In many companies, the accounting department often runs out of time to concentrate on value-adding activities. Instead, a lot of effort is invested in processing incoming inquiries. Time that is not spent on important tasks. Accounts Payable specialists are well trained and often solve complex financial issues. In most cases, the supplier requests are just about when an outstanding invoice will be paid. Checking the processing status takes up a lot of time, resources and ultimately costs companies unnecessary money.
Together with Bosch as a pilot customer, SupplyOn has developed a new Invoicing add-on that provides all suppliers with information on the processing status of their invoices with just one click. The “Payment Status Overview” add-on solves this task via a freely accessible web portal that does not require a login. By entering the invoice number, amount and date, the information is retrieved directly from the customer ERP system and displayed to the user. This allows them to see whether the invoice has been successfully received, is still being processed or the payment is already planned. Any rejection is also displayed in the overview. Further status messages are also possible. Optionally, the payment date can also be retrieved from the customer ERP and displayed to the supplier.
The added value of this solution benefits suppliers as well as customers. The resulting advantages include:
- Suppliers receive a transparent status of the processing status of their invoices at any time
- You no longer need to check the payment date with the customer’s supplier accounting department
- For customers, the solution offers a significant reduction in incoming inquiries
- A considerable amount of time and effort can be saved in the accounts payable department this way
The highlight of the Payment Status Overview solution is its free availability to all suppliers. No registration or password entry is required. By simply entering the necessary document data, it is ensured that no unauthorized access occurs, as only the supplying company and the customer are in possession of this data.
Here is a business case calculation from the customer’s perspective:
Assuming it takes about 10 minutes to process a request – from opening the e-mail, reading the request, searching for the processing status of the invoice, and writing a reply to the supplier. In addition, an hourly wage for a bookkeeper of €30 per hour is assumed. As a result, the cost per inquiry is €5. With 20,000 inquiries per year from suppliers regarding the invoice status, this results an annual saving of €100,000.
Further functionalities for the add-on are planned for 2024. These include the ability for suppliers to send specific queries to customers via the web portal in case of ambiguities. This information will be processed and answered by the customer in a targeted manner.
