“Get started with large volumes directly”
Make an effort to connect many suppliers in a short space of time right from the get-go. This is the advice from Region Halland when it comes to e-invoicing.
“Getting started quickly with large volumes is a success factor. Otherwise it can easily take up time and the effects are delayed,” says Kate Vaher-Käll, economist at Regionens Hus in Halmstad.
In November of last year, Region Halland signed an agreement with InExchange.
The focus was on external suppliers based on invoice volumes. As soon as the agreement was signed, the set-up was made ready. In February the first mailing was sent to the suppliers. It was then followed up with a reminder about three months later.
Kate Vaher-Käll says that it achieved the desired effect.
“We mailed approximately 1,400 suppliers.Today we have almost 900 connected. I think it’s worked very well,” she says.
But it is not just the letters that have had the intended impact. InExchange Network has also been a successful tool in Region Halland’s efforts to link digital contacts with their suppliers. Many can be found in the network.
“Yes,” Kate says.
“We have worked actively from our side to further expedite the process.”
Letters aren’t really modern, after all. Experience tells us that they don’t always end up in the right hands. That is why it may be a good idea to access the system directly and send a request.
“Once we had gone through our list and seen that there were suppliers with large invoice volumes that had not responded, we tried to exert a little bit of extra pressure.”
Good for everyone
Kate Vaher-Käll also stresses the importance of the right tone.
“The wording of the mailing was quite harsh the first time. It was interpreted as though it were an absolute requirement. We had reactions such as: “Well in that case, we can’t do any business with Region Halland if we have to do this.”
“However, in those cases we had the portal to refer to. When this option was described to them, there was greater understanding. For suppliers who are on the fence, by pointing out the benefits of the portal we have even managed to connect them to e-invoicing.”
Has it been a huge transition for you?
“I think that it works really well.
We have now chosen to have a reference code check, which has meant that we have had to deal with fewer errors. So it has absolutely been worth the investment.
We’ve not experienced any major concerns with the technology either, which feels great. The electronic invoices look a little different from the scanned ones, but this has not caused any major concern for the users.”
Increase volume immediately
Do you have any tips to give others who are considering connecting to InExchange?
“Absolutely the most important thing I think is getting started quickly with large volumes. Otherwise it can easily drag on. That’s why it’s good to get help from InExchange to connect suppliers and link as many as possible in the shortest possible time. Because it’s only when you get the volumes up that you really realize how smooth and efficient this is.
“Choosing to connect the reference code check has given us a lot of positives.
It reduces error handling and makes the invoices move through the flow more quickly.
“Another positive effect of starting with electronic invoices has been that we can now focus on setting up automatic coding, as the level of detail in the electronic documents is different from that in the scanned documents.”
Quote:
“I feel that e-invoicing is more secure than handling paper invoices and the traceability is also better.”
Kate Vaher-Käll, Economist, Region Halland
