Exclusive interview with Stefan Foryszewski, Senior Vice President, OB10

IN BRIEF:

E-invoicing is growing in popularity in Europe because…governments and businesses recognize it is an obvious source of efficiency, control, transparency and sustainability.

Manual invoice processing within large businesses will…be considered a gateway to fraud, wasteful operations, late payments (and unhappy suppliers) and lost early payment opportunities.

Cash will…be more readily available to businesses with approved invoices

In three years’ time, OB10 will... be the most recommended global trading network. We will be pushing liquidity through the supply chain, and providing information and insight that manage risk, and improve supplier and buyer relationships.

As the operator of the largest B2B e-invoicing network worldwide OB10 is ideally placed to provide a realistic overview of the state of the global electronic invoicing ecosystem. How is electronic invoicing (and AP automation for that matter) perceived in the global business community?

Stefan Foryszewski: When we first started talking to businesses about e-Invoicing in 2000 we spent a lot of time helping them understand the concept and benefits. Twelve years on, we’re still supporting the education but wefind that more companies get it and want to know how best to embed e-Invoicing in their financial supply chains.

Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable managers know that e-Invoices are delivered in minutes rather than days and that the improved invoice quality allows for much quicker approvals. This improves payment on time and opens opportunities for supply chain finance and dynamic discounting. Prompt payment to suppliers is critical at a time of economic uncertainty, AP managers and directors understand this and we are also seeing corporate KPIs that include payment-on-time targets.

From our conversations with customers, they associate e-Invoicing with delivering:

• Tighter regulatory and financial compliance
• Improved business performance from reduced manual processing and supplier enquiries
• More robust risk management for data security, supplier fraud and contract compliance
• Optimised cash flow, greater visibility and touchless processing
• Better collaboration across the supply chain
• More sustainable use of resources

In Europe (and maybe globally, too), e-invoicing has come to be regarded as the “undelivered promise” – a solution with a great deal of acknowledged benefits but whose take-up has failed to take off. What are the main causes for this state of affairs? What major challenges is e-invoicing facing in its fight to take paper out of the equation?

Stefan Foryszewski: I wouldn’t describe it as an undelivered promise. Companies that we have worked with have seen a return on investment at around 60% through significant cost savings, greater financial control and higher straight-through-processing rates. They also find that e-Invoicing is not just about removing paper; the benefits stretch beyond this.

It is, however, fair to say that the market has taken longer than expected to get to where it is today.

The truth is that e-Invoicing is not simply a matter of rolling out a piece of technology. The technology – in our case, the OB10 network – is the enabler for streamlined processes, but the key is to treat this as a change management and people project. You can’t expect to simply launch an e-Invoicing program and expect suppliers to start transacting electronically. We ensure success through carefully managed onboarding campaigns that help organizations – both the senders and receivers of invoices – to understand why they should abandon paper and move to e-Invoicing. We also give them various ways to do so.

A challenge from the buyer’s perspective is that a successful project requires collaboration between Procurement and Finance, two teams that are not known for working together closely. By jointly communicating with suppliers, sharing objectives and tackling the root cause of invoice exceptions, our experience shows that e-Invoicing has a much greater chance of success.

Regulatory complexity has been another challenge for companies, but coming changes to legislation by the European Commission should make the treatment of electronic invoices easier to understand. Working with a service provider that takes compliance seriously is important. In addition, many governments have started to mandate the use of e-Invoicing, which is helping to drive adoption.

Despite these challenges, there is a lot of activity and interest around e-Invoicing, which make me feel that we’re approaching the tipping point where electronic Invoicing becomes the norm.

What would be some examples of successful business partnerships OB10 has concluded within the past 12 months? Any particular use case you would like to share with our readers?

Stefan Foryszewski: We’re very proud of the network of partners we work with to bring the benefits of e-Invoicing to more companies. In the past 12 months we have new agreements with other finance automation firms, such as Buzón E in Mexico, and Bill Trust and Taulia in the US.

We’re particularly active with our partners in the business process outsourcing sector. We partner with the leaders in finance and administration outsourcing. Most recently we’ve signed formal arrangements with HP and Infosys to bring greater efficiency and value to their existing and future customers by tightly weaving e-Invoicing into their service level agreements.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a different perspective on e-invoicing adoption compared to large businesses, mainly because they don’t derive the same operational efficiencies from going for e-invoicing solutions as their larger counterparts. What approach does OB10 use for on-boarding SMEs?

Stefan Foryszewski: We know that SMEs have very different needs to large businesses and we have tailored solutions for them. While larger suppliers can opt for our integrated solution that connects their finance systems to their customers’, we have many, more flexible options for smaller companies.

A big piece of news for us is that we recently launched our new supplier portal, which we developed with feedback from thousands of customers. Companies can quickly and easily send invoices, receive purchase orders and convert them into invoices, check to see when they will be paid and initiate payments using OB10 Express Payments. If they send fewer than 12 invoices a year, there’s no cost. We can also work with PDF invoices that are emailed to us.

Regardless of the approach they take, we guide suppliers through the process, minimize any technical integration, ensure they’re submitting all the information their buyers need, and guarantee that invoices are delivered and compliant.

It is also important to emphasize that the onboarding process is still a people business. We talk to our suppliers in 13 languages from our onboarding centers in the US, EU and Asia.

When OB10 invites a potential new customer to join its network, in your experience, which are the top three arguments that prove most persuasive with would-be customers? What elements do customers value most in your offering?

Stefan Foryszewski: Our customer surveys tell us what they value most from e-Invoicing and working with OB10.

Suppliers value:

• Getting paid on time
• The assurance that their invoice is delivered in minutes not days and has fewer exceptions in invoice processing
• The ability to see the status of their invoices and when they will get paid

Buyers value:

• The efficiency savings from automated invoice processing rather than cumbersome, error-prone paper processes
• Reduced supplier queries and call volumes to their AP centers
• The improved ability to pay suppliers within terms

One of the key benefits for buyers and suppliers is that they only need to connect to our network once. When a supplier joins OB10 it can send invoices to all buyers on the network without going through a lengthy implementation cycle each time. Of course this reach extends beyond OB10 through our 30 interoperability agreements with other service providers, which allow suppliers’ invoices to reach their buyers even if they’re not both on the same network.

Finally, from both communities we are seeing increased awareness of the environmental benefits from not using, processing and storing millions of paper documents.

What is OB10’s main value proposition for e-invoicing (and accounts payable automation) when it comes to supply chain operations for businesses?

Stefan Foryszewski: The most recent addition to our services is OB10 Express Payments. This supply chain finance solution offers suppliers an alternative and faster source of funding, which – at a time when banks are reticent to lend – is a very attractive proposition. It helps buyers secure their supply chains by pushing liquidity to their suppliers.

Once an invoice has been approved, which could be within hours of delivery, OB10 Express Payments allows buyers to leverage their own working capital or the funds from a financial institution to pay suppliers within a matter of days.

In addition to faster payment, suppliers no longer need to spend time chasing unpaid invoices. And with interest rates held low, cash-rich buyers get better returns.

The beauty of OB10 Express Payments is in its elegance and flexibility. All suppliers can initiate early payment, not just a buyer’s strategic vendors. This means SMEs now have a quick and easy solution that is free and easy to join with no lengthy contracts or technical hurdles to overcome.

Let’s talk about the future: in your opinion, what are some of the main trends that are likely to impact B2B e-invoicing over the coming years?

Stefan Foryszewski: We’re expecting to see:

• The demise of the AP call center as suppliers have full transparency of when their invoices will be paid
• Mass market use of supply chain finance
• More government mandates for e-Invoicing

About Stefan Foryszewski:
Stefan’s career has been focused on procurement and supply chain automation – concentrating on process improvement in the purchase-to-pay cycle. Prior to starting OB10 in 2000 with three co-founders, he worked for Visa International as the Head of Data Delivery. Before that he was a procurement consultant specialising in purchasing cards.

Stefan is responsible for product development at OB10 and sits on the main board. He was also a member of the European Commission Expert Group on Electronic Invoicing.