OEM claims that businesses in UK and Europe could save billions if they switch to invoicing electronically.
Ricoh claims that if the majority of paper invoices were replaced with electronic ones, it could result in potential cost savings of £205 billion ($315.6 billion/€242.6 billion) for businesses in the UK and Europe and £34 billion ($52.3 billion/€40.2 billion) for the public sector, with these savings explained in a recent report sponsored by the OEM.
Currently, businesses using e-invoicing across Europe are in the minority, with Ricoh estimating that just one in five invoices will be electronic during 2013. It is therefore calling for more businesses to meet the European Commission goals for e-invoicing to be the main form of invoicing by 2020, and by 2016 for the public sector.
In the report, conducted by Billentis, the reasons for why businesses and the public sector are not taking up e-invoicing are highlighted, ranging from confusing legal requirements to having trading partners who prefer to have hard copies of invoices. It also recommends that organisations define and implement a three-year strategy for e-invoicing for themselves, their clients and their suppliers.
Commenting on the report, Rick Hewitt, Finance Director at Ricoh UK, said: “The slow rate of adoption of e-invoicing makes it clear that the barriers to adopting it are still all too real for businesses and the public sector operating in UK and Europe. As the report highlights: one of the most critical steps to successful implementation of an electronic invoicing programme is having a clear objective and strategy to shape the migration from paper to electronic. But recent research shows that 57 per cent of organisations in Europe do not have a fully developed and implemented strategy in place for managing their business-critical document processes – including invoicing.
“Adopting a clear strategy that links e-invoicing to business objectives (including reducing costs by cutting time-to-pay, increasing productivity by eliminating time-consuming manual tasks, and more effective customer communications) will help organisations to successfully adopt a new electronic invoicing process throughout their organisations.”
Hewitt added that “changing a business-critical document process can be time consuming or complicated,” suggesting that it is important for businesses to “manage it without impacting day-to-day core business tasks.” He also recommends that organisations “gain advice from, and entrust the task to, a document process expert who can manage the transition from paper to electronic invoices on their behalf, leaving them to focus on meeting the needs of their customers.”