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Accounts Payable Automation

The Boston Globe Integrates NetSuite AP Automation
 The Boston Globe Integrates NetSuite AP Automation 150 150 Tim Robertson
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purchase.to.pay

The Boston Globe, one of North America’s major daily newspapers, has deployed an advanced web-based financial management solution from enterprise purchase-to-pay specialist Palette. It integrates NetSuite AP Automation platform PaletteInvoice to streamline its invoice processing and improve operational efficiencies.

Working with Palette’s Toronto-based partner EchoVera, The Boston Globe uses PaletteInvoice to ensure that the 20,000 supplier invoices it manages annually are processed, approved and scheduled for payment quickly and efficiently. PaletteInvoice will also enable The Globe to achieve significant measurable cost-savings and efficiency gains by simplifying daily processing of supplier invoices and purchase order matching.

Diane Stack, Payroll Manager for The Boston Globe, said: “PaletteInvoice has enabled us to enhance our invoicing processes and efficiencies without the need for a larger finance team, and at a highly competitive price point compared to other solutions. It has provided greater transparency over accounts payable activity across the entire organization, enabling us to have a much tighter control over operations, more closely monitor KPIs, track payments and have a greater ability to manage volumes of work. We now have much better reporting that enables us to ensure that all invoices are paid in a timely, fully automated manner, significantly reducing the resource required to manage invoice processing.”

Following the success of the initial deployment, The Globe is now looking to add PaletteBuyer, a module that will help control their indirect spend by automating the requisitioning and purchase order process. It is anticipated that the deployment will be completed in time for the solution to go live on January 1st 2016.

Stack added: “The Invoice module deployment has delivered a strong return on investment, proving the value of Palette’s solutions. As a result of this success we are currently adding the Buyer module which we anticipate will greatly improve our cost and spend control across the business, tightening spend approval processes and creating an enhanced audit trail for all purchases.”

Ralf Leitner, CEO of EchoVera said:  “PaletteArena has a track record of delivering a clear return on investment which makes it an attractive proposition to our customers. The fact that it can integrate with NetSuite to help deliver a fully automated accounts payable process is a key differentiator that adds real value to our customers’ deployments.”

Michael Cichy, General Manager Americas at Palette commented: “The partnership with The Boston Globe is the launch of a major initiative to integrate ourselves with other NetSuite customers and develop another vertical ERP practice in the North American market. We are hopeful that a successful implementation will help us further develop the relationship with The Globe’s ownership and see further projects in the future.”

Palette’s core product suite, The PaletteArena Suite, gives customers complete visibility and control of the P2P process by linking purchases, invoices and contracts. Earlier this year the company released PaletteArena 6.3. It introduces several new features to enable enhanced integration with corporate and personal payment card expenditure and improved purchase order management. Key enhancements in PaletteArena Version 6.3 include a completely new user interface to simplify key functionality and processes; further integration with PaletteConnectivityServices, replacing paper based processes with their e-invoicing function; increased spend management through PaletteExpense, enabling oversight of credit card expenditure; and improved purchase order matching enabling users to link invoices based on value as well as quantity.

Finally! Intelligent OCR for NetSuite
 Finally! Intelligent OCR for NetSuite 150 150 Tim Robertson
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netsuite.intelligent.ocr……
Intelligent OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for NetSuite Changes the Playing Field

Intelligent OCR for NetSuite has changed the playing field in a very positive way. It’s useful for processing both email and paper invoices through NetSuite’s accounts payable workflow, with limited manual intervention or error.
 …
Intelligent OCR:
  • Processes AP invoices directly from email without the need to print them
  • Scans paper and emailed AP invoices intuitively, capturing relevant invoice fields
  • Cuts invoice processing cost by 50%
  • Increases productivity by 40%
  • Integrates seamlessly with NetSuite

Intelligent OCR for NetSuite is capable of automatically and intuitively detecting/learning the particular supplier invoices based on their respective layouts, allowing the scanning and/or importing of emailed invoices to be more efficient. Intelligent OCR intuitively performs field mapping and data collection, freeing up time and making the entire process more efficient. 

Intelligent OCR for NetSuite is “next generation” OCR.  More information about Intelligent OCR for NetSuite.

To schedule a live demo: Intelligent OCR for NetSuite Demo

How do you choose the best solution?

The type of OCR solution that you choose will depend upon a number of factors; the number and type of documents (single page or multi-page) that you need to scan; the frequency with which you need to get these documents into your system; the purpose of the documents – are they documents that you need for a business process or are you scanning information into your system primarily for record purposes?

When researching an appropriate OCR solution for your AP process you’ll want to consider the following;

  • True Image Reproduction – Keeping actual copies of each AP related document, rather than just uploading information from that document, makes it easier to control your AP process and to keep these single or multi-page documents for follow up and compliance purposes. So research those OCR solutions that have this capability.
  • Ease of Use – The simpler the better! Some of the more advanced OCR solutions can help you with your data entry by using “assisted auto fields”. These solutions can actually “read” your documents and populate the required fields in your AP-related documentation.
  • Data Conversion – Superior solutions are able to extract your data from PDF formatted documents and convert this information into “indexed data” that you can then export into your accounting system and use.

Click on this link to find out more: Intelligent OCR for NetSuite

 

Photo Credit: Ryan McGuire
What Is Automated Contract Invoice Management? 
 What Is Automated Contract Invoice Management?  150 150 Tim Robertson
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AP automation pict

More and more organizations of all sizes are coming to realize the benefits associated with the automation of the processes related to managing their contracts. In other words, automated contract invoice management.

Taking control of your contracts gives your team immediate access to crucial contract information – at anytime and from anywhere, increasing productivity and making contract negotiations easier and more effective.

In particular, with today’s technology, organizations can automate the repeat processing of their recurring contracts and send them automatically to their ERPs. For organizations who deal with multiple recurring contracts – telephone, utilities, rentals – the related cost savings can be substantial as these contracts can be automatically matched to account numbers allowing for the posting to the proper charge codes followed by automatic payment approval.

How does automated contract management work? 

Contracts are scanned or imported and archived securely in an electronic database. The more highly automated solutions work in conjunction with your company’s existing supplier information. Users are already in the system as are the company’s specific authorization rules, work flows, user roles and other regulations.

Things to consider when trying to find an effective contract automation solution:

  • Does the solution archive all types of contracts in such a way that it’s easy for us to find and access them as necessary?
  • Does the solution allow us to automatically process our recurring invoices (leasing contracts, utility bills, rentals, subscriptions, etc.) while, at the same time, alerting us to overspending and other irregularities?
  • Can we set reminders so that the solution lets us know when it’s time to renew a contract?
  • Does the solution enable self-billing for contracts that come without vendor invoices (eg. office leases)?

Do you need to take control of your contracts? Would you like to have immediate access to all of your contract information for review and renegotiation purposes? How would you like to automate the repeat processing of recurring invoices and send them directly to your ERP? PaletteContract can assist you with all of this and more. Repeated invoices such as rentals, telephony and other utilities can be automatically matched to account numbers or contracts, posted to the proper charge codes and approved for payment.

Approximately 15-25% of all expense invoices can be matched this way. With all of your contacts stored centrally – accessible and searchable – you will have full visibility and control. Efficiency will be increased and you will save both time and money.

Global Adoption of Electronic Invoices – Slowly But Surely
 Global Adoption of Electronic Invoices – Slowly But Surely 150 150 Tim Robertson
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electronic invoicing airport picture

E-Invoicing Growth Worldwide Does Not Reflect Potential Savings

A new survey on e-invoicing has emerged, highlighting the possible savings, and the current state of adoption of the technology globally.

The Billentis Report states that e-billing and invoicing solutions can help achieve per-invoice savings up to 80%, and that over 40 billion invoices will be issued globally this year – an impressive figure.  However, it’s still less than 10% of the estimated 500 billion invoices sent each year worldwide, which puts the data in perspective.

Despite this, the savings possible with paperless billing are still considerable:  the report states that e-invoicing adoption by the Danish Government saves Danish taxpayers €150 million a year, and businesses €50 million.  In Italy, the government’s adoption of an e-procurement system has realised even large savings, reducing costs by over €3 billion.
Companies can accelerate adoption of e-invoicing using solutions such as Palette’s e-Invoicing Services Portal, which enables users to invite customers and partners to quickly set up and benefit from the cost- and time-savings enabled by e-invoicing, without the need for complex implementation.  This also helps accelerate cost savings and efficiency benefits.  Find out more about how we can help here.
Purchase to Pay Integration with Netsuite
 Purchase to Pay Integration with Netsuite 150 150 Tim Robertson
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netsuite purchase to pay

EchoVera’s Purchase to Pay solution, ASAP, is powered by Palette’s automation platform integrated with NetSuite, the world’s fastest growing financial management system.

Palette helps businesses large and small to streamline and automate their financial processes from purchase to payment. Palette makes life easier for more than 2,000 companies in 50 countries, as the market leader in the purchase to pay process automation.

EchoVera’s ASAP purchase to pay solution gives customers complete visibility and control of the P2P process by linking purchases, invoices and contracts. The solution is fully web-based and flexible. You choose how and where you will be working.

Give your employees the opportunity to manage invoices wherever they are – on the web, in a mobile phone or via email.
Receive and send invoices in electronic form. It’s quicker, cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Pre-defined flow and accounting posting proposals determine how an invoice progresses through the system and is posted to accounts before being processed in full.

Take control of the purchasing process
Invoices can be matched to purchase orders at the line or total level, or to contracts. Palette offers a simplified ordering process that steers users to purchase the right goods, from the right supplier, at the right price. With all purchasing statistics available, you’ll have a solid basis for negotiating prices and terms

EchoVera ASAP:

  • Gives customers complete visibility and control of the purchase-to-pay process by linking purchases, invoices, contracts, purchase orders and employee expenses
  • Modular-based, allowing customers to pick and choose only those modules that are important to them
  • Customers can choose between an on-premise installation or cloud service (SaaS)
  • Seamless integration with NetSuite

Intelligent OCR for Netsuite:

  • Processes invoices directly from email – eliminating the need to print
  • Scans paper invoices, capturing relevant invoice fields
  • Gets high marks for ease of use and an intuitive interface
  • 95% accuracy rate for paper, 100% accuracy rate for electronic formats
  • Seamless integration with NetSuite
  • Most affordable OCR on the market today

More information about Purchase to Pay for Netsuite

More information about Intelligent OCR for Netsuite

 

Palette Purchase to Pay System Has 25% Increase in Sales for 2015
 Palette Purchase to Pay System Has 25% Increase in Sales for 2015 150 150 Tim Robertson
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Purchase-to-Pay-Graphic

Purchase To Pay Automation Firm – Palette – Enjoys Increased Sales

Palette Software, the accounts payable automation and purchase to pay software company, has seen strong growth in the first half of 2015 with a 25% increase in sales during the first six months of the year, building on growth of 20% in 2014.

From the Palette company blog that discusses where the growth is coming from, and the nature of commitments to date:

The success follows on from the release of PaletteArena 6.3, the latest version of the company’s core solution suite, earlier this year and Palette’s expansion in several territories including Finland, Denmark, USA, Canada, Australia, Africa and Asia, through the development of partner agreements and subsidiary organisations.

Palette’s CEO, Lars Ola Petters, commented: “In the past 18 months we have seen growing interest in our solutions as more and more businesses realise the benefits, and return on investment, that e-invoicing and automated payments deliver. Palettes e-invoicing has grown 55% over the last 12 month and as we have grown internationally we have maintained our close customer focus, ensuring we continue to deliver market leading solutions and customer service.”

In the first six months of 2015 the Purchase to Pay automation company has picked up clients across several industries, including Clas Ohlson, Fläkt Woods, Autolink and Universal Robots, Flügger, a major airplane manufacturer. EchoVera, the master distributor of Palette in Canada, has signed ClubLink Corporation, a golf course owner which offers its members access to some of Canada’s top golf courses.

EchoVera has also introduced PaletteArena to the Boston Globe, the Toronto Star, and Canadian North, as companies across North America are realizing the value of Purchase to Pay automation solutions. Solutions include intelligent OCR scanning, PaletteInvoice, CloudTrade, and connectors to ERP systems such as NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics. More announcements will be forthcoming from the Canadian operation.

More on the Palette blog here.

CloudTrade Joins Forces with Palette for E-invoicing Solution
 CloudTrade Joins Forces with Palette for E-invoicing Solution 150 150 Tim Robertson
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Palette Group have become CloudTrade’s latest partner in a move that will strengthen Palette’s position as a market leader of AP automation and P2P payment software.

CloudTrade’s patented e-invoicing technology will enable Palette to offer customers a paper-free alternative, meeting a growing demand for high adoption and fast delivery. By further expanding their existing product offering, Palette has ensured that they remain innovative and lead the development of increasingly flexible solutions. With CloudTrade’s supplier adoption rate averaging an impressive 90%, Palette expect to see both an increase in new business and additional revenue from current customers

Palette Group, established in 1993, has offices worldwide and a web of clients stretching throughout Europe, America, Asia and Australia. London based CloudTrade was founded in 2010 by a team with over 25 years’ experience in e-invoicing, aiming to remove all barriers to adoption and usage. This partnership marks the formalisation of a relationship spanning over 5 years, involving a network of shared end-users and channel partners.

Both CloudTrade and Palette have pre-existing ties with Converga, a leader in advanced information logistics and Echovera, who offer document automation solutions. Richard Manson, Commercial Director of CloudTrade described the latest developments; “CloudTrade has entered a period of exceptional growth, having doubled its revenue continuously for the past 3 years. This new endeavour with Palette is the latest in a series of partnerships for us and it’s great to see our technology continuously complement and enhance existing services and solutions”.

Palette have traditionally focused on a combination of OCR and EDI to support the delivery of their P2P suite of applications, which depend on e-invoice technology. However OCR involves scanning documents and converting into data, which can require constant quality control measures to ensure consistency.

CloudTrade’s solution has removed the reliance on OCR and provided a paper-free option that can accommodate any existing systems. Current economic and environmental factors have increased the desire for the removal of paper in favour of more cost-effective, cutting edge practices. Through this partnership Palette are set to widen their existing customer base and strengthen their position among the competition.

Press Contact(s):
Elesha Bentley – elesha.bentley@cloud-trade.com
Petra Hagman – petra.hagman@palettegroup.com

About CloudTrade:
CloudTrade is one of the fastest growing e-invoice and e-document networks. Electronically connecting over 100 organisations to thousands of their trading partners across numerous sectors and regions across the globe. Founded in 2010 to offer a fresh approach to e- invoicing, CloudTrade enables companies to evolve past their reliance on paper and trade electronically with their suppliers, irrespective of size or technical maturity. Possessing unique, patented technology CloudTrade can offer services not widely seen in the market, in a cost effective way. Visit www.cloudtradenetwork.com

About Palette:
Palette is a market leader in solutions for enterprise purchase-to-pay and automated processing of supplier invoices. The company’s accounts payable product suite, PaletteArena, offers the most automated approach to supplier invoice matching and straight-through-processing. This helps customers achieve significant, measurable cost savings and efficiency gains across their accounting and business operations. Palette was founded in Sweden in 1993, and has sales offices across Europe and in the US, with 2000 customers in 50 countries. Visit www.palettegroup.com

Colchester Borough Council automates processing of 20,000 invoices per year
 Colchester Borough Council automates processing of 20,000 invoices per year 150 150 Tim Robertson
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Colchester Borough Council has gone live with the first phase of a project to implement a process to process up to 20,000 invoices each year by technology powered by CloudTrade, an EchoVera Technology Partner.

In the UK, Advanced Cloud Invoicing (ACI) is currently being used by suppliers using a purchase ordering system, and phase two of the implementation involves extending the system to those without purchase orders.

Advanced Cloud Invoicing (ACI) is currently being used by suppliers using a purchase ordering system, and phase two of the implementation involves extending the system to those without purchase orders. This solution is powered by CloudTrade technology.  Read the full case study

78% of CFOs Love Electronic Invoicing – Billentis Research
 78% of CFOs Love Electronic Invoicing – Billentis Research 150 150 Tim Robertson
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Billentis Research has found that 78% of CFOs love the visibility they get with electronic invoicing. See the video below for the whole story:

Canadian North Deploys Electronic Invoicing with Palette
 Canadian North Deploys Electronic Invoicing with Palette 150 150 Tim Robertson
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Canadian North

Canadian North, northern Canada’s leading airline company, has deployed a web-based invoice automation solution from Palette. The airline is using PaletteInvoice to process, approve and schedule the 40,000 supplier invoices it receives annually at its offices in Edmonton, Calgary and Iqaluit.

The solution, which is part of the PaletteArena suite of accounts payable automation solutions, has been supplied and configured by Palette’s Toronto-based partner EchoVera. PaletteInvoice – built on the Microsoft .NET framework – is being used in conjunction with CloudTrade, which eliminates the need to scan PDF invoices.

The company reports that the Palette deployment has delivered closer control of costs, and enables Accounts Payable staff to work more productively.

“The biggest benefit we have gained from PaletteInvoice is transparency over accounts payable activity across the entire organization.”

Jeff MacPherson, senior financial analyst for Canadian North, said: “Before the deployment of Palette’s solution, invoices received as PDF files had to be printed, approved and coded, before being passed to our Accounts Payable department for manual filing; all of which was extremely time-consuming and labour-intensive.

“Since the introduction of PaletteInvoice in January 2014, our processes have been significantly streamlined and are now far more efficient.” MacPherson continued: “The biggest benefit we have gained from PaletteInvoice is transparency over accounts payable activity across the entire organisation.

“We can see exactly where we are in terms of pending invoices, which is vital as we operate from three main offices which are located in different cities. With automated invoice processing, we also have much tighter control over operations and a greater ability to manage volumes of work.”

PaletteInvoice integrates with Canadian North’s Microsoft Dynamics ERP system. For more information about electronic invoicing, visit Echovera here.

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