Achieving low cost per transaction in Accounts Payable (AP) requires effort on many fronts, including getting low dollar non-inventory items onto a purchasing card, increasing the first pass match rate, and perhaps of greatest importance, high rates of processing using either a form of Evaluated Receipts Settlement or the electronic receipt of invoices.  In fact, benchmarking performance for AP suggests that about half of the first quartile performers have a first pass match rate of over 95%, with more than 90% of their invoices received electronically. 

Using iPolling^TM, a Peeriosity member was able to quickly discover the wide range of third-party options being used by other members for electronic invoice processing, with many members providing detailed and candid comments about their current solution and their plans for the future.  As illustrated in the chart below, 52% of member companies are using a third-party provider for their electronic invoicing solution in AP, with the remaining 48% either not using electronic invoicing, or using a solution that was developed internally. What’s remarkable is that respondents identified 10 different providers as their current solution for electronic invoicing. 

The follow-up iPolling question asked the 53% of companies that are using a third-party provider to rate their level of satisfaction with the provider.  The results indicate that 47% are either satisfied or very satisfied, with 24% unsatisfied with performance and 29% reporting that it is too early to tell.

Because Peeriosity members are participating as a part of a private research community where consultants and vendors are not eligible, iPolling participants can be completely candid with their responses.  Additionally, because Peeriosity members have full visibility of respondents and their responses, it is easy to correlate satisfaction levels associated with specific vendors.  Here are some of the added comments that provide insight into member experiences with the various options available: 

·         We use SPS that feeds into an OCR called Captiva, which is not really meeting our needs.

·         We are using HP’s Business Exchange Service as our B2B Hub/third-party partner. They in turn are heavily partnered with OB10 and have interconnections with 32 other vans/networks. We have started up in 16 countries for 6 months now. The current program is evaluated as “fair progress”.

·         We are currently using both Xign and Coupa, but Xign is being decommissioned later this year so we will be migrating completely to Coupa.  We are satisfied.

·         We have partnered with Ariba in North America and OB10 in Europe. Ariba is responsive and supportive, although there are opportunities to improve innovation and the cost structure/value proposition.  We are satisfied.

·         In Europe, we have been using the Readsoft application since 2006. There are plans and projects to roll this out to other regions (Asia, South America).  For the U.S., we use an in-house developed e-invoice application.  We are satisfied.

·         We use Direct Commerce Inc. as our e-invoicing partner. With their help, we’ve achieved greater than 90% electronic enrollment in the US. We have an EDI connection with them to receive invoice files and are extremely satisfied with them overall.

·         We have a single instance of SAP. We selected Taulia for the e-commerce/vendor portal and Dolphin for our Invoice Management Tool. We are in process of implementing now with going live to start next month. So far, we are very satisfied with what we see. Taulia/Dolphin is a common pairing and they were rated better than SAP/Ariba by our internal assessment team.

·         We use Oracle Imaging and Process Management in our North America and Asia shared service centers.  We are satisfied.

·         We do not have an electronic invoicing solution.

·         We implemented Taulia last year and have been very pleased with their support and results to date.

·         We do not have an e-invoicing solution at this time, however, we are exploring the Ariba Solution.

·         OB10 is expensive for both the supplier and the company, and it is expensive to change your configuration. We are looking into other solutions (EDI, Elemica, e-mail invoices).

·         A decision was recently made to build all e-invoicing capabilities in-house using SAP core solutions vs. third-party provided solutions.

·         We will be using Basware. Having attended the EXPP Summit in Warsaw, Poland last fall, I found them to be global in nature (North America, EMEA, Asia & South America), well regarded after talking with the Gartner expert, and with great solution options that fit for Payables processes and systems.

·         We are an SAP shop. We don’t have an e-invoicing solution yet, but the three under consideration now are Ariba, OB10, and TradeShift.

Does your company use a third-party provider as an electronic invoicing solution for AP?  If yes, how satisfied are you with their performance?

Who are your peers and how are you collaborating with them?

 “iPolling^TM” is available exclusively to Peeriosity member company employees, with consultants or vendors prohibited from participating or accessing content. Members have full visibility of all respondents and their comments. Using Peeriosity’s integrated e-mail system, Peer Mail^TM, members can easily communicate at any time with others who participate in iPolling.