Monthly Archives: December 2013

Allied Payment Network Teams Up with ACI Worldwide

Allied Payment Network, a provider of online and mobile bill payment services to the financial industry, recently announced that is has partnered with ACI Worldwide, an international provider of electronic payment and banking systems, to offer same-day bill payment capabilities through Allied’s mobile photo bill pay solution, Picture Pay. Picture Pay will integrate with the ACI Bill Payment Engine and proprietary Biller Endpoint Network (BEN), an electronic biller network that delivers millions of payments to more than 9,000 electronic biller endpoints each month.

 

By seamlessly integrating with the ACI Bill Payment Engine, Picture Pay’s end users now have the added convenience of a same-day payment option to immediately process a bill payment. With Picture Pay, mobile banking users simply take a picture of any bill with their smartphone, enter the amount and payment date, and the bill is paid. Picture Pay’s technology reads the data from the bill, and then syncs with the user’s bank or credit union to process the payment. Picture Pay’s standardized bill payment option typically takes one to three days.

With premium same-day and next-day payment options, financial institutions will not only give their customers more control over the timing of their payments, but it will generate new revenue for the institution. Expedited payments also enable financial institutions’ customers to retain their funds for as long as possible while avoiding penalties.

Click here to view the entire Allied Payment Network press release.

To learn more about electronic payments, download a complimentary copy of PayStream Advisors 2013 ePayments report.  The report includes detailed solution profiles and case studies.

Leading Hospital System Selects Basware for e-Invoicing, AP Automation

Basware, a leading provider of e-invoicing and purchase-to-pay solutions, recently announced that Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), one of the largest non-profit hospital systems in the U.S., has selected Basware Accounts Payable Automation and e-invoicing solutions to efficiently process the more than two million invoices it receives annually. Basware’s solutions, which will be implemented in CHI facilities across the U.S., will speed up invoice processing and reduce costs.

“We are pleased to provide solutions that will help CHI increase visibility and control of AP processes and improve working capital management,” said Michael Cassano, Basware VP of Sales, North America. “By enhancing its processes and gaining efficiencies, the organization also will increase accuracy and mobility and realize cost savings, as well as gain insight into actionable purchase-to-pay data.”

CHI will implement key services provided within the Basware Accounts Payable Automation and e-invoicing services offerings, including invoice automation with matching capabilities, data analytics, mobile technology, a supplier portal, and e-invoicing receiving solutions. Basware Accounts Payable Automation will be implemented via Software as a Service (SaaS) on Basware Alusta, a unified cloud-based platform for purchase to pay. Additionally, CHI will conduct e-invoicing over the Basware Commerce Network, which enables buyers and sellers to transmit e-invoices anywhere in the world in real-time. To maximize the cost-savings and advantages of e-invoicing for the company as well as its trading partners, Basware will help CHI to onboard its suppliers to the Basware Commerce Network.

Click here to view the entire Basware press release.

Download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s 2013 Invoice and Workflow Automation Benchmark report to learn more about Basware and the benefits of electronic invoicing.  The report includes a detailed Basware profile.

Healthcare professionals exploring P2P automation can also download PayStream’s 2013 Healthcare ePayables report titled Curing Inefficiencies in the Healthcare Payments Market.

Paychex Launches New Cloud Accounting Application

Paychex, Inc., a provider of payroll, human resource, insurance, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), recently introduced a new product line with the launch of Paychex Accounting Online – simple, secure cloud accounting for small businesses.

Paychex Accounting Online is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) accounting solution that is intuitive and accessible directly through the cloud.  Subscribers can access the online accounting product through all major Internet browsers or through a free companion iPad® app.

“Paychex’s entry into the cloud accounting market reflects our commitment to providing small businesses with products they need to succeed, and it complements our industry-leading payroll and HR solutions by expanding our suite of services designed specifically for new businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and chief executive officer

Mucci added, “Our research shows that for most new businesses, determining how to manage their finances is one of the first decisions they make – even before hiring their first employee. We also found they want simpler tools and, ultimately, integration between accounting and payroll. Paychex saw an opportunity to help these businesses through the early stages of their business lifecycle, by leveraging our strengths and delivering an easy-to-use cloud accounting solution.”

Paychex Accounting Online automates invoicing and billing, tracks expenses and income, and provides small business owners with real-time visibility of their cash flow and financial position. Specialized accounting knowledge or experience isn’t required.

The cloud accounting solution also benefits accountants and business advisors, as it allows real-time collaboration with their clients. Additionally, Paychex Accounting Online gives business owners an easy way to manage financial records, which eases accountants’ year-end burden and lets them focus on the advisory aspects of their practice.

Paychex has partnered with Kashoo, a leading cloud accounting provider, to create and deliver Paychex Accounting Online. Paychex last month announced a strategic partnership and equity investment in Kashoo.

“By leveraging Kashoo’s years of experience and industry expertise, we are able to offer new businesses a simple, easily accessible cloud accounting application they need now, and then support those businesses as they start to grow and hire with our full suite of payroll and HR solutions,” said Andy Childs, Paychex vice president of marketing.

Click here to view the entire Paychex press release.

Cloud-based payroll services like the Paychex solution are becoming increasingly popular in the SME market, as more enterprises strive to free up human and capital resources that could be better utilized for developing and implementing value-added strategic business initiatives.

Payroll and human resources (HR) are common starting points for outsourcing business operations, which make them one of the most outsourced administrative tasks, estimated to reach $162 billion by the year 2015, according to Outsourcing Insider.  As a result of the growing payroll and HR provider market, PayStream Advisors is developing a Technology Insight report for finance professionals who are actively seeking information regarding outsourcing payroll processing and HR services, in an effort to improve productivity and simplify administration.

This upcoming report will provide valuable insights into emerging payroll technology and HR services that provide companies with the much needed relief from day-to-day administration processes, so they can focus on their core business.  The report will provide current payroll and HR trends, statistics and a detailed view of current payroll and HR outsourcing providers and their product/service offering.

The Outsourced Payroll and Human Resources report is slated for Q1 2014.

ReadSoft Signs Agreement with Global Manufacturer

After a global selection process a high-end apparel manufacturer has chosen ReadSoft’s SAP®-certified invoice automation solution to process over a million electronic and paper invoices and other documents in its global shared service center operations. The license, services and maintenance agreement signed is worth an initial 1.1 Million Euros and was signed in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The customer is consolidating its operations across many countries into a global shared service center to handle both the volume of invoices processed and multiple other business processes, with the ultimate aim of benefiting from the elimination of manual processing and driving up automation rates in its P2P processes. They are simultaneously moving to a single SAP instance for all global operations. ReadSoft has also provided a platform to handle business documents and information to deliver multi-channel process automation.

The desire to centralize back-office operations while maintaining multiple manufacturing locations was the key part of the project. ReadSoft was chosen as the best solution to enable common financial processes both across multiple SAP environments, while moving easily to a single instance and replacing a number of other third party systems as part of the global standardization.

The chosen solutions, ReadSoft PROCESS DIRECTOR for SAP and the ReadSoft platform for multi-channel input management are a modular way to handle not just AP processes but a multitude of business process automation tasks such as delivery notes, sales orders, or remittance advices and provide a platform for automating many core business processes globally.

Click here to view the entire ReadSoft press release.

Download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s report titled SAP Automation Solutions: Platform as a Service to learn more about ReadSoft’s AP automation solutions.  The report includes a detailed profile and case study on ReadSoft and their solution functionality.

GEP and Hubwoo Team Up to Unlock Customers’ Full Savings Potential

Hubwoo, a leading open business network provider, and GEP, a leading global provider of procurement services and procurement software to Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises worldwide, recently announced that they are partnering to deliver best in class source-to-pay solutions in the cloud.

GEP and Hubwoo have agreed to leverage each other’s strengths to provide a joint source-to-pay solution native to cloud, mobile, and touch technologies, and already connected to over one million businesses.

The joint solution will combine GEP’s game-changing sourcing and procurement solution, SMART by GEP, a comprehensive, unified source-to-pay platform  – including spend analytics, sourcing, contract management, supplier performance management and purchasing – native to cloud, touch and mobile technologies, with The Business Network by Hubwoo, an open B2B collaboration and catalog management hub that provides mass supplier enablement.  Suppliers on the network will be able to collaborate on orders, invoices, RFQs, catalogs and other processes directly with buyers on the SMART by GEP platform.

The GEP-Hubwoo combination draws upon the strengths of two highly-seasoned providers to offer a very competitive source-to-pay solution that includes an integrated network,” according to Andrew Bartolini, Chief Research Officer at Ardent Partners, a noted advisory firm specializing in supply chain management. “This is a great example of a technology partnership where the sum can be greater than its parts.” 

Greg Mark, CEO of Hubwoo said: “Hubwoo is pleased to partner with the most innovative source-to-pay solution suite in the enterprise market.”  Subhash Makhija, CEO of GEP said, “This partnership is especially beneficial for those customers in need of an end-to-end procurement platform with a supplier network that can unlock the savings potential from their entire supply base.

Click here to view the entire Hubwoo press release.

Download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s Electronic Invoice Adoption Benchmark report to learn more about Hubwoo’s solution.  The report includes a detailed Hubwoo profile.  To learn more about procurement automation solutions, download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s eProcurement report.

 

Billtrust and Open Scan Partner To Integrate B2B Billing/Remittance Processing Solutions

Billtrust, a leading outsourced billing services provider, and Open Scan Technologies, Inc. recently announced a technology alliance to link their Order-to-Cash (O2C) solutions. By linking Billtrust’s EIPP service (Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment) with Open Scan’s Dynamic Receivables cash flow processing platform, the two firms offer companies greater value as data feeds and remittance data are seamlessly consolidated.

The integration of Open Scan and Billtrust technologies not only facilitates transfer of billing and remittance data, but also creates an end-to-end O2C infrastructure for billers operating in the B2B (business-to-business) space. The combined services offer features that benefit billers and their customers including account linking, rules-based payment routing, short-pay capability, decoupled payment correlation, payment importing from lockbox/scanned/electronic sources, and much more.

Billtrust’s services provide a fully integrated paper and electronic Web delivery platform for invoicing. The hosted SaaS solution, easy to implement and easy for customers to access and use, allows bills to be viewed online in standard PDF format, downloaded into leading accounting packages, and paid electronically. Billtrust is PCI Level 1 Compliant and SSAE16 Audited to ensure the highest levels of security.

Open Scan’s A/R solution suite significantly reduces operational costs and improves efficiency for those businesses that receive complex B2B wholesale payments. Its Dynamic Receivables cash flow processing platform imports payment information from lockbox, scanned and electronic sources, and then reconciles that data using sophisticated processing engines. Finally, it exports validated data to ERP systems, financial institutions and receivables archives.

“The Order-to-Cash process is one of the most important yet time- and labor-intensive practices for most businesses. The integration of Billtrust payment remittance information with Open Scan’s Dynamic Receivables will create huge efficiencies and cost savings for our joint customers,” said Nadine Lange, Open Scan Technologies President and CEO.

“Open Scan Technologies shares our deep commitment to helping billers lower their operational costs, reduce processing errors, improve cash flow, and raise customer service levels,” commented Flint Lane, Billtrust CEO and President. “This partnership further extends that commitment, providing an end-to-end and highly reliable platform that far outperforms in-house alternatives.”

Click here to view the Billtrust press release.

To learn more about Accounts Receivable automation solutions, download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s Receivables Document Management report titled Maintaining Tight Control Over the Entire Order-to-Cash Process.  

Nipendo Automates Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) P2P Process

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has revealed it is now managing its entire procurement and financial activities with its suppliers in a paperless and automated environment using the Nipendo Supplier Cloud platform.

Over 3,000 suppliers use the platform to electronically exchange over 20,000 documents each month – from RFPs through purchase orders and invoices to payment confirmations – creating an efficient and environmentally-friendly process with saving of up to 50% in operational resources compared to the manual procure-to-pay process previously in place.

This transformation is enabled by the Nipendo Supplier Cloud platform, which allows organizations to electronically collaborate with all of their trading partners while enabling seamless integration with their ERP systems.

The Nipendo platform validates invoices in real-time, allowing suppliers to immediately correct any discrepancies and facilitating an errorless end-to-end process from the supplier to the IAI SAP system. Using the Nipendo platform, IAI suppliers realize significant benefits that include shorter time to payment and complete visibility to invoice and payment approval status.

Suppliers that connect to the Nipendo platform can immediately and simultaneously issue electronic invoices and exchange trading documents with any of the buyer organizations using Nipendo. Over 15,000 suppliers utilize the Nipendo platform to exchange tens of thousands of electronic documents each month, facilitating over $5B in procurement a year.

In addition, suppliers have access to a wide-range of value-added benefits offered by Nipendo’s partners, including invoice factoring, business intelligence capabilities, access to online RFPs, and other related services.

“By electronically receiving and processing over 90% of our supplier invoices, IAI is putting to practice the idea of the paperless organization,” said Gabi Ben-Shlush, IAI Head of Accounting. “This is a true revolution which allows us to improve collaboration with our suppliers, establish efficient and cost-effective supply chain integration, and most importantly, dramatically reduce errors that were caused due to manual interactions along the supply chain.”

Click here to view the entire Nipendo press release.

Mark your calendars to check back in mid-January 2014 for PayStream’s Electronic Invoice Technology Insight report.  The report will include a detailed profile on Nipendo’s solution functionality.

 

Chrome River Named as One of the Fastest Growing Companies in North America

Chrome River Technologies, a leading provider of expense management software and automated invoice processing, recently announced it ranked No. 81 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America. Chrome River grew 2,319 percent during that time period.

“Chrome River attributes its revenue growth to offering companies an easy-to-use, innovative service that delivers complete process automation and cost controls around a company’s accounts payable operations, said Alan Rich, Chrome River’s co-founder and CEO. “We also credit our growth to being adaptable to the fast-changing marketplace by offering the latest in internet technologies.”

The 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 companies are exemplary cases of those spurring growth in a tough market through innovation,” said Eric Openshaw, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP and U.S. technology, media and communications leader. “This year’s list is a who’s who of companies behind the most exciting and innovative products and services in the technology space. We congratulate the Fast 500 companies and look forward to what they do next.”

“The fastest growing companies in the US are drivers of constant innovation and operate with the agility to stay ahead of a quickly evolving marketplace, and software, biotech/pharma and internet companies continue to be at the forefront,” added James Atwell, national managing partner of the Emerging Growth Company practice, Deloitte Services LP. “The companies excelling in these sectors have a startup mentality that allows them to be nimble and adapt quickly, which is why they consistently lead the list of fast-growing companies each year.”

Overall, 2013 Technology Fast 500™ companies achieved revenue growth ranging from 137 percent to 208,897 percent from 2008 to 2012, with an average growth of 2,600 percent.

Click here to view the entire Chrome River press release.

To learn more about Chrome River download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s 2013 Invoice and Workflow Automation report.  The report includes a detailed Chrome River profile.

Ariba Network Continues to Grow

Ariba, an SAP company, is set to close the books on another banner year, as companies around the world continue to plug in to the Ariba® Network to enable new forms of collaboration and transform their business. More than 1.2 million companies in 190 countries are now connected to the Ariba Network. And they’re using it to transact and collaborate around more than half a trillion in commerce. That makes Ariba the largest and most global web-based trading community in the world.

“Bigger isn’t always better. But when it comes to networks, size definitely matters,” says Andrew Bartolini, Chief Research Officer for research and advisory firm Ardent Partners.

Why? Consider Facebook. Consumers use the social network to manage their personal connections because all of their friends are on it. When it comes to managing commerce, companies need a similar platform that allows them to connect and collaborate with all of their trading partners across business processes anytime, from any device, in any part of the world.

As Bartolini notes in his recent report Selecting the Right Network, “True business networks are many-to-many platforms that not only connect participants through a shared infrastructure, but also enable new collaboration and process types.” And he adds that “Standalone supplier portals are generally constrained from reaching an optimal level of value unless they are connected to a business network.”

With connected members from more than 190 countries, the Ariba Network is an open, global business network that supports the entire commerce process from source to settle and has business logic and workflow built in, so partners can execute collaborative processes in real-time.

Where the World Does Business

Companies around the globe continue to flock to the Ariba Network and leverage the cloud-based applications delivered on it to extend their existing systems and the value they deliver. During the third quarter of 2013, for instance, EMC selected SAP’s cloud solutions – including offerings from Ariba and SuccessFactors – to achieve better visibility and collaboration with its suppliers and attract and better retain and reward employees.

HGST Inc., a Western Digital Company, selected Ariba’s Collaborative Commerce package alongside SAP Supply Network Collaboration to increase compliance and controls with catalog spend and transform accounts payable processes.

And Sage Health Solutions, a small company in South Africa tapped into the Ariba Network to manage its business with the South African government, which uses Ariba as its procurement platform. Then it signed on to Ariba Discovery to fuel growth among hospitals and private sector organizations. And the results have been impressive.

According to Sage Health Solutions Marketing Director Ruwaydah Tambe, 80 percent of the company’s business now comes from Ariba. “Since we began working with Ariba and receiving and responding to all of our tenders via email, we have been able to grow our business from almost nothing to a multi-million rand venture.”

As the pace of business accelerates and markets become increasingly global and competitive, Bartolini expects more companies to join outfits like Sage Health Solutions in embracing the Networked Economy. “In today’s business climate, innovation and agility are how market leaders are creating and maintaining competitive advantage,” he says. “And business networks will play an important role in driving it.”

Click here to view the entire Ariba press release.

Download a complimentary copy of PayStream’s 2013 Electronic Invoice Benchmark report to learn more about Ariba’s solution functionality.

 

Taulia Forms Strategic Partnership with Optima ECM Consulting

Taulia, a market-leading SaaS platform for supplier financing, recently announced that it has formed a partnership with Optima ECM Consulting, a specialized consulting firm providing in-depth expertise in the implementation of Enterprise Information Management using OpenText Solutions for SAP®. The partnership ensures that customers seeking to gain operational efficiencies and improve their current payables process benefit from superior implementation expertise and a best-in-class comprehensive technological platform.

“We are extremely excited to form this partnership with Optima ECM Consulting, who has a world- class reputation for assisting organizations with choosing and deploying OpenText Solutions for SAP® technologies,” said Mike Maglior, Director of Alliances. “Optima’s vast array of industry knowledge is a valuable asset to Taulia and we look forward to increasing our visibility and expanding our reach through this relationship.”

Optima ECM Consulting will provide product expertise, strategy consulting and implementation assistance for Taulia’s entire product suite. They will also be an official reseller of the solution, which includes Dynamic Discounting, eInvoicing and supplier self-services.

Optima ECM Consulting helps enterprises successfully choose and implement technical business solutions to achieve significant results and maximize the value of SAP® technologies. Optima has unparalleled expertise in strategy, design, implementation and management of SAP® Solutions by OpenText, including Data and Document Archiving, Document Access, Extended ECM for SAP and SAP Invoice Management.

“We are thrilled to partner with a best-in-class company like Taulia to provide our customers additional value and we are committed to ensuring our clients use the best solution to fully optimize and automate their Order to Cash processes,” said Shaney Salomon, CEO of Optima ECM Consulting. “Partnering with Taulia allows us to better meet the needs of our customers by providing them with a complementary solution to their SAP Invoice Management implementation that is flexible and scalable to fit their business needs.”

Click here to view the entire Taulia press release.

To learn more about Taulia’s solution, download a copy of PayStream’s 2013 Dynamic Discount Management: Moving Toward Mainstream report.  The report includes a detailed Taulia profile and case study.  In addition, stay tuned for the upcoming 2014 Electronic Invoice report that is scheduled to be published in January.  This report will include a detailed profile highlighting Taulia’s eInvoice solution.