Chrome River Technologies, a leading provider of expense management and automated invoice processing software, recently announced that Chrome River EXPENSE provides enhanced capabilities that support compliance with the National Physician Payment Transparency Program: Open Payments (formerly referred to as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act).

Open Payments was designed to create greater transparency and increase public awareness around the financial relationships in the health care market. The act requires pharmaceutical, biological product, medical device, medical supply companies and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to track and report payments and any financial relationships between specific physicians and teaching hospitals. These payments include travel expenses, meals, entertainment, consulting fees, and research payments.

An annual report must be submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of all information regarding these payments that will publicly publish and conduct audits of the data submitted to ensure accuracy and transparency. Substantial monetary penalties up to $1,000,000 may be imposed on organizations that fail to report or report inaccurate data. As a result of these new regulations, healthcare and life sciences organizations will need software that uniquely identifies each physician related to certain expenses that come through their expense reporting process.

Chrome River EXPENSE can now help by making it easy for organizations to track and report accurate expense payment data in order to comply with the impending regulation and avoid stiff penalties. Chrome River’s EXPENSE online service supports the assignment and allocation of expense amounts to various types of attendees and recipients of expense spend. With Chrome River’s Healthcare lookup, the entire CMS government database of providers along with all of their associated data is immediately available to expense report users, making it easy for organizations to comply with the regulations that are fast approaching in August 2013.

Click here to view the entire Chrome River press release.

Download a complimentary copy of PayStream Advisors 2013 Travel and Expense Benchmark report to learn more about Chrome River’s expense management solution.  The report features a detailed Chrome River profile and case study.

Esker, a worldwide leader in document process automation solutions and an SAP® software solution and technology partner, today announced a strategic partnership with Taulia Inc., the market-leading SaaS platform for Dynamic Discounting and eInvoicing.

As the first SaaS solution for Accounts Payable (AP) processes fully integrated with SAP solutions, the Esker on Demand AP automation solution combines intelligent capture, “touchless” processing and electronic workflow capabilities to improve oversight and end-to-end control of the AP process. In turn, Taulia’s Business Exchange helps organizations generate massive savings, strengthen supplier relationships and reinvest in their supply chain through their innovative Dynamic Discounting and supplier self-service solutions.

“We are looking forward to leveraging this partnership to deliver a complete automation solution, offering full supplier visibility into invoice approvals as well as the ability to get paid faster in exchange for early payment discounts,” said Bertram Meyer, CEO of Taulia. “Our customers can greatly benefit from our aligned strategies to solve major automation challenges, simplify workflow processes and reduce expenses.”

Co-presentations at upcoming ASUG Chapter Meetings

As sponsors of two upcoming ASUG (Americas’ SAP Users’ Group) Chapter Meetings in July, Esker and Taulia will team up to demonstrate the benefits of cloud-based invoicing by referencing real-world examples of leading organizations who have moved from legacy invoicing and manual workflow systems to full AP automation in the cloud. Learn more about the benefits of cloud-based AP invoicing by joining one these upcoming events:

• ASUG Colorado Chapter Meeting: Friday, July 19 at Coors in Golden, CO
• ASUG Pacific Northwest Chapter Meeting: Thursday, July 25 at Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, OR

Click here to view the entire Esker/Taulia press release.  To learn more about Esker and Taulia, log onto PayStream Advisors Research Vault.

Hubwoo, one of the world’s leading open business network providers, recently announced that Microsoft has selected The Business Network by Hubwoo for catalog management to improve spend compliance for Microsoft employees globally.

Microsoft, headquartered in Redmond, WA, is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft is deploying Hubwoo’s catalog management in the cloud to transform the efficiency and end-user experience for procurement across the company’s 90,000 plus employees and contractors, with the key objective to drive bottom line savings.

“The Business Network’s catalog management and search capabilities went through a thorough business and technology proof of concept to meet Microsoft’s stringent requirements,” said Christian Pedersen, General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics. “We are pleased to extend the strategic partnership with Hubwoo to also include our own employees’ use of The Business Network for Microsoft Dynamics®.”

Catalog & Search, a module within The Business Network by Hubwoo, allows buyers to find both goods and services in a centralized, pre-approved, multi-supplier search engine and place orders as easily as they would for online consumer purchases. Hubwoo manages over 100 million line items of goods and services catalogs in the cloud, the largest in the B2B industry.

Catalog & Search includes the following functions:

The Catalog Search Engine aggregates supplier catalogs, internal services, stock levels, contract information, and supplier-hosted catalogs. With this powerful search engine, employees enjoy a one-stop requisitioning experience, searching by keyword, category and other criteria to find the goods and services they need to perform their duties. Procurement and finance professionals benefit by controlling the approved goods and services that departments or individuals have access to.

Catalog Manager is a cloud solution that allows buyers and suppliers to collaborate on the process of publishing and approving catalog and content data. Catalog Manager for suppliers includes a content and catalog authoring tool that allows suppliers to upload new catalogs, make updates to existing catalogs and manage content templates. Catalog Manager for buyers acts as a staging area where category managers can easily find, filter and approve proposed catalog content from suppliers before publishing to employees.

Hubwoo is a global ISV partner of Microsoft Dynamics®, who together market The Business Network for Microsoft Dynamics®. The program pairs Hubwoo’s global cloud business network for B2B commerce with industry-leading ERP solution Microsoft Dynamics®, extending the Dynamics community to the over one million companies already on The Business Network today.

Click here to view the entire Hubwoo press release.

Invoice Central 2.0, adding new features to its groundbreaking, cloud-based business invoice network. The additions, which offer benefits for both vendors and their small-to-medium business (SMB) customers, include a new invoice data import capability for bill recipients; a new Open Balance functionality that reflects all forms of payments made; and the ability to seamlessly link with leading Accounts Payable networks OB10 and Avidxchange.

Introduced in 2012, Invoice Central gives SMBs a one-stop, SaaS-based approach to electronic billing and payment, simplifying invoice management by replacing multiple forms of delivery (e.g., paper, multiple emails and multiple websites). It also serves as a cost saver, helping bill recipients avoid late fees, maximize early-pay discounts, and boost workflow efficiency.

For vendors, Invoice Central delivers a fully electronic billing and payment solution that allows them to automate the billing and payment posting and reconciliation process. Invoice Central delivers an easy-to-deploy eReceivables solution.

Version 2.0 of Invoice Central adds new capabilities that make it even easier to manage the receipt and payment of invoices. Specifics include:

• Easy Import—This new feature lets users download invoices directly into common accounting packages in three popular file formats: QuickBooks, PDF, and .csv. What’s more, invoices from multiple vendors can be downloaded as a single file though Invoice Central. Easy Import can save small businesses hours of staff time every week versus keying in invoicing data manually. Additional accounting packages will be added throughout 2013.
• Open Balance—A new Amount Due column reflects all payments made by the business customer—mailed-in checks, cash in the branch, phone payments and Invoice Central payments—as well as adjustments made by the vendor. By showing the most up-to-date balance due, Open Balance benefits vendors and recipients alike by reducing unnecessary calls and inquiries.
• Accounts Payable Networks—In addition to direct delivery of invoices from individual vendors, Invoice Central now supports delivery of invoices through OB10 and Avidxchange, two leading A/P networks. Through the new connectivity, vendors can seamlessly deliver invoices via the customer’s preferred channel, thereby increasing efficiencies.

Click here to view the entire Billtrust press release.

Download a complimentary copy of PayStream Advisors Electronic Supplier Payments report to learn more about the benefits of electronic supplier payments.  Stay tuned for PayStream’s Q3 2013 Electronic Supplier Payments report that will feature updated statistics, trends, and solution providers in this space.