Cornerstone Communications
Invoicing

Business Process Improvement - CFO's Need to Know the Fallacy Behind "Business as Usual"

The title CFO ’s Need To Know the Fallacy Behind “Business as Usual” is an installment of a series of white papers focusing on Business Process Improvement. This installment will highlight the vital role of invoices within the business environment, the enormous hidden costs associated with generating those invoices as well as proven real world solutions to eliminating these skyrocketing costs. The goal of this white paper is enlighten CFOs that “Business as usual” is not always efficient business.

U.S. businesses are paying over 200% too much per invoice transaction… IDC.

Business As Usual

Over the past decade, Business has primarily focused on improving core business processes: Manufacturing, Distribution, and Customer Relationship Management. In these areas, they're rapidly automating processes, cutting costs and boosting productivity. This means that organizations have achieved only a fraction of the available opportunities for cost reduction. If an organization’s core business is to produce product “X”, its’ second line of business is to manage the documents that control the flow of that product.

Invoice Management Solutions

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Invoices are at the heart of every business. The ultimate goal of manufacturing and distributing product “X” is collect payment from the customer. Unfortunately, most business operates with the efficiency of the pony express when it comes to document management. Paper streams into a company, clerks input data and eventually paper streams back out. Kevin Craine, Author of Designing a document strategy said it best “The way we manage documents says a lot about how we manage business.” As necessary as Invoices are the costs associated with generating those invoice are not.

Today's business leaders are more compelled than ever to streamline, improving business processes in order to cut costs and improve efficiencies across all parts of their business.

This is not reflected document expense management. Market research firm eMarketer Inc. estimates that 84 percent to 98 percent of all business-to-business invoices still involve some paper costs. Costs that could include:
  • Printer ware and tear
  • Toner, pre-printed forms
  • Envelopes
  • Postages
  • Cover pages
  • Facsimile charges
  • Copies
  • Filling supplies
  • Cabinet space,
  • Labor’s time to manage and move those invoices.
Companies have the ability to make great strides by implementing a document management solution. By transforming paper based invoicing process into electronic process Gartner Inc. believes that companies expect to lower the typical cost of producing a paper invoice from $5 to $1.65. This would be achieved reducing labor, postage, paper and equipment costs.

Step by Expensive Step
  • Paper orders come into the company via mail or facsimile
  • A file folder is used to start the order packet
  • The order is entered in the system
  • A paper order acknowledgement is mailed or faxed back to the customer
  • A paper pick ticket is generated for the warehouse to pull the product
  • A multiple copy bill of lading is printed for shipment
  • A signed copy of the bill of lading is returned to the company
  • A paper invoice is mailed of faxed to the customer
  • The Order Packet, which includes the customer order, order acknowledgement, pick ticket, signed bill of lading, and a copy of the invoice is physically filed
  • Order is received electronically at desktop and never printed
  • No physical folder is need
  • The order is entered in the system
  • An order acknowledgement is automatically customized with an electronic form and electronically distributed back the customer
  • A pick tick is generated with a bar code. When scan back into the system it is automatically indexed.
  • A Bill of Lading is generated with a bar code. When the signed copy is scanned back into the system it is automatically indexed.
  • An Invoice is automatically customized with an electronic form and electronically distributed to the customer
  • There is no need for a physical filing cabinet. The electronic order packet includes customer order, order acknowledgement; pick ticket, signed bill of lading, and a copy of the invoice. It is accessible to anyone with the correct security clearance anytime anywhere.
What Next?

Contact us to discuss how we can help reduce your document related expenses.

Call: 1.888.427.5663
Email: sales@cstoneindy.com

Click here for specific information about how your company could be improving business processes right now and realizing the gain of having enacted the most significant improvement which pulls you ahead of the competition.

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