e-Invoicing summary

Electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) is not new. It has been taken forward and implemented by private enterprises with varying degrees of success over the last decade. A one size solution for e-invoicing does not fit all: given the complex purchasing and payment profiles of public sector organisations. The European Union are keen to promote e-invoicing across the public sector. The EU Invoicing Directive, which came into effect in January 2004, stipulates that all member states must accept electronic invoices (legislation previously required paper invoices).

No dominant electronic invoicing or payment solutions exist yet to take care of all of an organisation’s needs. The e-invoicing market is still fragmented.

There is a degree of complexity in e-invoicing with widespread use of acronyms. Appropriate Fit Procurement can simplify the journey which your organisation will require to undertake to implement e-invoicing and automated reconciliation. To realise back-office efficiencies which can be re-directed to front-line services?

It takes an accounts payable member of staff 1 year to manually process 10,000 paper invoices. An electronic file containing the equivalent of 10,000 invoices can be uploaded and auto-matched in 11 seconds!!

In simple terms: “e-invoicing is the substitution of inbound / outbound paper invoices with electronic files that contain the same data “.

Preliminary groundwork requires to be undertaken for the successful introduction of

e-invoicing. This can be summarised as a five step methodology:

Step 1 Streamline purchase to pay processes. Existing purchase to pay processes in most

Organisations are in the main over elaborate and over complicated. Simplified

Processes bring value. Review, re-engineer and rationalise purchase to pay

processes. Document the “to be” standard processes through process flow

Diagrams;

Step 2 Review the capability of the finance system to upload electronic files and the

Appropriate file format required;

Step 3 Conduct a creditors’ analysis to determine the nature volume and value of paper

invoices received from suppliers. This will assist in prioritising major

transactional suppliers for file transfer and “quick wins”;

Step 4 Stop rogue / maverick buying. Purchase orders should be placed to eliminate

exceptions and costly manual retrospective work arounds

(with the exception of physical pcard for ad-hoc requirements – telephone or face

to face);

Step 5 Align commodities and services to the most appropriate purchase to pay solution.

An invoicing channel strategy requires to be agreed upon (self billing / on line

billing, electronic file transfer, electronic invoice presentment, XML, procurement

card – bank file, EDI, paper invoices)

Downloads

Powerpoint Presentation on Comparative eInvoicing options - Click HERE

Download Generic paper on eInvoicing - Click HERE

eInvoicing Paper from Project Zanzibar - click HERE

Executive Summary on European e-Invoicing 2008 - Click HERE

BizAps comparative eInvoicing options - click HERE

RBS Accountis Press release (17th June 2008) - click HERE

Automated P2P with true HNRC accredited eInvoicing - click HERE