Tag Archives: EIPP

Supplier-Initiated EIPP: A Vital Compenent to eInvoicing and ePayments

Beyond the basic automatiologon of invoices and payments there is a necessity for a more specific technology that aids in streamlining the order-to-cash process. Originally, associated technologies usually served a supplemental purpose next to larger eInvoice and ePayment applications, but now, their importance is growing to a point of mainstream use. Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) solutions are one of technologies that are coming to the foreground in relevance and necessity due to the ways they maximize the use eInvoicing and ePayments to streamline the company’s workflow and the way they offer tremendous potential for users to better manage their financial supply chain and cash flow.

In PayStream Advisor’s most recent report, “Supplier-Initiated EIPP: Impacting the Entire Invoicing and Payment Lifecycle”, research has revealed that software developers have adopted a much broader perspective that encompasses the entire billing and payment continuum, increasing the importance of an integrated EIPP solution. By providing an in-depth overview of market trends and movements, this report identifies appropriate EIPP strategies and solutions that incorporate a holistic approach to supplier initiated invoicing and payments automaton—and it shows what they do to benefit those processes.

The report features results a from a collection of surveys focused on AP and AR automation, revealing trends and barriers in eInvoicing, ePayments, and EIPP solutions. Among the results, from price differences to common AP and AR goals, it is clear that many frequent processing issues could be aided by an effective EIPP solution. However, buyer adoption is a critical factor to the success of an EIPP Initiative, and marketplace acceptance is deterred by a lack of understanding and skepticism regarding its benefits.

The report shows thFg1_ The BPA Galexyat the benefits of technologies that bridge process gaps are especially beneficial for suppliers. These suppliers are best served by solutions that support all types of invoice delivery and remittance capture, not just EIPP. EIPP solutions are needed to provide automated remittance processing capabilities that address all sources of remittance advice, and in order to leverage captured transaction intelligence, suppliers need EIPP solutions that contain embedded workflows for dunning, dispute resolution, and other tasks. Suppliers also need a variety of distribution channels for invoice delivery.

There are multiple billing and payment channels for today’s B2B transactions, and EIPP solutions serve as an effective way to provide easy access to these channels and streamline their use. While most organizations send invoices in emails, this method does not address the reciprocal payment from the customer associated with the invoice, causing organizations to miss an opportunity to leverage greater process efficiency. EIPP solutions fix this problem, helping to coordinate and incorporate the entire lifecycle of the invoice.

The market for supplier initiated and holistic EIPP is growing and will continue to gain momentum due to the demands of AP organizations and the need for greater AR efficiency and Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) reduction. In effect, today’s providers often offer more than just a solitary EIPP solution, and as a result, there has been growth in the market for both EIPP and related billing and payment functionality. The report maps out the key features that providers often offer as part of their products and services.

In all, this report shows that EIPP solutions are not only vital for creating integrated processes, but integrated departments as well. While AP can transform itself into a profit center by expanding the credit card payments that generate rebates, AR can also reduce costs with the use of EIPP through increased productivity. More AP departments have launched supplier facing invoice portals than AR organizations have instituted EIPP solutions, but a synchronized implementation effort would have lasting effects on AP and AR interaction. Supplier initiated EIPP is one of the most proactive steps towards that connectivity, and PayStream Advisors believe this report is a vital tool for AR and AP professionals alike. Download a free copy here.

ADP’s Mission to Improve P2P

PayStream Advisors has been paying a lot of attention to the ways in which solutions work to streamline the P2P process, especially as we’ve researched for our recent Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) report and our upcoming eProcurement report. It is clear that the effectiveness of these solutions depend in large part on how well the eInvoicing part of the process is integrated with supplier payments. Only then can the process truly begin to move from being stagnate and error-prone to becoming productive and value-creating.

As a research and consulting firm, PayStream is constantly searching for financial automation ADPproviders that meet our expectations of quality and innovation. ADP, a global provider of human capital management solutions, recently announced new enhancements to their Procure-to-Pay Solutions® platform that seem to meet the requirements of a truly adept and integrated P2P solution. These enhancements will bring users increased customization and improved control of their electronic invoicing and payments processes, as well as give buyers and supplier the opportunity to work more collaboratively by offering immediate access to critical data. Ultimately, this platform will feature all the vital parts of a P2P solution that bring better payment process efficiency.

Among ADP’s improvement, there is the enhanced supplier dashboard and analytics, which will help suppliers access relevant information and monitor trends and will bring greater visibility into approved and unapproved invoices, purchase orders, and disputes so suppliers can see critical data and take action. There will also be increased control and flexibility of invoice approvals, and customizable invoice coding display to make it easier for clients to configure coding fields and other data elements so that only the desired fields are visible to users. Multiple payment accounts functionality will allow clients to make payments to suppliers from more than one account, choose their preferred payment method, and better handle payment exceptions.

In the recent 2014 EIPP report, our research found that multiple payment options not only make the process easier for the supplier and buyer, but also encourage better supplier participation and communication, ultimately building stronger supplier and buyer relationships. In our upcoming 2014 eProcurement report, we also found that the improvement of one aspect of the process, like visibility into POs and active expenditure, can have rippling effects throughout the rest of the procure-to-pay life-cycle, and improve a company’s productivity in the future. ADP’s enhancements are all in areas of the P2P process that can majorly increase the efficiency of other areas—to focus on improving these parts of their solution is a best practice in the arena of solution design.

ADP plans to release several other enhancements to their P2P solution in the coming months. Their goal as they design their products is to create evolving integration capabilities and deliver comprehensive functionality. This is exactly what PayStream looks for when searching the market for the best products—the recognition of coordination as a fundamental aspect in financial solutions, and the ability to create that attribute within the provider’s own designs.

For more insight into the vital aspects that go into a truly comprehensive P2P solution, download your copy of the 2014 EIPP report today, and look out for the upcoming eProcurement report later this month.

The EIPP Standards Advisory Board: Streamlining an Entire Industry

In recent weeks, PayStream Advisors has seen several instances of electronic invoicing expansion and growth both world-wide and industry-wide. From increasing adoption in the UK, to more systematic compliance in Latin America and the Middle East, it is clear that AP automation is on the move to becoming a global business standard. The latest development in this movement was seen last week when the Ocean Freight Industry EIPP Standards Advisory Board launched its own set of eInvoicing standards guidelines. This announcement marked a major landmark within a major trade for eInvoicing. SAB_Header_2.181113233

EIPP Standards Advisory Board is an independent organization comprised of ocean industry executives from around the world. Through research and regulation, they seek to enhance processes in Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP). The new guidelines will focus on key handling processes and required data elements for invoice and credit note presentment, and their aim will be to establish a standard for the ocean shipping industry to improve how electronic messages exchanged between parties should be prepared, transmitted and received.

The guidelines will cover invoice processing, credit note processing, and EDI messaging guidelines within the ocean freight industry. For invoice processing and credit note processing, the guidelines will support the automation of many key functions, including acknowledgement, routing, verification, payment and accounting, and tax reporting and auditing. The EDI messaging guidelines will provide standards for data transmittance and format structure.

For companies operating in the ocean freight industry, these new standards guidelines are very welcome. “As a global logistics and transport company, we count on fast and efficient collaboration to expedite business,” said Leendert Vis, Chief Information Officer of JF Hillebrand, “and standardized processes make it easier to collaborate internally, as well as with external partners and customers. For instance, we count on electronic invoicing to avoid manual data entry and enable automated error detection when the invoice doesn’t match our anticipated charges. By establishing these guidelines for e-invoicing, we are laying the foundation for standards driving greater automation, resulting in improved cost-savings and accelerated processes.”

With an AR landscape that is constantly evolving, today’s AR departments are challenged to accomplish more with existing, or even shrinking, resources. By enforcing regulations and streamlining EIPP processing in an entire industry, the EIPP Standards Advisory Board is making a bold move that will be beneficial for many organizations.

For those seeking more information on EIPP movement, PayStream Advisors is currently developing a market discovery report on Electronic Presentment and Payment (EIPP) solutions. This report will explore the trends, challenges, and innovations within EIPP solutions, and it is intended to help AR, Treasury and IT buyers make vendor and technology selection decisions as they evaluate new EIPP automation strategies and solutions. Look for the release of the EIPP report this Q3.