Our Accounts Receivable solution involves e-Billing. This is the process of receiving data from a client’s accounting or ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and delivering the data to their clients via e-mail.

During the process, important information such as dates, invoice numbers and account numbers are extracted in order to match the correct pages with the client e-mail address.

Clients who wish to continue receiving their invoices in hardcopy format can be identified during the processing and continue to receive hardcopy.

The SP Process

  1. The client processes their invoice run inside ERP (SAP, Oracle Financials) or accounts system etc.
  2. Service Point provide PDF print driver software to create a single PDF file for the clients billing data.
  3. The PDF file is then uploaded to a Service Point server or alternatively it can be supplied via e-mail.
  4. The single invoice file is split into single pages.
  5. The e-Billing application then extracts metadata (i.e. invoice number, date, value etc) from the invoices.
  6. The invoices are then compiled into invoice sets, either single or multi page invoices. The application can also match other items e.g. statements with the invoices.
  7. The e-Billing application will attempt to match the extracted data such as an account number against with the client e-mail master list.
  8. If no e-mail matches the document it will be printed and sent via mail to the client.
  9. When the e-mail matches the document will be digitally signed and encrypted and sent to the client as a PDF.
  10. The client receives a summary of the log file showing number of pages processed and e-mails etc.
  11. All of the data (printed and e-mailed items) can be uploaded to our web hosted system (ImageSilo) or the clients document management or ERP system.
  12. Should an e-mail not reach it’s destination it will be bounced back to the billing originator for them to resolve.

And the Benefits for the Customer Include:

  • Able to take advantage of early payment discounts (if available) due to the ability to process invoices in a more timely fashion.
  • No need to store paper copies of invoices.
  • May provide benefits to the customer due to the fact that electronic invoices are easier and faster to process than a paper copy.

Why Our Accounts Receivable Solution?

The processing of sales invoicing as hard copies can be a costly process. Let’s look at some of the research facts;

  • Invoice Delivery - Forrester Research estimates that the variable paper and delivery cost of a traditional invoice is £1.53 (Gartner Research place it at £2.74) and that of an electronic delivered invoice is £0.28. This represents a huge saving of 82% per invoice!
  • Resolving Queries – Gartner Research estimates the cost of a manual invoice query is £27.40 as opposed to an electronic based process cost of £13.70, a saving of 50%.
  • Reprint Requests - Researchers from Giga Information Group found 8% of all invoices are followed by a demand from customers for a repeated invoice. E-Billing removes the need for reprinted invoices as duplicate copies can be downloaded by customers on demand.
  • Improved AR Efficiencies - The Hackett Group estimate that EIPP improves the efficiency of account receivable processing by 33%.
  • Releasing Working Capital - Electronic Payments Association, estimate that Days Sales Outstanding can be reduced by 4 days in the year following EIPP implementation.

So the Benefits for the Biller Include:

  • Much cheaper to produce and send than a paper invoice.
  • More environmentally friendly - For every 38,500 bills produced, a ton of paper is used, two tons of trees are destroyed, 65,000 litres of water is used and 2,500Kg of greenhouse gases are emitted.
  • Invoices are delivered faster and more efficiently and avoid postal disruptions.
  • Invoice queries are resolved faster and more efficiently.
  • Experience shows that invoices are paid faster therefore reducing DSO (Days Sales Outstanding), typically 4 to 7 days on average.
  • With access to electronic images of the invoices rather than paper copies, useful and faster when resolving invoice queries and producing copies.