1. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
©2016 Neopost 3
Introduction
April 2016
The Growth in E-invoicing

2. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
©2016 Neopost 2
Contents
Introduction. 03
E-Invoicing Drivers. 04
E-Invoicing for Accounts Receivable. 05
E-Invoicing for Accounts Payable. 06
The Business Benefits. 07
E-Invoicing and DSO. 08
Barriers to Adoption. 09
Overcoming Technical Problems. 10
Neopost Netsend: E-Invoicing Made Easy. 11
Case Study. 12

3. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
©2016 Neopost
Introduction
3
The transition from paper-based
processes to electronic workflows
is one of the defining features
of business today. Its impact on
everything from cost-cutting to
carbon footprinting is so great
that digitisation is likely to remain
a top priority for years to come.
In fact, almost two thirds (62%)
of decision-makers surveyed
by AIIM, the association of
information management
professionals, say the speed of
digitisation in their business is
actually increasing1
.
One of the most popular
processes for digitisation is
e-invoicing – the electronic
transfer of invoicing data
between organisations, including
links to payment systems.
This involves clearly defined
workflows; there is a wide choice
of on-premise and hosted
e-invoicing solutions to choose
from; and an all-digital process
formalises what is already
happening in an unplanned
fashion – according to AIIM1
, 40%
of organisations already receive
more than half their invoices
digitally.
E-invoicing helps businesses
tackle late payment by reducing
day sales outstanding (DSO) and
it can cut invoice handling costs
by as much as 50-80%2
.
Not surprisingly, take-up is
growing fast. Last year, 8% of
the 500 billion invoices/bills
sent globally were paper-free
and overall e-invoicing adoption
is estimated to be increasing at
about 20% per annum2
.
Adoption is particularly strong for
business-to-business, business-
to-Government and Government-
to-business transactions.
PayStream Advisors predicts that
by 2024, 96% of B2B invoices in
Europe will be sent electronically,
up from 24% in 2014 and 6% in
20043
.
In this white paper we look at
the reasons why e-invoicing
is increasing so rapidly, from
changes in regulations to
technological advances that are
removing the barriers to broader
take-up. If you would like to find
out more about how e-invoicing
and Neopost Netsend, in
particular, can help improve your
invoicing efficiency, please visit
www.neopost.co.uk/netsend.
1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015
2. E-Invoicing/E-Billing: Entering a New Era, Billentis, 2015
3. 2014 Global eInvoicing Report, PayStream Advisors Inc. 2014
Overall e-invoicing
adoption is
estimated to be
increasing at
about 20% per
annum2
.
In today’s fast changing world,
where information flows more
freely and connections are made
in a click, enterprises are under
increasing pressure to perform.
One way to deal with this challenge
is to simplify processes and opt
for the digitization of customer
communications. This move enables
organizations to cut costs and
improve productivity.
One area where this has been
clearly demonstrated, by both
buyers and suppliers, is that of
e-invoicing. By making the
transition from physical to digital
invoicing many enterprises are
reaping the benefits of a more
reliable, secure, traceable and
streamlined process. Up until
around five years ago e-invoicing
solutions were principally
developed for large enterprises.
However new solutions, specially
developed for SMEs (Small and
Medium-sized Enterprises), are
gaining market share.
The European Commission has a
clear digital agenda for Europe
and electronic invoicing has a
major role to play in this initiativ
The Commission aims
to remove all obstacles,
regulatory or technical, that
prevent the adoption
of e-invoicing. The mass adoptio
of e-invoicing (public and privat
sector) within the EU could lead
to significant economic benefits
and it is estimated that moving
from paper to e-invoices will
generate savings of around €240
billion over a six-year period.1
The U.S. Department of Treasury
doesn’t have such regulations ye
but recognizes that e-invoicing
would reduce costs by 50% and
would save about $450 million
each year.2
Currently the rules that govern
e-invoicing are fragmented and
based on national requirements.
The potential market for
e-invoicing is huge.
Introduction
The Commission
aims to remove
all obstacles,
regulatory or
technical, that
prevent the
adoption of
e-invoicing.”
The European Commission defines electronic invoicing
(e-invoicing) as the “electronic transfer of invoicing information
(billing and payment) between business partners (supplier
and buyer). It is an essential part of an efficient financial
supply chain and it links the internal processes of enterprises
to the payment systems”.
(European Commission, 2013)

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E-Invoicing Drivers
In subsequent chapters we look at the efficiency improvements and
cost savings delivered by e-invoicing. These are significant, but they
are not the only reason for the growing popularity of e-invoicing.
Other factors at play include:
EU Directives
The EU is an advocate of
e-invoicing to standardise
processes across the EU and
reduce costs, according to some
estimates by as much as 240
billion euros over a six-year
period5
. In recent years, it has
added impetus to e-invoicing
by attempting to remove
some of the barriers to wider
adoption. Two Directives of great
significance are the Directive
2010/45/EU, which allows the
integrity of electronic invoices to
be demonstrated through process
controls, not just electronic
signatures and EDI; and Directive
2014/55/EU, which requires EU
agencies to be able to send and
receive electronic invoices by the
end of 2018 at the latest.
Digitisation
Digitisation enables organisations
to do things faster, better, more
accurately and in compliance with
rules and regulations. It means
less paper; less printing; fewer
filing cabinets; and none of the
delays and errors associated
with manual processes. Because
employees don't have to handle
physical documents, they can
work remotely. In the next two
years, organisations in North
America and Western Europe
plan to eliminate paper from
91% of key business processes,
due to cost (42%) and security
(42%) concerns6
. Three quarters
have identified specific functions
for full automation, including
accounting (38%), expenses
reporting (37%), accounts payable
(36%) and customer care (35%).
The Cloud
The cloud reinforces many of
the benefits of digitisation,
supporting flexible working and
scalable implementations. Cloud
services remove the need to
invest in on-premise systems and
associated overheads, such as
upgrades and security patches,
and give smaller businesses
access to expertise and features
that would once have been
beyond their grasp. This is
particularly true of cloud-based
e-invoicing services that can be
implemented in days and do all
the 'heavy lifting' for customers,
including tax-compliant audit
trails and integration with other
systems.
Late Payment
Late payment is the business
problem that just won't go
away. In a survey of its members
conducted by the Institute of
Directors (IoD) in December 2014,
66% said they had experienced
late payment of an invoice. Nearly
half (47%) said the main reasons
for late payment were excessively
bureaucratic payment systems
or overly complex terms and
conditions. E-invoicing has shown
itself to be effective at reducing
day sales outstanding (DSO).
5. SEPA potential benefits at stake, Capgemini 2009
6. Xerox, Digitisation at Work, 2016

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Business Benefits:
E-Invoicing & Accounts Receivable
Carrying out these tasks is made
more difficult if printed invoices
are used. Common problems and
inefficiencies include:
• Delays. There are often long
gaps between each stage (e.g.
between posting and receipt
by the customer's accounts
payable department), which
can delay payment. With paper
workflows, disputes can take
longer to resolve.
• Lack of Visibility. Once an
invoice has been sent, there is
no way of knowing whether it
has been received. This creates
uncertainty and provides scope
for the unscrupulous to extend
the process further, for example
by claiming an invoice was 'lost
in the post'.
• Extra costs. Paper invoices add
significantly to costs, including
printing, paper, postage, filing
and storage.
• Extra Workload. Staffing costs
are likely to be higher due
to increased workload in the
accounts department (e.g.
time spent filing and retrieving
paper documents) and in the
mailroom.
Together, these drawbacks can
have a detrimental effect on cash
flow and day sales outstanding
(DSO), the average length of time
it takes for a business to collect
its accounts receivable.
Problems inefficiencies
As significant as external drivers
for the adoption of e-invoicing
are the efficiency gains
e-invoicing brings to internal
processes.
Adopting paperless workflows
for accounts receivable (AR)
streamlines almost every aspect
of the AR workload, including:
• Invoice creation in an accounts
package or on an ad hoc basis;
• Invoice distribution, ideally
via the customer's preferred
channel;
• Following up to check that an
invoice has arrived and is being
processed;
• Dispute resolution, including the
issuing of credit notes where
necessary;
• Monitoring invoice payment
status;
• Credit control, including letters,
email messages and phone calls
to late payers;
• Archiving in compliance with
tax rules.
The Problem with Paper
A 2014 study by Neopost
and Opinionway highlights
widespread dissatisfaction
with existing invoice processes.
The main complaints are
symptomatic of paper-based
processes and include:
• Time wasted on repetitive
tasks (cited by 47%)
• The risk of human error (45%)
• Time spent gathering
information from different
systems (40%)
• The need to re-enter data
several times in a process
(37%)
• The difficulty of finding and
retrieving communications
across multiple channels (34%)
• The difficulty of tracking all
communications with a client
across all channels (33%)
• Lack of visibility and
traceability on what was sent
to whom and when (26%)
• Lack of control over the
security and storage of
documents (25%)Source: Opinion Way market study – February 20
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• Having trouble tracking all co
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• Lack of control on the securit
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6. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
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Business Benefits:
E-Invoicing Accounts Payable
Relying on paper-based
processes for accounts payable
creates inefficiencies that
could impair an organisation's
ability to pay, increase staffing
requirements and damage
relationships with suppliers.
• Delays. Opening and
distributing paper invoices,
scanning and/or entering details
manually takes time and creates
unnecessary delays. Dispute
resolution takes longer, as staff
have to retrieve paperwork from
filing cabinets and supporting
documents from multiple
sources – digital and analogue.
• Risk of invoice loss. Manual
processing in the mailroom
increases the risk that an invoice
will be misplaced, potentially
leading to disputes, duplication
and late payment.
• Risk of error. Entering invoice
data manually increase the
likelihood of input errors.
• Reduced productivity. Manual
processes are laborious and
time-consuming, from manual
data entry to invoice checking
and validation, especially when
accounts staff have to refer to
documents, such as purchase
orders, kept in separate filing
systems.
• Added expense. In addition
to lost productivity from the
manual processing of files, there
are hard costs associated with
printing, filing and storage.
Where workflows are paper-
based, electronic invoices and
faxes are often printed and
processed in hard copy form
along with invoices received
through the post. According to
AIIM1
, 35% of organisations print
most of the digital invoices they
receive so that they can process
them in paper form.
E-invoicing for accounts payable
is faster, more accurate and
provides improved visibility
of commitments, enabling
businesses to manage their cash
flow better. It also makes it easier
to prioritise payment to take
advantage of prompt payment
discounts and to maintain good
relations with important suppliers.
Problems inefficiencies
The digitisation of AR processes
saves money and speeds up
payment for the supplier. Even
so, much of the impetus for
e-invoicing comes from the buyer.
This is largely because accounts
payable (AP) departments
responsible for processing,
recording, reconciling and paying
invoices like to receive invoices
electronically to enable the
full automation of invoices for
payment.
When invoices are received
electronically, in the appropriate
format, relevant details can be
automatically extracted and
entered into the accounts/
payment systems, with no need
for manual data entry and with
a clear audit trail. This enables a
completely paperless workflow,
from receipt to authorisation to
payment.
Even where it is not possible
to have an end-to-end
electronic process, for example
if a customer prefers to send
paper invoices, scanning in the
mailroom, with intelligent data
extraction and automatic invoice
routing, makes it possible to
implement paperless workflows
internally.
Just as with accounts payable,
adopting paperless workflows
brings efficiencies to almost
every aspect of the AR workload,
including:
• Invoice receipt through multiple
channels depending on supplier
AR processes;
• Data capture and the entering
of invoice details into the AP
system by hand or by scanning;
• Matching of invoices with
purchase orders (POs) and
delivery notes;
• Invoice validation and approval
by appropriate departments/
individuals;
• Dispute resolution;
• Payment by the company's
preferred payment mechanism;
• Filing for archiving and
compliance purposes.
1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015

7. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
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1. Faster payment. Creating and
distributing invoices electronically
helps you get paid more
quickly and reduces day sales
outstanding (DSO), the average
length of time it takes a business
to collect its accounts receivable
(see opposite). Simply avoiding
the need to print and post
invoices or wait for your customer
to process hard copies can cut
as many as five days from the
invoicing process. With modern
systems, you don't even need
to be in the office to submit or
approve an invoice.
2. Prompt payment discounts.
Electronic workflows reduce the
time accounts payable takes
to process invoices – and clear
up disputes. Faster processing
helps avoid late payment fines
and could enable organisations
to qualify for prompt payment
discounts.
3. Visibility and peace of mind.
Once a paper bill leaves your
postroom, you have no way of
knowing whether it has been
received or not. If a posted bill
goes astray, it may be weeks
before you become aware of
the fact and send a duplicate.
E-billing systems that show when
an email has been received and
opened provide certainty and
reassurance.
4. Reduced costs. E-invoicing
cuts costs at every stage of
the invoicing process. As well
as removing print, paper,
postage and filing costs, it
reduces manpower requirements
through the automation of
labour-intensive processes.
Larger organisations have the
opportunity for additional
cost savings by unifying and
centralising the accounts
departments of multiple branches
and/or regional offices.
5. Improved productivity. Manual,
paper-based processes are
inherently inefficient. By removing
the need for manual data entry,
e-invoicing significantly improves
productivity and frees up time
that can be devoted to other
tasks. According to Lexmark2
,
automation increases the number
of invoices one person can
process daily from 80-120 to 300-
500.
6. Fewer errors. Automation
eliminates the errors associated
with manual data entry,
reducing the risk – and cost – of
disputes. Almost half (45%) of
businesses surveyed by Neopost/
Opinionway said their existing
invoice processes were prone
to human error, and, according
to some estimates, up to 40%
of all business invoices are
queried. E-invoicing systems
and automatic data extraction
minimise errors at the outset,
helping to reduce the number of
queries and the time it takes to
resolve them.
7. Satisfied customers. Paying
bills faster and avoiding disputes
caused by manual input errors
strengthen supplier relationships
and are good PR. E-invoicing also
enables you to offer a choice of
bill delivery options. Today, many
consumers like the convenience
of e-billing, especially if they can
pay as part of the same process.
8. Improved cashflow. E-invoicing
systems enable your accounts
department to keep a close eye
on cashflow and the balance
The Benefits of e-Invoicing
Digitising accounts receivable and accounts payable brings major
benefits to organisations of all sizes. Here are 12 benefits you can
look forward to:
1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015 www.aiim.org/research
2 The Art of Numbers, Lexmark 2015
continued...

8. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
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sheet. An up-to-date, centralised
view of in-comings and out-
goings helps you manage cash
flow better.
9. End-to-End automation.
E-invoicing lets you simplify
and streamline processes, for
example by scheduling bills
to be sent out on a particular
date. In a 2014 survey by the
Institute of Directors (IoD), 47% of
members said the main reasons
for late payment were excessively
bureaucratic payment systems
or overly complex terms and
conditions.
10. Digital records. Many
e-invoicing systems keep a digital
record of invoices and supporting
documents and provide easy
access to files 24/7. This has big
benefits for dispute resolution
and overcomes one of the main
drawbacks of working with paper.
In the latest AIIM Industry Watch
report1
, improved searchability
and shareability of business
documents was cited as the main
driver for scanning and data
capture.
11. Compliance. For the same
reason, e-invoicing systems can
improve compliance. As well
as providing an audit trail of
transactions, they create and
store documents in formats
compliant with local tax rules.
12. Smaller carbon footprint.
E-invoicing reduces print and
copy volumes and the carbon
footprint of invoices, helping
organisations save paper and
meet carbon reduction targets.
1. Paper-Free Progress: Measuring Outcome, AIIM, 2015 www.aiim.org/research
2 The Art of Numbers, Lexmark 2015
E-invoicing and DSO
Tackling late payment and reducing
day sales outstanding (DSO), the
average length of time it takes a
business to collect its accounts
receivable, should be a priority for
any business. For, as the following
example shows, the greater the
DSO, the greater the cost to a
business.
Company A, a business-to-business
supplier, has an annual turnover
of £20 million and a business
borrowing interest rate of 3%. If it
has a DSO of 70 days, its total cost
of borrowing for the financial year
will be £115,0681
.
E-invoicing can cut Company A's
DSO figure by as many as 15 days,
providing an interest saving of
approximately £15,000, simply by
eliminating the time it takes for
printed invoices to be entered into
a customer's accounts payable
system – 3 days to generate the
invoice; 1 day for it to be printed; 3
days for delivery by second class
post; 5 days for invoice query and
resolution; and 3 days processing in
accounts payable.
E-billing could generate further
savings by reducing the number of
queried invoices caused by manual
data entry errors.
It we assume that a) 40% of all
invoices are queried and that the
time spent resolving each one
adds an extra £10 in costs; and
b) Company A has an average
order value of £200 and, each
day, processes 274 invoices with a
combined value of £54,794.52, the
cost of disputed invoices could add
up to £1,096 each day (40% of 274
invoices x £10). If a credit note is
required to offset an element of the
debt, the cost could be even greater.
1 Calculation: (Total credit x 3% interest rate)
/365 days x 70 days DSO
OF ALL
BUSINESS
INVOICES
QUERIED
COST OF TIME
TO DEAL WITH
EACH INVOICE
QUERY
40%
PERINVOICE
£10
....continued
47% of IOD
members said the
main reasons for
late payment were
excessively
bureaucratic
payment systems...

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E-Invoicing barriers
Management drive
In its Paper Wars report, AIIM
identifies a number of common
barriers to digitisation. Almost
half (49%) of information
management professionals
identified both a lack of
management initiatives/mandates
to reduce paper use and a general
preference for working with
paper. Just under 40% said there
was a lack of understanding of
paper-free options; 35% said they
still needed physical signatures
on paper; and one quarter said
their processes were paper-based
because suppliers and customers
still used paper.
When asked to identify the
main difficulties encountered
in implementing paper-free
processes, the top two problems,
each cited by more than 45%
of respondents, were change
management and integration
with other systems, followed by
defining processes clearly, cited
by more than 40%.
In this respect, e-invoicing is no
different to any other business
process ripe for digitisation, from
electronic content management
to human resources systems
and processes, none of which
have been digitised as quickly as
expected.
Channel integration
Today, businesses receive
communications, including
invoices via a multitude of digital
and paper-based channels, and
this presents serious processing
challenges. In AIIM's Paper Wars
Update, 40% of respondents
said they struggled to match up
inbound paper and electronic
content; 35% said inbound
digital documents tend to be
printed and then filed/processed
alongside paper; one third
process paper and electronic
documents separately, compared
to 32% who process them
through the same workflow.
Overcoming obstacles
These difficulties can seem
daunting, but they are not a
good reason to persist with
paper-based processes. A
recent Neopost survey of
employees with responsibility
for processing invoices and
receipts in organisations with
turnovers of between £10 million
and £100 million highlights both
the rapid take-up of paper-free
working and how easily potential
obstacles can be overcome.
More than nine out of 10
respondents have already
digitised (8%), or are in the
process of digitising (83%),
some or all of their core business
processes. A further 6% are in the
planning or assessment stages.
Their experience shows that while
the digitisation of core business
processes presents a number
of potential difficulties, from
implementing new IT systems
to securing employee and/or
customer buy-in, these challenges
are far from insurmountable. On
a scale of 1 (not at all important)
to 5 (extremely important), the
weighted average for all the main
barriers to digitisation, bar one
(see below), was around 2.5 i.e.
somewhere between 'slightly
important' and 'quite important'.
Issues like IT resourcing, financial
resourcing, system integration,
customer resistance and
employee resistance need to be
taken seriously, but they are not
a reason to delay digitisation,
particularly as there is such
a clear understanding of its
benefits; the weighted average
for 'lack of clarity over the
benefits of digitisation' was just
1.38 i.e. only just above 'not at all
important'.
In accounts departments
specifically, our survey shows
that problems associated
with digitisation are rarely
encountered. When answering
the question 'what are the most
important issues you face when
communicating with customers?',
just 3% selected 'physical-digital
transition'; only 8% ticked 'using
multiple channels'.
These are low numbers
considering the possible
difficulties in aligning
paper-based and digital
communications and the fact
that all of those surveyed already
use a mixture of digital and
analogue channels for customer
communications.
With so many benefits to be
enjoyed and encouragement and
impetus from external agencies,
the big question is why haven't
more organisations adopted
e-invoicing?
Part of the problem lies in the
general difficulty of removing
paper from business workflows,
which means that digitisation
initiatives tend to happen more
slowly than planned. For example,
IT decision-makers surveyed by
Xerox for its Digitisation at Work
report expect to have removed
paper from all but 9% of their key
business processes within two
years. Yet, the reality is that for
55% of respondents, workflows
are still largely or entirely paper-
based, suggesting a dis-connect
between the vision of business
leaders and the business reality.

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Overcoming technical problems
Given high levels of awareness
of the benefits of e-invoicing
and the low level of importance
that accounts staff attach to oft
quoted barriers to digitisation,
why has e-invoicing not been
adopted more widely?
One factor is the complexity
of traditional implementation
models. The 2015 Billentis report
E-Invoicing/ E-Billing: Entering
a New Era goes into great detail
about the various deployment
methods used for e-invoicing.
These include what Billentis calls
Supplier Direct and Buyer Direct
in-house systems, as well as third
party e-invoicing networks.
The Supplier/Buyer Direct model
was implemented first, typically
by large enterprises for sending
invoices to multiple buyers
and for receiving invoices from
multiple suppliers, in both cases
via a number of channels (e.g.
email, SMS and web portal).
These 'one-to-any' and 'any-to-
one' systems have many benefits
for organisations with large
customer and supplier bases.
However, for the companies they
deal with, the additional cost,
administration and complexity
involved in integrating their
systems with those used by
suppliers/customers has limited
take-up.
In particular, the requirement for
smaller suppliers/customers to
manage different log-ins for each
company's e-invoicing system
and convert their data to one of
a limited number of supported
file formats can be onerous.
Moreover, the fragmented
landscape this creates means that
they don't benefit from a single,
centralised view of all invoices.
Billentis points out that low
adoption rates have also
reduced the financial benefits of
e-invoicing for big companies,
as the cost of maintaining and
updating in-house e-invoicing
systems are incurred in the
interests of a relatively small
proportion of invoices sent/
received. For this reason, some
organisations make use of
branded software-as-a-service
solutions instead of in-house
systems.
E-Invoicing networks
Cloud-based e-invoicing networks
run and managed by third
party organisations provide an
attractive alternative to in-house
systems.
Sitting between suppliers and
buyers, they simplify e-invoicing
deployments and facilitate
the seamless two-way flow of
information between parties.
The automatic conversion of
invoice data into each company's
preferred format, whether that
be ebXML, OASIS UBL2.x, UBL
North European Subset, EN/
CEFACT, PDF/A-3 CEN/PC434 or
any other country- or industry-
specific standard, ensures
compatibility between disparate
invoicing and payment systems.
As part of their service,
e-invoicing networks manage
transactions in accordance with
national and international tax
rules and provide audit trails for
compliance purposes.
Because networks remove
complexity for their users, they
are a popular option for small and
medium-sized businesses. For this
reason they are sometimes also
used by larger organisations as a
way of increasing the e-invoicing
adoption rate within their supplier
base, often in conjunction with an
existing in-house system.
Nine benefits of e-Invoicing
networks
1 Quick and easy
implementation
2 One connection to
communicate with many
3 Predictable costs – integration
cost plus price per transaction
4 No maintenance costs –
maintenance and upgrades
undertaken by service
provider
5 VAT-compliant invoice
processing ad audit trails
6 Automatic conversion of
invoicing data to required
format
7 Support for wide variety of
electronic invoicing standards
8 No need to modify existing
accounts/invoice systems
9 Optional online storage of
invoices, with easy search and
retrieval

11. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
©2016 Neopost 11II. Postal communications]
Neopost Netsend:
E-Invoicing made easy
To make it easy for customers
to adopt e-invoicing and enjoy
the benefits of more efficient,
paperless invoicing and payment
processes, Neopost offers
Neopost Netsend, a multi-channel
invoicing, billing and document
distribution solution already used
to distribute and bill £145 billion
of client documents every year.
Suitable for businesses of all
sizes, this cloud-based solution
manages the distribution of
business critical documents,
including invoices, via each
customer's preferred medium,
while helping migrate users from
printed to electronic invoices,
with an average conversion rate
of 80%.
For easy invoice automation and
distribution, Netsend plugs into
existing systems and supports
paper-based posted invoices
through to EDI invoicing and
every format in between including
fax, PDF, email and XML feeds. No
configuration or system changes
are necessary.
It moves native data from an
existing accounts package into
pre-built templates that can
match a company's existing
design. These can be distributed
by email (as an attachment or
with a link to a portal), fax, post
and FTP.
File formats can vary by recipient
to comply with popular 3rd
party EDI e-invoicing providers,
such as Tungsten (OB10), Ariba,
Tradeshift and Basware, as well as
peer-to-peer billing.
The Netsend web-based portal,
configured and branded to
each client's specification, lets
users monitor deliveries and
gives access to a document
archive with easy document
search, retrieval and re-sending.
Documents are stored online for
a minimum of 12 months, with
the option to extend storage
indefinitely to meet auditing and
VAT archive requirements.
The portal offers many other
features including reporting;
audit trail and proof of delivery;
document analytics; customer
account tools, including credit
card payments; and online
statement views.
Netsend plugs into
existing systems
and supports
paper-based
posted invoices
through to EDI
invoicing and every
format in between
invoices are issued
globally every year.
330 billion are B2C
and 170 billion are
B2B and B2G.
Source: Billentis, 2014
way, electronic invoicing
andatory for government
ons since July 1st 2012
l government since
2015.
voicing has been in
blic authorities since
14 and in Spain since
2015.
he 2014/55/EU Directive
ng and public
t in April 2014, suppliers
ed to send electronic
he public sector in all
ountries by 2020.
et

12. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
©2016 Neopost 12
Case Study
First-hand experience
At Neopost, we have first hand
experience of Netsend and are
now offering it to our customers
as a proven e-invoicing solution
that has helped us cut printing
and postage costs, reduce days
sales outstanding (DSO) by
five days, halve the number of
delinquent customers and slash
the number of customer service
calls related to billing.
Neopost started using Netsend to
satisfy growing customer demand
for invoice delivery by email as an
alternative to print and post. We
needed a quick and easy way to
manage email communications
with proof of receipt, showing
whether an invoice had been
opened, by whom and when.
Netsend does this and a lot more,
including the setting of multiple
recipient addresses and the
automatic posting and printing
of invoices after three failed
email delivery attempts due to
bounce-backs or out-of-office
notifications.
Neopost first used Netsend to
enable Neofunds customers to
receive statements electronically.
Saving the five days it normally
takes for printed invoices to be
processed and delivered through
the post has proved popular with
these customers, as it enables
them to pay more quickly and
avoid interest payments on
balances due.
After the success of this
deployment, Neopost introduced
Netsend for Credifon customers,
before extending it to provide
a full sales ledger e-invoicing
solution for remaining customers.
Within six months, 70% of
customers had elected to receive
invoices by email rather than
through the post.
Netsend takes invoice feeds
directly from Neopost's
accounting software and provides
accounts staff and customers
with access to document
management and reporting
through an online portal.
Mary Ryan, Document Solution
Specialist at Neopost, says the
ability of customers to download
old invoices and modify contact
details online has reduced
telephone support requirements
and introduced big efficiency
gains. “The gone-away postal
address report really helps tidy
up customer data, and ensures
actions are taken quickly to
redirect invoicing to their new
address,” she explained.
As well as linking to Neopost
accounting software, Netsend
also connects to popular invoice
management portals, such as
Tradesift, Ariba, OB10 and others,
saving Neopost the time, cost
and effort of integrating its
e-invoicing and payment systems
with each of the portals used by
customers.
We needed a
quick and easy
way to manage
email
communications

13. Neopost : The growth in e-invoicing
Neopost is a global player with a local presence in business solutions
for the postal, parcel delivery and related digital world of tomorrow.
We have an intimate understanding of physical and electronic
communications and work in collaboration with over 800,000
enterprises around the world. Our business has evolved to meet the
growing demands of a technology-driven environment. This means we
can help our customers successfully make the transition from physical
mail to quality multichannel communications management.
About Neopost
Join us on neopost.co.uk