Why should you automate your approach to invoice processing?

When it comes to processing high volumes of outgoing or incoming invoices, typically many staff will be involved hands-on so it’s no surprise that both AP (accounts payable) and AR (accounts receivable) are seen as areas ripe for automation.

Invoice processsing offers benefits to both sides of the business.

A study of finance teams in UK companies by Wax Digital* revealed several knock-on effects of poorly managed manual invoice processing.

Respondents said this impacted on teams’ ability to perform effectively. This can lead to low job satisfaction and damage relationships with trading partners.

Typical frustrations include dealing with invoices that contain mistakes in financial information such as missing out essential VAT numbers.

Virtually all of those surveyed said an eInvoicing solution can create opportunities to reallocate staff to higher-value tasks and so deliver greater efficiencies.

In the last few years, the use of dedicated software to automate invoice processing has risen. More and more companies have begun exchanging orders and invoices electronically through an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) platform. This is because they recognise that eInvoicing can reduce costs compared with paper or digital image-based systems.

According to global research by Swiss analysts Billentis*, costs can fall by up to 80%.

A report by Atradius UK in 2018* found that two-thirds of suppliers had achieved faster payments after the adoption of digital solutions for invoice processing.

By minimising the costs of managing their supply or distribution networks, they had kept their cashflows healthier.

Here at digital supply chain technology provider Transalis, we have developed an invoice processing platform, that offers a host of benefits for AR and AP teams.

Unlike other providers, we offer you flexibility on service input and complete transparency on cost through four separate eInvoice product bundles. The choice depends on how many trading connections you have and what exactly you want to achieve through invoice processing automation.

Companies looking to optimise AR and AP processes, including niche manufacturers taking their first steps into digital transformation, will find our solutions of particular help. Like the other bundles, eInvoice Essential helps you increase efficiency through easy integration with your ERP and financial systems. It provides automated validation of invoice data, along with a deep-store archive to reduce auditing time and costs.

Crucially, from the AP and AR point of view, eInvoice Essential enables you to record all AP and AR invoices with a digital time and date signature. This is a great boost for complete, end-to-end process visibility, tracking and analysis.

As well as improving efficiency, invoice processing by Transalis provides you with instant reporting, an increasing requirement of international tax rules if you have a global trading network.

You also have the reassurance that Transalis is recognised as one of just 12 providers in the world to fulfil the EU’s requirement for a common eInvoice standard (known as EURINV19).

Complementing our eInvoice product bundles is a fully supported onboarding process to bring your trading partners onto your digital platform.

Transalis is a digital supply chain technology provider with extensive knowledge and insight about invoice automation.

We are one of just 12 solutions providers across Europe, and one of only four in the UK, to have passed a rigorous new EU eInvoicing standard, EURINV19.

Under EURINV19 protocols, companies can signal to other traders that they operate invoice automation to a recognised common standard, so making the exchange of invoices within and between markets much easier.

We are also one of the few UK tech firms to have been certified as an AS4 Peppol provider, reflecting our compliance with the highest level of international public procurement standards.

Both EURINV19 and AS4 Peppol support the goal of enabling safe and secure trade through greater supply chain transparency, visibility and efficiency.

Under our Customer First approach we help you choose the right product, implementation set-up and ongoing customer support.

You will have a dedicated product manager who will stay with you throughout the end-to-end partner onboarding process. After that, a dedicated account manager and support team help you with any queries on day-to-day operations.

Each solution comes with a choice of support package to ensure you enjoy uninterrupted and hassle-free invoice automation.