End-to-end billing with Visibility, Collaboration, and Control

With Digital Process Automation, your Accounts Payable team can become a key resource for strategic insights, and more.

It’s safe to say that it’s now a given that businesses need digitization to improve their invoice management. However, many companies still process incoming invoices via unstructured PDF files and do not benefit from e-invoicing, which receives an invoice as a data file (XML file). By using ‘e-invoicing’ businesses not only lower costs by eliminating manual handling but also add value to the organisation in other ways. In fact, e-invoicing offers the opportunity for Accounts Payable teams to become a key resource for strategic insights and is fundamental to creating a seamless end-to-end billing platform. But how is this possible and why would it be advantageous?

For many organisations, invoicing and paper trails remain a stumbling block to improving efficiency. Moreover, the humble e-invoice is often sighted as the first step in a company’s digital transformation. A recent survey from Ardent Partners “The State of ePayables 2019: Driving Value in the Age of Intelligence”, found that 50% of respondents noted that invoice and payment approvals took too long and paper (40%) stood in the way of maximising efficiency.

According to IDC “Financial Applications Forecast, 2018-2022: Advanced Technologies Paving a New Path for Finance”, roughly 80% of today’s financial application end-user’s time is spent on lower-level tasks like invoice matching, verifying general ledger transfers, and sending reminder letters.

From Problem Handling to managing Process Strategy

E-invoicing can play a big part in lowering costs. But it’s also important to remember that by doing so, value is also added by allowing Accounts Payable to become a strategic contributor to the business. By removing manual, time-consuming tasks, automation transforms AP into a source of vital insights into key company performance. User roles are changed from exception and problem handling to oversight, process management and strategy.

Kofax ReadSoft Invoices: Automatic efficiency with XML

So what solution will provide you either with a kick-start to your digitising processes or a more efficient way to plug up those gaps in your existing input processes? Kofax ReadSoft Invoices provides a market-leading invoice tool to help transform Accounts Payable into a transparent, controlled, and strategic business unit.

It doesn’t matter if invoices are received in envelopes, as email attachments, via XML, EDI or PDF, the solution automatically extracts and validates relevant invoice data. Invoices received on paper are scanned and converted into Optical Character Recognition (OCR)-friendly images. the highest level of data capture accuracy with the least human intervention.

Visibility, Collaboration, and Control for all Document Types

With automated mapping and processing of XML formats like UBL, E2B, OIO, EHF, Svefaktura, Finvoice, PEPPOL standards, and more, ReadSoft Invoices learns unknown formats based on previous invoices. The platform will integrate seamlessly with your ERP systems, whatever they are such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics 365 etc. It also automatically differentiates suppliers from buyers and compares against data from your ERP system to determine invoice type like, invoice or credit note.

Digital Process Automation

The Holy Grail is to reach a state whereby as much manual handling as possible is eliminated. This requires an end-to-end seamless digital process; from data capture and extraction, validation and verification, to approval workflow. You need a platform that easily integrates with the organisation’s ERP and financial systems, eliminates the need for manual handling and ultimately saves the time by reducing the problems associated with making multiple, disparate tools work together.

Combine ReadSoft Input with Output from OpenText Exstream

Solutions such as OpenText Exstream can help with the other end of the process – Output.  Exstream has been developed to produce all types of “output” from all types of business systems. Readsoft Invoices works like a glove with OT Exstream’s ability to send documents via Omnichannel. This makes it possible to increase the number of electronic invoices directly in Readsoft’s system and reduce the paper flow. Readsoft, conversely, gives Exstream strength in the digitization of incoming invoices.

Make Time for the Good

E-invoicing is more than just a way to minimise the number of steps needed to complete a process. You improve information governance and security, reduce costs, and make invoicing easier for your AP to carry out – creating time for more strategic, value-enabling work. Swedwise offers licensing, training, consultancy, and support for a variety of DPA and CCM solutions including ReadSoft Invoices and OpenText Exstream. We integrate into your existing ERP environment regardless of platform. To find out more, please feel free to contact sales at +46 70 279 99 71 or sales@swedwise.com