E-Invoicing: First Comes the Hard Work, Then Comes the win - Part 2
Table of contents:
- How can e-invoicing be successfully mastered?
- What does e-invoicing mean for our invoicing processes?
- Conclusions
How can e-invoicing be successfully mastered?
Introduction of e-invoicing is a major challenge for many companies. According to the online magazine "Beschaffung-aktuell.industrie", the difficulties encountered are predominantly1:
- Technical adjustments
- Training of staff
- Compatibility between the systems
- Various safety aspects
These challenges have to be tackled successfully. It is important to select the right strategy for the specific requirements and structures of your own company. According to e-invoicing expert Martin Bannik (AFI Solutions), there are four basic approaches to be considered:
1. „Do it yourself“
The company builds up all the necessary skills internally (see Fig. 1). In addition to the initial expertise, this approach also requires knowledge to be continuously maintained and developed. Given the current shortage of skilled labor, the “do-it-yourself approach” can be particularly challenging.
Fig. 1 Customer expertise / internal
2. Deployment of converters
Many converters serve as tools when it comes to the conversion of e-invoices. There is a wide range: some are simple tools that enable manual conversion from PDF to e-invoice formats. Others are complex solutions, such as the SAP eDocument Cockpit.2 Even if converters are helpful tools in the implementation of e-invoices, a large part of the necessary expertise and responsibility remains within the company:
- Mapping
- Tech. modifications
- Storage of addressing
- Legibility
- Access Points
- Monitoring
- SAP integration
(see Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Expertise in the use of converters
3. EDI providers
EDI providers are companies that specialize in electronic data interchange (EDI) and provide corresponding services.3 They can be compared to a kind of specialized workshop that efficiently covers a specific task area. A qualified EDI provider can take on many of the necessary tasks and competencies. These include, for example, mapping, technical changes, Access Points and conversion. However, there are limitations: they usually only cover one specific area of expertise. Many of the skills mentioned are therefore not considered. For example, deep ERP integration is normally not provided. Furthermore, the management of storage, addressing and legibility of documents still has to be performed internally (see Fig. 3). In addition, there is at most one technical monitor outside the company's own ERP for monitoring purposes.
Fig. 3 Expertise in the deployment of EDI providers
4. Single Point of Business
AFI Solutions relies on the so-called Single Point of Business approach and provides all the necessary competencies from a single source. Let's return to the workshop comparison: in contrast to the tools (converters) and the specialist workshop (EDI provider), AFI Solutions is the brand workshop. It provides comprehensive support in all relevant areas. Only the technical monitoring of invoices continues to be performed internally (see Fig. 4), with appropriate monitors for the respective SAP landscape also being provided for this purpose.
Fig. 4 Expertise in deploying the Single Point of Business approach (AFI Solutions)
What does e-invoicing mean for our invoicing processes?
Regardless of the selected approach, the impact of e-invoicing on your own processes needs to be analyzed. The initial focus is on the challenges, which can be reduced depending on the method chosen. In addition, the use of various tools is helpful to simplify processes. Examples include Solutions for the integration of documents or attachments into SAP or Tools for updating the VAT IDs of buisness partners. The processes are also influenced by the specifications for mandatory fields in the e-invoice formats. It is to be checked whether the existing processes provide the required information. Furthermore, it is necessary to evaluate how complex invoicing processes (e.g., construction invoices) can be integrated into the e-invoice.
E-invoices provide perfect data quality. This can be used to promote the automation of processes on the recipient side. Data that could not be reliably read by the recognition software in the past (e.g., item texts) can then be used efficiently.
Conclusions
What this all amounts to is that the successful introduction of e-invoices requires careful preparation. The targeted selection of a suitable provider and the use of various tools can facilitate integration. E-invoicing provides numerous opportunities to advance the automation of processes.
It is crucial to address the topic of e-invoicing at an early stage and to plan the necessary steps in detail. AFI Solutions will be happy to support you in this process. Please contact us for comprehensive and non-binding consulting:
Your expert
Martin Bannik
+49 711 26892 - 0
3 https://ecosio.com/de/blog/wozu-brauche-ich-einen-edi-dienstleister/
