This article considers the true cost of processing paper invoices, examines a variety of e-commerce alternatives and proposes a flexible and innovative solution for the REAL world.

Introduction

Most companies run a pretty tight ship. A typical manufacturing company may have streamlined its staffing costs, reduced the administration overhead, installed, set up manufacturing partners in China and perhaps started selling products and services over the web. They’ve worked hard to maintain their competitiveness and are proud of their achievements… and so they should be.

But, walk into any company, large or small, and you’ll still find an accounts team processing paper invoices. Ok, some of the large organisations have invested heavily in e-Business initiatives, document management software, electronic trading portals or perhaps EDI (Electronic Data Interchange); but when you dig a little deeper there are still paper invoices creeping in through the backdoor. It’s often the small suppliers and customers who create the problem. They can’t and won’t invest thousands of pounds in new technology and business procedures. They don’t have the volume, the cash or the inclination to make it work. We all accept that processing a paper invoice is crazy in this day and age, but how do you create a strategy to deal with the real world.

The Small Guy

So here’s the problem: we need an e-Business solution which will cope with our largest suppliers but we also need an e-Business solution which will cope with the “Small Guy”, a company with 5 employees running Sage Line 50.

What’s out there?

Before we can consider a way forward, we need to consider what invoicing methods are already out there. So let’s consider the pros and cons of each. The table below isn’t designed to be a definitive guide, more a way of considering each option and the suitability to the “Small Guy”.

Post Paper Invoices

Cost to Send: High – at least