Other than paper companies, everyone wants to get rid of paper in the purchasing and payment process. Buyers' and suppliers' are keen to resolve the processing issues that slow the approval and settlement cycle. Consider this -- for many companies it costs over $15.00 to process a single invoice. Moreover, your AP staff is burdened with labor intensive tasks instead of strategic value-added activities like searching for fraud and duplicate payments. Today 75 percent of AP staffs time is spent manually entering invoice information, invoice matching and reconciliation, tracking invoice status and dispute resolution.

While imaging systems scan the paper upon receipt, Web Invoicing technologies promise to streamline the entire process by automating the receipt, approval and payment process. Your vendors can electronically submit their invoices, which are matched to purchasing and receiving information. Invoices can be routed to managers for approval, based on pre-defined business rules, and a notification is sent to vendors when their invoices have been approved. Web Invoicing solutions can even allow authorized users (including suppliers) to check the status of any invoice. The comprehensive audit trail provided by these solutions facilitates regulatory compliance and eliminates the hassles of dispute resolution.
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PayStream Advisors actively works with corporate managers to provide them with deep insights and neutral viewpoints about available solutions in the market.

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The realities of web invoicing are more complicated. Today, less than tweleve percent of Fortune 500 companies are utilizing web invoicing solutions, and the number is growing a lot slower than anyone would like. The reasons are pretty simple – changing the systems and existing processes is difficult. Thus far, implementation of these systems is dominated by the largest of companies and governments who already have shared service center environments, approval workflow and have some control over their supplies due to their size or influence. While the benefits of web invoicing are immediate and apparent – lower processing costs, ability to take advantage of prompt payment discounts and improved vendor relations, the adoption will continue to be moderate due to lack of infrastructure to support new processes and supplier constraints.

Even with these barriers, web invoicing is an important consideration for any company evaluating automation solutions. Combined with other automation efforts, Web Invoicing will continue to chip away at the mountain of paper in AP – and push us closer to a fully automated AP process. Until then, paper and printing companies still reign supreme.

PayStream will release its groundbreaking Web Invoicing & Electronic Payments Buyer's Guide in Early 2005. Stay tuned to receive a copy of this 50 page technology and business overview report.

PayStream Advisors actively researches the solutions industry to remain abreast of the latest developments and to provide Enterprise managers with the information needed to make informed decisions about payables automation tools.

Our industry reports reflect our analysts' unbiased view of purchasing and payables trends and practices, and further provide insights on the providers who are shaping the future of the industry. The primary objective of this report is to help A/P professionals understand Web Invoicing and distinguish among vendors in the Invoice Management and e-Payment industry by detailing the solutions that they offer.

Please contact our research department if you would like more information about this report.