Whitepaper_einvoicing_UK_PRINT

Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing

©2016 Neopost 3

Introduction

April 2016

The Growth in E-invoicing


©2016 Neopost 2

Contents

Introduction. 03

E-Invoicing Drivers. 04

E-Invoicing for Accounts Receivable. 05

E-Invoicing for Accounts Payable. 06

The Business Benefits. 07

E-Invoicing and DSO. 08

Barriers to Adoption. 09

Overcoming Technical Problems. 10

Neopost Netsend: E-Invoicing Made Easy. 11

Case Study. 12


©2016 Neopost

Introduction

3

The transition from paper-based processes to electronic workflows is one of the defining features of business today. Its impact on everything from cost-cutting to carbon footprinting is so great that digitisation is likely to remain a top priority for years to come.

In fact, almost two thirds (62%) of decision-makers surveyed by AIIM, the association of information management professionals, say the speed of digitisation in their business is actually increasing1.

One of the most popular processes for digitisation is e-invoicing – the electronic transfer of invoicing data between organisations, including links to payment systems.

This involves clearly defined workflows; there is a wide choice of on-premise and hosted e-invoicing solutions to choose from; and an all-digital process formalises what is already happening in an unplanned fashion – according to AIIM1, 40% of organisations already receive more than half their invoices digitally.

E-invoicing helps businesses tackle late payment by reducing day sales outstanding (DSO) and it can cut invoice handling costs by as much as 50-80%2.

Not surprisingly, take-up is growing fast. Last year, 8% of the 500 billion invoices/bills sent globally were paper-free and overall e-invoicing adoption is estimated to be increasing at about 20% per annum2.

Adoption is particularly strong for business-to-business, business-to-Government and Government-to-business transactions. PayStream Advisors predicts that by 2024, 96% of B2B invoices in Europe will be sent electronically, up from 24% in 2014 and 6% in 20043.

In this white paper we look at the reasons why e-invoicing is increasing so rapidly, from changes in regulations to technological advances that are removing the barriers to broader take-up. If you would like to find out more about how e-invoicing and Neopost Netsend, in particular, can help improve your invoicing efficiency, please visit www.neopost.co.uk/netsend.

1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 20152. E-Invoicing/E-Billing: Entering a New Era, Billentis, 20153. 2014 Global eInvoicing Report, PayStream Advisors Inc. 2014

Overall e-invoicing

adoption is

estimated to be

increasing at

about 20% per

annum2.

Are you ready for e-invoicing?

3

In today’s fast changing world, where information flows more freely and connections are made in a click, enterprises are under increasing pressure to perform. One way to deal with this challenge is to simplify processes and opt for the digitization of customer communications. This move enables organizations to cut costs and improve productivity.

One area where this has been clearly demonstrated, by both buyers and suppliers, is that of e-invoicing. By making the transition from physical to digital invoicing many enterprises are reaping the benefits of a more reliable, secure, traceable and streamlined process. Up until around five years ago e-invoicing solutions were principally developed for large enterprises. However new solutions, specially developed for SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), are gaining market share.

The European Commission has a clear digital agenda for Europe and electronic invoicing has a major role to play in this initiative. The Commission aims to remove all obstacles, regulatory or technical, that prevent the adoption of e-invoicing. The mass adoption of e-invoicing (public and private sector) within the EU could lead to significant economic benefits and it is estimated that moving from paper to e-invoices will generate savings of around €240 billion over a six-year period.1

The U.S. Department of Treasury doesn’t have such regulations yet, but recognizes that e-invoicing would reduce costs by 50% and would save about $450 million each year.2

Currently the rules that govern e-invoicing are fragmented and based on national requirements. The potential market for e-invoicing is huge.

3

Introduction

The Commission aims to remove all obstacles, regulatory or technical, that prevent the adoption of e-invoicing.”

The European Commission defines electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) as the “electronic transfer of invoicing information (billing and payment) between business partners (supplier and buyer). It is an essential part of an efficient financial supply chain and it links the internal processes of enterprises to the payment systems”.

(European Commission, 2013)

1 SEPA potential benefits at stake, Capgemini, 2009 2 http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1238.aspx


©2016 Neopost 4

E-Invoicing Drivers

In subsequent chapters we look at the efficiency improvements and cost savings delivered by e-invoicing. These are significant, but they are not the only reason for the growing popularity of e-invoicing. Other factors at play include:

EU DirectivesThe EU is an advocate of e-invoicing to standardise processes across the EU and reduce costs, according to some estimates by as much as 240 billion euros over a six-year period5. In recent years, it has added impetus to e-invoicing by attempting to remove some of the barriers to wider adoption. Two Directives of great significance are the Directive 2010/45/EU, which allows the integrity of electronic invoices to be demonstrated through process controls, not just electronic signatures and EDI; and Directive 2014/55/EU, which requires EU agencies to be able to send and receive electronic invoices by the end of 2018 at the latest.

DigitisationDigitisation enables organisations to do things faster, better, more accurately and in compliance with rules and regulations. It means less paper; less printing; fewer filing cabinets; and none of the delays and errors associated with manual processes. Because employees don't have to handle physical documents, they can work remotely. In the next two years, organisations in North America and Western Europe plan to eliminate paper from 91% of key business processes, due to cost (42%) and security (42%) concerns6. Three quarters have identified specific functions for full automation, including accounting (38%), expenses

reporting (37%), accounts payable (36%) and customer care (35%).

The Cloud The cloud reinforces many of the benefits of digitisation, supporting flexible working and scalable implementations. Cloud services remove the need to invest in on-premise systems and associated overheads, such as upgrades and security patches, and give smaller businesses access to expertise and features that would once have been beyond their grasp. This is particularly true of cloud-based e-invoicing services that can be implemented in days and do all the 'heavy lifting' for customers, including tax-compliant audit trails and integration with other systems.

Late PaymentLate payment is the business problem that just won't go away. In a survey of its members conducted by the Institute of Directors (IoD) in December 2014, 66% said they had experienced late payment of an invoice. Nearly half (47%) said the main reasons for late payment were excessively bureaucratic payment systems or overly complex terms and conditions. E-invoicing has shown itself to be effective at reducing day sales outstanding (DSO).

5. SEPA potential benefits at stake, Capgemini 20096. Xerox, Digitisation at Work, 2016


©2016 Neopost 5

Business Benefits: E-Invoicing & Accounts Receivable

Carrying out these tasks is made more difficult if printed invoices are used. Common problems and inefficiencies include:

• Delays. There are often long gaps between each stage (e.g. between posting and receipt by the customer's accounts payable department), which can delay payment. With paper workflows, disputes can take longer to resolve.

• Lack of Visibility. Once an invoice has been sent, there is no way of knowing whether it has been received. This creates uncertainty and provides scope for the unscrupulous to extend the process further, for example by claiming an invoice was 'lost in the post'.

• Extra costs. Paper invoices add significantly to costs, including printing, paper, postage, filing and storage.

• Extra Workload. Staffing costs are likely to be higher due to increased workload in the accounts department (e.g. time spent filing and retrieving paper documents) and in the mailroom.

Together, these drawbacks can have a detrimental effect on cash flow and day sales outstanding (DSO), the average length of time it takes for a business to collect its accounts receivable.

Problems & inefficiencies

As significant as external drivers for the adoption of e-invoicing are the efficiency gains e-invoicing brings to internal processes.

Adopting paperless workflows for accounts receivable (AR) streamlines almost every aspect of the AR workload, including:

• Invoice creation in an accounts package or on an ad hoc basis;

• Invoice distribution, ideally via the customer's preferred channel;

• Following up to check that an invoice has arrived and is being processed;

• Dispute resolution, including the issuing of credit notes where necessary;

• Monitoring invoice payment status;

• Credit control, including letters, email messages and phone calls to late payers;

• Archiving in compliance with tax rules.

The Problem with Paper

A 2014 study by Neopost and Opinionway highlights widespread dissatisfaction with existing invoice processes. The main complaints are symptomatic of paper-based processes and include:

• Time wasted on repetitive tasks (cited by 47%)

• The risk of human error (45%)

• Time spent gathering information from different systems (40%)

• The need to re-enter data several times in a process (37%)

• The difficulty of finding and retrieving communications across multiple channels (34%)

• The difficulty of tracking all communications with a client across all channels (33%)

• Lack of visibility and traceability on what was sent to whom and when (26%)

• Lack of control over the security and storage of documents (25%)


4

Source: Opinion Way market study – February 2014

In February 2014, Neopost appointed Opinion Way to launch a market study in order to better understand the pain points and needs from SMEs concerning incoming and outgoing invoices.

1. SME pain points

1. SME Pain Points

Yes

• Wasting time on repetitive tasks 47%

• Risk of humman errors in the processes of outgoing communications 45%

• Spending time gathering information from different systems 40%

• Having to re-enter data several times throughout the process 37%

• Having difficulty finding or retrieving past communications across communication channels 34%

• Having trouble tracking all communications with a given client across communication channels 33%

• Lacking visibiltiy and traceability on what your organization sent to whom and when 26%

• Lack of control on the security of the storage of documents 25%

The main pain points experienced by SMEs are the following:

• Time spent on: repetitive tasks, approval processes and the search for documentation • Lack of traceability and visibility on the state of payments • Lack of reliability due to: risk of human errors, late payments or legal issues

“Are you experiencing the following issues as far as invoices are concerned?”


©2016 Neopost 6

Business Benefits: E-Invoicing & Accounts Payable

Relying on paper-based processes for accounts payable creates inefficiencies that could impair an organisation's ability to pay, increase staffing requirements and damage relationships with suppliers.

• Delays. Opening and distributing paper invoices, scanning and/or entering details manually takes time and creates unnecessary delays. Dispute resolution takes longer, as staff have to retrieve paperwork from filing cabinets and supporting documents from multiple sources – digital and analogue.

• Risk of invoice loss. Manual processing in the mailroom increases the risk that an invoice

will be misplaced, potentially leading to disputes, duplication and late payment.

• Risk of error. Entering invoice data manually increase the likelihood of input errors.

• Reduced productivity. Manual processes are laborious and time-consuming, from manual data entry to invoice checking and validation, especially when accounts staff have to refer to documents, such as purchase orders, kept in separate filing systems.

• Added expense. In addition to lost productivity from the manual processing of files, there are hard costs associated with

printing, filing and storage. Where workflows are paper-based, electronic invoices and faxes are often printed and processed in hard copy form along with invoices received through the post. According to AIIM1, 35% of organisations print most of the digital invoices they receive so that they can process them in paper form.

E-invoicing for accounts payable is faster, more accurate and provides improved visibility of commitments, enabling businesses to manage their cash flow better. It also makes it easier to prioritise payment to take advantage of prompt payment discounts and to maintain good relations with important suppliers.

Problems & inefficiencies

The digitisation of AR processes saves money and speeds up payment for the supplier. Even so, much of the impetus for e-invoicing comes from the buyer. This is largely because accounts payable (AP) departments responsible for processing, recording, reconciling and paying invoices like to receive invoices electronically to enable the full automation of invoices for payment.

When invoices are received electronically, in the appropriate format, relevant details can be automatically extracted and entered into the accounts/payment systems, with no need for manual data entry and with a clear audit trail. This enables a

completely paperless workflow, from receipt to authorisation to payment.

Even where it is not possible to have an end-to-end electronic process, for example if a customer prefers to send paper invoices, scanning in the mailroom, with intelligent data extraction and automatic invoice routing, makes it possible to implement paperless workflows internally.

Just as with accounts payable, adopting paperless workflows brings efficiencies to almost every aspect of the AR workload, including:

• Invoice receipt through multiple

channels depending on supplier AR processes;

• Data capture and the entering of invoice details into the AP system by hand or by scanning;

• Matching of invoices with purchase orders (POs) and delivery notes;

• Invoice validation and approval by appropriate departments/individuals;

• Dispute resolution;

• Payment by the company's preferred payment mechanism;

• Filing for archiving and compliance purposes.

1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015


©2016 Neopost 7

1. Faster payment. Creating and distributing invoices electronically helps you get paid more quickly and reduces day sales outstanding (DSO), the average length of time it takes a business to collect its accounts receivable (see opposite). Simply avoiding the need to print and post invoices or wait for your customer to process hard copies can cut as many as five days from the invoicing process. With modern systems, you don't even need to be in the office to submit or approve an invoice.

2. Prompt payment discounts. Electronic workflows reduce the time accounts payable takes to process invoices – and clear up disputes. Faster processing helps avoid late payment fines and could enable organisations to qualify for prompt payment discounts.

3. Visibility and peace of mind. Once a paper bill leaves your postroom, you have no way of knowing whether it has been received or not. If a posted bill goes astray, it may be weeks before you become aware of the fact and send a duplicate. E-billing systems that show when an email has been received and opened provide certainty and reassurance.

4. Reduced costs. E-invoicing cuts costs at every stage of the invoicing process. As well as removing print, paper, postage and filing costs, it reduces manpower requirements through the automation of labour-intensive processes. Larger organisations have the opportunity for additional cost savings by unifying and centralising the accounts departments of multiple branches and/or regional offices.

5. Improved productivity. Manual, paper-based processes are inherently inefficient. By removing the need for manual data entry, e-invoicing significantly improves productivity and frees up time that can be devoted to other tasks. According to Lexmark2, automation increases the number of invoices one person can process daily from 80-120 to 300-500.

6. Fewer errors. Automation eliminates the errors associated with manual data entry, reducing the risk – and cost – of disputes. Almost half (45%) of businesses surveyed by Neopost/Opinionway said their existing invoice processes were prone to human error, and, according to some estimates, up to 40% of all business invoices are queried. E-invoicing systems and automatic data extraction minimise errors at the outset, helping to reduce the number of queries and the time it takes to resolve them.

7. Satisfied customers. Paying bills faster and avoiding disputes caused by manual input errors strengthen supplier relationships and are good PR. E-invoicing also enables you to offer a choice of bill delivery options. Today, many consumers like the convenience of e-billing, especially if they can pay as part of the same process.

8. Improved cashflow. E-invoicing systems enable your accounts department to keep a close eye on cashflow and the balance

The Benefits of e-Invoicing

Digitising accounts receivable and accounts payable brings major benefits to organisations of all sizes. Here are 12 benefits you can look forward to:

1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015 www.aiim.org/research2 The Art of Numbers, Lexmark 2015

continued...


©2016 Neopost 8

sheet. An up-to-date, centralised view of in-comings and out-goings helps you manage cash flow better.

9. End-to-End automation. E-invoicing lets you simplify and streamline processes, for example by scheduling bills to be sent out on a particular date. In a 2014 survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD), 47% of members said the main reasons for late payment were excessively bureaucratic payment systems or overly complex terms and conditions.

10. Digital records. Many e-invoicing systems keep a digital record of invoices and supporting documents and provide easy access to files 24/7. This has big benefits for dispute resolution and overcomes one of the main drawbacks of working with paper. In the latest AIIM Industry Watch

report1, improved searchability and shareability of business documents was cited as the main driver for scanning and data capture.

11. Compliance. For the same reason, e-invoicing systems can improve compliance. As well as providing an audit trail of transactions, they create and store documents in formats compliant with local tax rules.

12. Smaller carbon footprint. E-invoicing reduces print and copy volumes and the carbon footprint of invoices, helping organisations save paper and meet carbon reduction targets.

1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015 www.aiim.org/research2 The Art of Numbers, Lexmark 2015

E-invoicing and DSO

Tackling late payment and reducing day sales outstanding (DSO), the average length of time it takes a business to collect its accounts receivable, should be a priority for any business. For, as the following example shows, the greater the DSO, the greater the cost to a business.

Company A, a business-to-business supplier, has an annual turnover of £20 million and a business borrowing interest rate of 3%. If it has a DSO of 70 days, its total cost of borrowing for the financial year will be £115,0681.

E-invoicing can cut Company A's DSO figure by as many as 15 days, providing an interest saving of

approximately £15,000, simply by eliminating the time it takes for printed invoices to be entered into a customer's accounts payable system – 3 days to generate the invoice; 1 day for it to be printed; 3 days for delivery by second class post; 5 days for invoice query and resolution; and 3 days processing in accounts payable.

E-billing could generate further savings by reducing the number of queried invoices caused by manual data entry errors.

It we assume that a) 40% of all invoices are queried and that the time spent resolving each one adds an extra £10 in costs; and b) Company A has an average order value of £200 and, each day, processes 274 invoices with a combined value of £54,794.52, the cost of disputed invoices could add up to £1,096 each day (40% of 274 invoices x £10). If a credit note is required to offset an element of the debt, the cost could be even greater.

1 Calculation: (Total credit x 3% interest rate) /365 days x 70 days DSO

OF ALL BUSINESS INVOICES QUERIED

COST OF TIME TO DEAL WITHEACH INVOICE QUERY

40%

P E RINVOICE

£10

....continued

47% of IOD

members said the

main reasons for

late payment were

excessively

bureaucratic

payment systems...


©2016 Neopost 9

E-Invoicing barriers

Management driveIn its Paper Wars report, AIIM identifies a number of common barriers to digitisation. Almost half (49%) of information management professionals identified both a lack of management initiatives/mandates to reduce paper use and a general preference for working with paper. Just under 40% said there was a lack of understanding of paper-free options; 35% said they still needed physical signatures on paper; and one quarter said their processes were paper-based because suppliers and customers still used paper.

When asked to identify the main difficulties encountered in implementing paper-free processes, the top two problems, each cited by more than 45% of respondents, were change management and integration with other systems, followed by defining processes clearly, cited by more than 40%.

In this respect, e-invoicing is no different to any other business process ripe for digitisation, from electronic content management to human resources systems and processes, none of which have been digitised as quickly as expected.

Channel integrationToday, businesses receive communications, including invoices via a multitude of digital and paper-based channels, and

this presents serious processing challenges. In AIIM's Paper Wars Update, 40% of respondents said they struggled to match up inbound paper and electronic content; 35% said inbound digital documents tend to be printed and then filed/processed alongside paper; one third process paper and electronic documents separately, compared to 32% who process them through the same workflow.

Overcoming obstaclesThese difficulties can seem daunting, but they are not a good reason to persist with paper-based processes. A recent Neopost survey of employees with responsibility for processing invoices and receipts in organisations with turnovers of between £10 million and £100 million highlights both the rapid take-up of paper-free working and how easily potential obstacles can be overcome.

More than nine out of 10 respondents have already digitised (8%), or are in the process of digitising (83%), some or all of their core business processes. A further 6% are in the planning or assessment stages.

Their experience shows that while the digitisation of core business processes presents a number of potential difficulties, from implementing new IT systems to securing employee and/or customer buy-in, these challenges

are far from insurmountable. On a scale of 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important), the weighted average for all the main barriers to digitisation, bar one (see below), was around 2.5 i.e. somewhere between 'slightly important' and 'quite important'.

Issues like IT resourcing, financial resourcing, system integration, customer resistance and employee resistance need to be taken seriously, but they are not a reason to delay digitisation, particularly as there is such a clear understanding of its benefits; the weighted average for 'lack of clarity over the benefits of digitisation' was just 1.38 i.e. only just above 'not at all important'.

In accounts departments specifically, our survey shows that problems associated with digitisation are rarely encountered. When answering the question 'what are the most important issues you face when communicating with customers?', just 3% selected 'physical-digital transition'; only 8% ticked 'using multiple channels'.

These are low numbers considering the possible difficulties in aligning paper-based and digital communications and the fact that all of those surveyed already use a mixture of digital and analogue channels for customer communications.

With so many benefits to be enjoyed and encouragement and impetus from external agencies, the big question is why haven't more organisations adopted e-invoicing?

Part of the problem lies in the general difficulty of removing

paper from business workflows, which means that digitisation initiatives tend to happen more slowly than planned. For example, IT decision-makers surveyed by Xerox for its Digitisation at Work report expect to have removed paper from all but 9% of their key business processes within two

years. Yet, the reality is that for 55% of respondents, workflows are still largely or entirely paper-based, suggesting a dis-connect between the vision of business leaders and the business reality.


©2016 Neopost 10

Overcoming technical problems

Given high levels of awareness of the benefits of e-invoicing and the low level of importance that accounts staff attach to oft quoted barriers to digitisation, why has e-invoicing not been adopted more widely?

One factor is the complexity of traditional implementation models. The 2015 Billentis report E-Invoicing/ E-Billing: Entering a New Era goes into great detail about the various deployment methods used for e-invoicing. These include what Billentis calls Supplier Direct and Buyer Direct in-house systems, as well as third party e-invoicing networks.

The Supplier/Buyer Direct model was implemented first, typically by large enterprises for sending invoices to multiple buyers and for receiving invoices from multiple suppliers, in both cases via a number of channels (e.g. email, SMS and web portal).

These 'one-to-any' and 'any-to-one' systems have many benefits for organisations with large customer and supplier bases. However, for the companies they deal with, the additional cost, administration and complexity involved in integrating their systems with those used by suppliers/customers has limited take-up.

In particular, the requirement for smaller suppliers/customers to manage different log-ins for each company's e-invoicing system and convert their data to one of a limited number of supported file formats can be onerous. Moreover, the fragmented landscape this creates means that they don't benefit from a single, centralised view of all invoices.

Billentis points out that low adoption rates have also reduced the financial benefits of e-invoicing for big companies, as the cost of maintaining and updating in-house e-invoicing systems are incurred in the interests of a relatively small proportion of invoices sent/received. For this reason, some organisations make use of branded software-as-a-service solutions instead of in-house systems.

E-Invoicing networks Cloud-based e-invoicing networks run and managed by third party organisations provide an attractive alternative to in-house systems.

Sitting between suppliers and buyers, they simplify e-invoicing deployments and facilitate the seamless two-way flow of information between parties. The automatic conversion of invoice data into each company's preferred format, whether that be ebXML, OASIS UBL2.x, UBL North European Subset, EN/CEFACT, PDF/A-3 CEN/PC434 or any other country- or industry-specific standard, ensures compatibility between disparate invoicing and payment systems.

As part of their service, e-invoicing networks manage transactions in accordance with national and international tax rules and provide audit trails for compliance purposes.

Because networks remove complexity for their users, they are a popular option for small and medium-sized businesses. For this reason they are sometimes also used by larger organisations as a way of increasing the e-invoicing adoption rate within their supplier base, often in conjunction with an existing in-house system.

Nine benefits of e-Invoicing networks

1 Quick and easy implementation

2 One connection to communicate with many

3 Predictable costs – integration cost plus price per transaction

4 No maintenance costs – maintenance and upgrades undertaken by service provider

5 VAT-compliant invoice processing ad audit trails

6 Automatic conversion of invoicing data to required format

7 Support for wide variety of electronic invoicing standards

8 No need to modify existing accounts/invoice systems

9 Optional online storage of invoices, with easy search and retrieval


©2016 Neopost 11II. Postal communications]

Neopost Netsend: E-Invoicing made easy

To make it easy for customers to adopt e-invoicing and enjoy the benefits of more efficient, paperless invoicing and payment processes, Neopost offers Neopost Netsend, a multi-channel invoicing, billing and document distribution solution already used to distribute and bill £145 billion of client documents every year.

Suitable for businesses of all sizes, this cloud-based solution manages the distribution of business critical documents, including invoices, via each customer's preferred medium, while helping migrate users from printed to electronic invoices, with an average conversion rate of 80%.

For easy invoice automation and distribution, Netsend plugs into existing systems and supports paper-based posted invoices through to EDI invoicing and every format in between including fax, PDF, email and XML feeds. No configuration or system changes are necessary.

It moves native data from an existing accounts package into pre-built templates that can match a company's existing design. These can be distributed by email (as an attachment or with a link to a portal), fax, post and FTP.

File formats can vary by recipient to comply with popular 3rd party EDI e-invoicing providers, such as Tungsten (OB10), Ariba, Tradeshift and Basware, as well as peer-to-peer billing.

The Netsend web-based portal, configured and branded to each client's specification, lets users monitor deliveries and gives access to a document archive with easy document search, retrieval and re-sending. Documents are stored online for a minimum of 12 months, with the option to extend storage indefinitely to meet auditing and VAT archive requirements.

The portal offers many other features including reporting; audit trail and proof of delivery; document analytics; customer account tools, including credit card payments; and online statement views.

Netsend plugs into

existing systems

and supports

paper-based

posted invoices

through to EDI

invoicing and every

format in between

About 500 billion invoices are issued globally every year. 330 billion are B2C and 170 billion are B2B and B2G.

Source: Billentis, 2014


5

2. E-invoicing market

Norway, Sweden, Finland, Mexico, Chili and Brazil are considered as leaders in e-invoicing. This is because e-invoicing is a legal requirement in a certain number of these countries and because national governments have made it an obligation for organizations to invoice electronically.

2. E-invoicing Market

Source: Billentis, 2014

In the European market, legislation and local public initiatives are the key drivers. The European Commission has estimated that the adoption of e-invoicing in public procurement alone across the European Union could generate savings of up to €2.3 billion a year.

The Nordic countries are seen as e-invoicing leaders: e-invoicing to the public sector has been mandatory since 2005 in Denmark, since 2008 in Sweden and since 2010 in Finland.

And in Norway, electronic invoicing has been mandatory for government administrations since July 1st 2012 and for local government since January 1st 2015.

In Italy, e-invoicing has been in place for public authorities since June 6th 2014 and in Spain since January 1st 2015.

Following the 2014/55/EU Directive on e-invoicing and public procurement in April 2014, suppliers will be obliged to send electronic invoices to the public sector in all European countries by 2020.

2.1 European e-invoicing market


©2016 Neopost 12

Case Study

First-hand experience At Neopost, we have first hand experience of Netsend and are now offering it to our customers as a proven e-invoicing solution that has helped us cut printing and postage costs, reduce days sales outstanding (DSO) by five days, halve the number of delinquent customers and slash the number of customer service calls related to billing.

Neopost started using Netsend to satisfy growing customer demand for invoice delivery by email as an alternative to print and post. We needed a quick and easy way to manage email communications with proof of receipt, showing whether an invoice had been opened, by whom and when.

Netsend does this and a lot more, including the setting of multiple recipient addresses and the automatic posting and printing of invoices after three failed email delivery attempts due to bounce-backs or out-of-office notifications.

Neopost first used Netsend to enable Neofunds customers to receive statements electronically. Saving the five days it normally takes for printed invoices to be processed and delivered through the post has proved popular with these customers, as it enables them to pay more quickly and avoid interest payments on balances due.

After the success of this deployment, Neopost introduced Netsend for Credifon customers, before extending it to provide a full sales ledger e-invoicing solution for remaining customers. Within six months, 70% of customers had elected to receive

invoices by email rather than through the post.

Netsend takes invoice feeds directly from Neopost's accounting software and provides accounts staff and customers with access to document management and reporting through an online portal.

Mary Ryan, Document Solution Specialist at Neopost, says the ability of customers to download old invoices and modify contact details online has reduced telephone support requirements and introduced big efficiency gains. “The gone-away postal address report really helps tidy up customer data, and ensures actions are taken quickly to redirect invoicing to their new address,” she explained.

As well as linking to Neopost accounting software, Netsend also connects to popular invoice management portals, such as Tradesift, Ariba, OB10 and others, saving Neopost the time, cost and effort of integrating its e-invoicing and payment systems with each of the portals used by customers.

We needed a

quick and easy

way to manage

email

communications


Neopost is a global player with a local presence in business solutions for the postal, parcel delivery and related digital world of tomorrow. We have an intimate understanding of physical and electronic communications and work in collaboration with over 800,000 enterprises around the world. Our business has evolved to meet the growing demands of a technology-driven environment. This means we can help our customers successfully make the transition from physical mail to quality multichannel communications management.

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