Re: Emailing statements and invoices

[Mike.Crump@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

We don't yet push invoices out via email yet but we do a lot of receipt of
invoices via fax or email.  It's our goal to receive everything that way.
Some of the security concerns and operational concerns are valid but they
can be overcome.

As I mentioned, we receive invoices either via email or fax.  Typically we
prefer PDF because it is the defacto standard for finalized output but with
our imaging software we actually have better luck with TIFF because it
improves the operation of our imaging software to look for data.  We use
Gauss VIP and integrate it with our JDE AP.  The goal is to minimize or
eliminate manual rekeying of anything.  That doesn't mean that human
intervention isn't necessary and I would never recommend that it be
eliminated.  You could think of this as a poor man's edi.  We use a
combination of image scanning technology, email addresses,  ANI, DID, and
DNIS numbers to route invoices to the proper people for approval.  The
approver matches the invoice against an open PO and in most cases no data
needs to be re-keyed.  I'm more involved on the fax side but I think we use
mail-in database's in Domino to provide some intelligence.

But it works pretty slickly where the Gauss VIP, JDE AP, and Quadrant
Fastfax software help automate a lot of things for us.

Receiving a PDF for the sake of it is ok but the real benefit is to
eliminate rekeying and the manual filing of paper.  Regarding security
issues of the document being processed you have to have a process and an
agreement in place to be safe.  For example, as most accountants will tell
you there never should be an invoice paid without supporting documentation.
That's the whole idea behind three-way matching - order it, receive it, pay
for it.  Each one of those should be a different person and have some
supporting documentation (that does not mean paper).  Variances happen all
the time but they can be handled - different quantities, different items,
different prices, etc.

You also have to be prepared on how to handle disputes.  My favorite term
is repudiation.  You have to handle disputes and come up with ways to
minimize repudiation.

Just some thoughts.....





Michael Crump
Manager, Computing Services
Saint-Gobain Containers
1509 S. Macedonia Ave.
Muncie, IN  47302
(765)741-7696
(765)741-7012 f
(800)428-8642

"The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us
from the support of a cause we believe to be just"  Abraham Lincoln