portuguese Government is implementing mandatory B2G eInvoicing from 1 January 2022.

Cyprus

The Cyprus Government is also implementing mandatory B2G eInvoicing from 1 January 2022.

Spain

Spain has planned to pass law to mandate B2B eInvoicing from 2023.

Belgium

Belgium has also planned to pass law to mandate B2B eInvoicing from 2023.

Middle East

Saudi Arabia

Saudia Arabia are in progress with their two phase implementation of eInvoicing applicable to all B2B, B2C and B2G transactions:
  • Phase 1: Suppliers can no longer generate or store paper, picture format or PDF invoices.
  • Phase 2: Mandating eInvoicing countrywide using Saudi Arabia’s eInvoicing platform (ZATCA).

Asia

Japan

Japan has joined the PEPPOL network and will look to implement with B2B and B2G transactions but no mandate is in place at the moment.

Philippines

A pilot scheme for B2G eInvoicing will start in the Philippines on 1 July 2022.

Vietnam

A mandatory B2B electronic invoicing in Vietnam for companies in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Phu Tho and Binh Dinh by March 2022. The other provinces will do the same by July 2022.

Americas

United States

The Government are commencing a pilot program to standardise the use of B2B electronic invoicing in the United States to start in the coming year.

Panama

Electronic invoicing will be mandatory in Panama in 2022
  • As of 1 January 2022, it will be mandatory for taxpayers registered with a tax identification number (RUC).
  • And as of July 2022, it will be mandatory for all other companies.
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E-invoicing

12/04/2022

Tips for writing a tender document to find an eInvoicing provider

Many organisations are starting to go through the process of finding an eInvoicing provider. Some, particularly larger, organisations need to go through a formal procurement process to find a supplier. Given eInvoicing is a new area for a lot of people, here are some tips to help you write your tender document.

Get to know the ins and outs of eInvoicing

The last thing you want is to be unprepared. Getting to know the basics of eInvoicing makes this process much easier. Make sure you get to know what eInvoicing is and how it works. Learn about the use cases, the benefits, what it will mean for each of your teams (like accounts payable, accounts receivable, IT and others), what it will mean for your customers and suppliers, find out how others have used it as a start.

Get to know what eInvoicing providers provide beyond just eInvoicing

Just like most industries, there are some eInvoicing providers who merely pass the invoice from A to B. But there are others who have capability to do much more. Here at MessageXchange, our powerful software can insert missing information, check the information you require is on the invoice and perform complex lookups, workflows, rules and more. This functionality is particularly useful for organisations who have complex business rules, automated payments and integrations with multiple systems.

Have a clear view of how eInvoicing will fit into your architecture and processes

For smaller organisations, it can be as simple as eInvoices coming in and out of your software. Even in this simple case, you’ll need to know how they will come in and out – through an API, can it drop and pickup files from an SFTP folder or does it need to use another method – and what format they will come in and out in – will it be an XML format, a CSV or something else? For larger organisations, accounts receivable invoices may come out of one system and accounts payable invoices may go into another. You may have a single integration point for any data coming from the outside world, rather than connect to your systems directly. Be very clear on what this process will look like for your company. On the accounts payable side, many organisations have automated matching against an order, or checking the vendor number or ABN or other data. Make sure you know how eInvoices will fit into this process.

Get familiar with your company’s IT policies for external vendors

Some companies require IT vendors to have backup, redundancy and service SLAs. Make sure you’re familiar with what your company requires so you can be clear about this in your tender.

Start writing!

  • Document your setup and key information like:
    • The software you use (and go into detail if your setup isn’t straightforward, for example if you have multiple systems)
    • Whether you want to send and/or receive eInvoices
    • How many eInvoices you expect to send and/or receive
  • Break it down into sections. Example:
    • Company information
    • Technical requirements
    • Business process requirements
    • Procurement requirements
    • Contract
    • Pricing
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E-invoicingRetailersSuppliers

05/04/2022

Don’t think you’re ready to use eInvoicing? It’s not as difficult as you might think

eInvoicing is gaining momentum with all the benefits it is bringing to businesses around the world. But change is difficult and implementing eInvoicing can seem more daunting than it should be. We’re clearing the air and are here to show just how easy implementing eInvoicing can be.

Get started with a web portal

Did you know you don’t need to spend time and resources integrating eInvoicing into your software? If you’re looking for something quick and easy, all you need is internet access – and if you’re reading this, you’ve got that. Basically, you can login to a web portal like Colladium to send and receive eInvoices using an easy-to-use interface. It’s one of the simplest and most cost-effective options to start eInvoicing. Colladium only takes minutes to sign up and it’s free to use. All you need to do is register and get started!

Plug and play software integrations

Your existing software might have some plug-and-play style integrations to start eInvoicing. These allow you to send and receive eInvoices using your own software, and setup is quick and easy. MessageXchange has an easy option for MYOB Account Right and New Essentials users. Send invoices directly to your customers’ software and receive bills directly into your In Tray. Plus, Technology One Ci Anywhere and Oracle Financials Cloud users can take advantage of our eInvoicing Connect product to start receiving eInvoices in just days.

Ask your existing Invoicing/ERP software provider

You may not know it, but your current software may be eInvoicing capable. You should ask your provider if eInvoicing is already enabled or whether they plan to make it available.

Find an eInvoicing service provider

If you’re working with software that isn’t enabled for eInvoicing you can get easily set up with an eInvoicing service provider, like MessageXchange. We’re able to help you send and receive eInvoices directly from your software. Even if your software doesn’t export or import the Peppol standard file we can translate the files to whatever your software needs. Want to get started with eInvoicing? Get in touch with our eInvoicing experts by filling the form below.

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E-invoicingSuppliers

24/03/2022

How to use EDI with Xero

If you use Xero and you’ve been asked to use EDI, your head might be in a bit of a spin. It can seem complicated but there’s no need to worry – there are options and they’re not as complex as you might think. Many retailers require a combination of these documents:
  • Purchase order
  • Purchase order response
  • Advanced shipping notice
  • Invoice.
And you might be thinking, Xero doesn’t even have all of these. You’re right, Xero doesn’t support sales orders or advanced shipping notices. But that’s not a showstopper.

An EDI web portal is the simplest option

Many Xero users choose to use an EDI web portal. It’s a website you can login to, to view orders and respond to them with the response, advanced shipping notice and invoice. It’s simple to use, inexpensive and gets you compliant with your customer’s requirement. Here at MessageXchange, our EDI web portal is called FormXchange. If you choose to go with our FormXchange product, you can even automate the process one step further. By turning on the integration between FormXchange and Xero, you can sync the invoices you enter in the EDI portal (FormXchange) directly to Xero, so your invoices are always up-to-date in your accounting software. That means whenever you send an invoice to your customer on FormXchange, a copy will go to them, as well as to your Xero account. It’s that simple.

Who can you trade with on FormXchange?

Trade with any of these retailers on FormXchange:
  • Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API)
  • Aldi
  • Anaconda
  • Big W
  • Bing Lee
  • Bunnings
  • Chemist Warehouse
  • Coles
  • Costco
  • David Jones
  • Drakes
  • Harris Scarfe
  • Harvey Norman
  • Kmart
  • Metcash
  • Myer
  • Officeworks
  • Petbarn
  • PFD Foods
  • Reece
  • Repco
  • Sigma
  • Spotlight
  • Symbion
  • Target
  • The Good Guys
  • Winning Appliances
  • Woolworths

How do you get started?

It’s pretty easy:
  1. Head to messagexchange.com and click register
  2. Enter your details, choose FormXchange as your service and select the retailers you wish to trade with
  3. You’ll receive a verification email so just click the link in there to verify your account
  4. Let your customer(s) know that you’re using MessageXchange as your EDI service provider (they might refer to it as a ‘VAN’ or value added network)
  5. Then once you receive your first order, follow the prompts on screen to respond to it. You can also look at our knowledge base here to walk through the entire process in detail.
If you have any questions or need help getting started, just get in touch!

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EDISuppliersXERO

23/03/2022

Top 5 EDI questions answered

There are some questions that seem to come up in most calls. Have a look below to find out the answers to the most frequent EDI questions we receive.

1. What types of EDI solutions are available for me?

There are two main types of EDI that are available:

Integrated EDI (EDI Gateway)

An integrated solution allows you to exchange EDI messages directly from your software. When an order is sent to you, it’ll go to your VAN (value added network) then straight into your software. There’s no need to re-key it or anything. Then when you create the order confirmation, despatch advice or invoice, it will go directly from your software to your VAN and onto your customer. This option has the least impact on your current process and requires minimal manual processing.

Web portal/EDI Webforms

The simplest solution for EDI compliance is a webform solution. This allows you to logon to a web portal to view purchase orders and respond by sending back the required information such as purchase order responses, advance shipping notices and invoices. The information input into the web portal is sent directly to your customers’ software.

2. How much does EDI cost?

The cost will depend on the product you go with:

EDI Gateway

The price to setup an EDI Gateway is determined on a few factors, including how many customers you trade with, your customers’ testing requirements, the complexity of your setup and more. After implementation, our pricing is based on your data consumption (file size) so you only pay for what you use.

EDI Webforms

There’s no setup fee to use our EDI Webforms (which we sometimes call FormXchange). You can get started from just $99 a month, which allows you to exchange as many messages as you like with one of your customers. Plus you can add an additional trading partner for just $49 a month.

3. How long does it take to implement EDI?

The implementation time varies with every solution.

EDI Gateway

The implementation time varies depending on your requirements, complexities, the amount of testing you require, the amount of testing your trading partners require, your availability and more. It can take anywhere from a day or two, through to a month or more to get started.

EDI Webforms

For EDI Webforms, you simply register on the platform and you’re good to go. Some retailers require you to go through a testing and accreditation process, but our team are here to help you through that.

4. What does my customer mean by ‘accreditation testing’?

Accreditation requires you to test your EDI messages before they’re sent to your retailers’ production systems. This just makes it more likely that you won’t have issues when you’re sending and receiving EDI messages. The testing checks your files and ensures fields are correctly formatted.

5. Do l have to make changes to my ERP system to get the EDI message?

No, you shouldn’t need to – as long as your software can export and import files, your EDI provider will do a lot of the work connecting to your ERP system and mapping, or translating, the files to EDI messages. However, if your ERP software doesn’t handle certain EDI messages, like advanced shipping notices, you might need to use another bit of software to do that. We provide our EDI portal, Colladium, to our customers to help them send and receive EDI messages that might not be compatible with their ERP system.Have more questions? Ask our experts by getting in touch below.

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EDIRetailersSuppliers

18/03/2022

How leading organisations are managing the transition to eInvoicing

The Government mandate for commonwealth agencies to be eInvoicing enabled was introduced a year ago now. Since then, as an Access Point provider, we’ve seen agencies scramble to get on board and businesses are starting to follow suit. For many, it’s a completely new concept. Their people have needed to get up to speed, their invoicing software hasn’t always been ready, and they’ve had to engage their customers and suppliers to get onboarded. As an Access Point provider, we’ve been privy to how leading organisations have managed the transition to eInvoicing. Here’s how.

Educating themselves about eInvoicing

Getting your head around eInvoicing – what it is and what it means for your business – is one of the most important steps. It’s a new concept for a lot of people, but there are some fantastic resources out there. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), as the Peppol authorities, have some great information aimed at businesses and Government explaining eInvoicing and its benefits: Plus, companies who provide eInvoicing services, like us, generally have information available to help you through the process. Here are a couple of our resources: We’ve found that the organisations who educate themselves well on the concept of eInvoicing and what it means to their business, are better-equipped to implement eInvoicing as seamlessly as possible.

Getting internal teams on board

You might be the one in charge of implementing eInvoicing, but there’s no doubt that it involves a number of teams from IT to accounts payable and accounts receivable and beyond. It’s important you get all the relevant teams involved to make sure their needs are met, so they know how it will impact them and so they can answer any questions they get from others internally or even customers and suppliers. Here are a couple of resources that might help:

Integrating eInvoicing into their invoicing software

The first adopters of eInvoicing here in Australia has been Government agencies. With the mandate in place and a fast-approaching deadline, we’ve seen a number of approaches to get themselves up and running.

Taking a staged approach to implementing eInvoicing

Many of the successful organisations have taken a staged approach to eInvoicing. Some examples we’ve seen are: governments implementing eInvoicing with one agency first then rolling it out to others, starting with a pilot group of suppliers first then rolling out to others, and we’ve even seen some have their MessageXchange Gateway transform eInvoices to suit their software’s current abilities until their software is upgraded.

Using an eInvoicing portal

Another approach when eInvoicing is time-critical is to start with a web portal separate to your eInvoicing software. This is often a good interim step for when you’re only dealing with a small number of eInvoices. Our partner, Colladium, allows organisations to get setup in just minutes and supports both the sending and receiving of eInvoices. Check it out today.

Onboarding their suppliers and customers

Even the most advanced organisations have struggled when it comes to onboarding customers and suppliers. The main reason is that eInvoicing was still in its infancy. We’ve come a long way since then though. Now there are a number of software packages that have eInvoicing built into them. Xero and MYOB, who cover a majority of Australian and New Zealand SMEs, allow their customers to send eInvoices free or at a low cost. The most successful organisations who’ve onboarded their suppliers have been very clear with how the supplier can get eInvoicing ready. They hold webinars, send instructions and make it as easy as possible for suppliers. Many also offer incentives, like five-day payment terms, which is a sweetener for suppliers to get on board. We’re lucky to have been chosen as the eInvoicing Access Point for a large number of organisations and we’ve been privy to how they’ve gone about implementing eInvoicing. If you’re looking to get ready for eInvoicing, have a chat to our team today using the form below.

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E-invoicingRetailersSuppliers

10/03/2022

Retailers: Use your EDI gateway for more

EDI is often implemented to exchange purchases orders (POs), advanced shipping notices (ASNs) and invoices then forgotten about. But there are so many other ways to benefit from it. Here are some really simple ways so get the most from your EDI investment.

Capture non-fulfillment of orders earlier

Sending an order to a supplier and not receiving the goods in time can really impact a business’ reputation and lead to loss of customers. If only there was a way to receive an EDI message of what a supplier can fulfill in an order and even when it’ll be fulfilled. There is – it’s a purchase order response (POR). The great thing is that you can easily add PORs to the EDI messages you receive through your existing EDI gateway.

Get more visibility of your order

Want to know what goods are being delivered and when? This is exactly what advanced shipping notices (ASNs) do. If you add serial shipping container code (SSCC) labels to your ASNs, you can even have suppliers tell you what’s in individual packing units. All this can improve visibility, reduce warehouse costs, reduce manual data entry and improve customer service.

More data = better decisions

EDI captures a lot of data that can be used for more informed decision making. For example, you can work out your top suppliers by getting access to supplier volumes and values. Knowing your top suppliers can help work out your key relationships. EDI can also get your access to supplier performance by showing how long each supplier takes to deliver goods. Use this to identify relationships that need attention. Another use is to track failed orders per supplier. Using this data can help put realistic KPIs and expectations on your suppliers.

Implement a web portal

Getting all your suppliers sending and receiving your EDI messages is critical. Some of your suppliers might not be too keen to set themselves up for EDI. The good thing is you can set up these suppliers using an inexpensive (even free with Colladium!) and simple to use web portal. The web portal connects directly into your EDI gateway and allows your suppliers to send and receive EDI messages using a web browser. This makes it easy to onboard your smaller suppliers to EDI and allows you to automate more of your procurement processes.Want to learn more about implementing any of the topics in our blog? Request a call from one of our EDI team below.

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EDIRetailers

04/03/2022

How EDI can help retail supply chain shortages

Lately we’ve seen even bigger impacts to the supply chain than before, thanks to the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. The transport industry has struggled with staffing issues due to many drivers being unable to work. This has caused a domino effect. Retail stores have had empty shelves, limited the number of items customers can purchase and have been forced to operate with skeleton staff. And we’ve all heard or experienced the shortage of rapid antigen tests. Chemists have had to put on extra staff just to handle the extra phone calls they’re getting. Some of these issues are definitely unprecedented – there’s no denying that. But having efficient supply chain processes in place to start with can keep you ahead of the game when times get tough. This is where EDI comes in:

Use EDI to get faster fulfillment from suppliers

Using EDI for procurement, rather than manual procurement, speeds up the time from when you place the order to when the goods arrive. Your order is sent immediately to the supplier, you don’t need to wait for them to check their emails and enter the order in their software. The order can be picked and packed straight away by the warehouse. Manual procurement also introduces a lot of errors. These errors can take days, if not weeks, to rectify causing delays in orders being fulfilled and shipments being sent. With EDI, you can be confident that the data you send will be what’s received by your supplier.

Use EDI to get stock on shelves faster

An advanced shipping notice, or ASN, is a fantastic way to know what’s going to be delivered ahead of time – even down to what’s in each carton and pallet. When stock arrives, your team can just scan each package to see what’s arrived – no need to open them, check what’s in there or anything like that. Imagine the time it could save!

Use EDI to keep customers informed of when stock will arrive

For products that are ordered on demand, are in transit or on back order, getting advanced shipping notices or despatch advices from your suppliers will let you know when they’re to be delivered. You could even go a step further and connect to transport companies to get even more up-to-date statuses. Keeping customers informed of arrival dates is becoming an expectation from customers these days, but many retailers aren’t doing it well. If you can keep you customers more informed than your competitors, you’re ahead of the curve!If you’re interested in learning more about using EDI to help supply chain shortages, get in touch with our team.

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