U.S. companies report that 28% of their customers refuse to accept invoices by any delivery method except postal mail, according to a study by document process automation provider Esker (www.esker.com). Nevertheless, 89% of the businesses surveyed report maintaining or increasing e-invoicing via e-mail.

"Businesses moved relatively quickly to accommodate companies who asked for electronic invoicing, not only to meet their preferences, but also because of the major efficiency gains that e-mail brings," said Renee Thomas, Director of Field Marketing, Americas with Esker. "But the fact remains that there are thousands of companies who still like getting their invoices in hard copy format in the mail--- and regardless of how large or small a company you are, to compete in today's marketplace, you need to take a customer-centric approach. The question that companies should be asking themselves, though, is, 'are we being as efficient as we can be about accommodating those preferences?'"

The study noted that "on average, two to three employees spend 106 hours per month generating and sending physical mail with invoice-related correspondence, including reminders and resends. Of the time it takes to generate and send each invoice, only around 15% is spent on actual calculation of an invoice, with the remainder dedicated to printing, addressing, stuffing, and mailing it, largely menial tasks. And while 9 % reported that invoice calculation is automated (81% used SAP), one-third of organizations still manually add postage to their invoices, and 8 % are hand-stuffing them into envelopes using internal staff."

Of course, your company is doing some of this on your end---opening the mail, sorting the invoices, routing the invoices, and so on. Just as e-invoicing can save your vendors time and money, it will trigger savings at your company as well.

When planning new AP automation projects, always consider upkeep, advises Kelly Tripp, APM. Tripp formerly worked in finance and shared services at Reuters, Bausch & Lomb, Kraft, and Motorola. He is now vice president of operations at DataServ, LLC, a company specializing in on-demand document and process automation

Speaking at our Paper-Free AP conference in Chicago, Tripp told attendees that before taking on a slick new application---automated workflow, for example--ask yourself who is going to be the "workflow jockey" and do workflow maintenance. Will it be someone in IT, or someone in AP?

Consider how well IT supports you now, and consider whether you can count on them to have the bandwidth to support the technology you are considering. He noted that there is a gap between the latest technology and IT's ability to support it.

If IT cannot back you up, you should consider outsourcing the program maintenance. Regardless of whether or not you outsource, Tripp warns, at some point you will still need to involve IT and you want to avoid alienating them. He says: "You will not succeed in injecting change in your accounts payable department and make the life of your staff easier if you do not incorporate and include IT early in the process."

One of the key pieces of advice for AP operations that transition to shared services is this: Standardize processes before making the move. This is according to responses from over 100 AP pros we surveyed who have taken their AP shops from a decentralized setup to a centralized, shared services organization. For example: "Standardize processes prior to consolidation to minimize exceptions," says an AP manager (manufacturing; 900,000 invoices annually).

An AP shared services operation has the advantage of removing redundant processes. Through standardization, you can apply uniform best practices. Therefore, before converting to shared services, develop a reasonable level of standardization. Conventional wisdom has been to not outsource a broken process. Since AP shared services is a form of outsourcing (it can be termed "internal outsourcing"), processes should be adjusted and brought up to par.

To do this, you need to examine the AP processes as they stand. "You need to understand exactly how AP is run at each location before centralizing---this is critical," says an AP consultant (communications industry; 500,000 annual invoices).

Sometimes, you'll find very disparate AP processes at your decentralized units. Here's how one AP manager handled that: "We looked at the AP process at each of our plants," said Joyce Couts, senior AP supervisor at the Campbell Soup Company who spearheaded the company's move to shared services. Speaking at our Power of e in AP conference in Chicago, she continued: "We saw who did it the best, and that's the way we decided to do it overall."

From: Document
By: Kelley West

The success of new solution implementations (or outsourced services) starts with the request for proposal (RFP), as it sets the tone for the entire solution-selection initiative. This one proposal affects the quality of the RFP responses, the amount of work required to identify the best solution, and even the effectiveness of the solution. Thus, it pays to get it right from the beginning.

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DataServ, the leading on-demand service provider of document management, workflow and outsourcing solutions, announces that it has successfully completed its SAS 70 (Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70) Type II Report for 2007. Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, SAS 70 is the standard used to measure the reliability of a service organization's internal controls. DataServ has received an "unqualified opinion" from its independent auditor Brown Smith Wallace.

"We are very satisfied with the results from our SAS 70 auditing process," said Jeff Haller, CEO of DataServ. "Brown Smith Wallace performed a very thorough and rigorous review of DataServ's processes and controls and it was incredibly gratifying to come through with such great results."

A SAS 70 Type II engagement allows a service organization to have its control policies and procedures evaluated and tested. The results of the test for controls around DataServ's client support processes, documents and document process automation services ensure that the proper procedures and controls are in place to support their customers who must abide by Federal regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

A Service Auditor's Report with an unqualified opinion, such as the one DataServ received, issued by an Independent Accounting Firm differentiates the service organization from its peers by demonstrating the establishment of effectively designed control objectives and control activities.

"This completed SAS 70 Report will help our company build trust with our current and prospective clients," says Haller. "The result of the SAS 70 audit illustrates the reason why our clients outsource their document and process automation services to DataServ."

From: Industry Week
By: Jill Jusko

Manufacturers are showing growing support for lean accounting, which proponents say more accurately reflects activities of a lean organization.

There has been a "quiet revolution" unfolding the past few years among lean manufacturers, centered on the idea that traditional accounting measures don't accurately reflect the true results that lean delivers -- to the point that they sometimes promote the very opposite of lean. In fact, according to Brian Maskell, president of consulting firm BMA Inc., "Traditional accounting systems are actively harmful to lean organizations," necessitating an overhaul of the entire process in favor of lean accounting. Current signs indicate that the lean accounting movement is finding traction within the lean community.

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DataServ is proud to be a sponsor of the 3rd Annual Lean Accounting Summit, September 27-28, 2007 at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club in Orlando, FL.

In order to offer one-on-one attention to focus on your questions and to learn more about your company's needs, we will have a booth at the show. We encourage you to come by and see us!

As a featured sponsor, DataServ would like to extend to you a special $100 discount off the conference registration fee. Please quote the following VIP code when you register: dataserv

If you would like more information on the conference, or to register, please visit: Lean Accounting Summit