Safe and secure flow determined Bravida's choice

Large companies with large invoice flows require operators that can handle huge volumes.
Bravida chose Inexchange. With around one million invoices running in its systems every year - spread across four countries - it needed a secure and reliable partner.
- We've been using Inexchange for several years now. We have a very good collaboration," says Kristoffer Hagberg, accounting assistant at Bravida.

Kristoffer works in the accounts payable department, is responsible for e-invoicing and is involved in many projects. In the team at Bravida's finance department, Kristoffer is joined by Anton Kannius, who is a finance assistant and works with e-invoicing in the accounts receivable department.
The duo shudder with unease at the mere thought of paper invoices.
- "Most people probably agree that the time for paper is over. You could handle that 20 years ago. Now we've come so far in digitization that it's time to dump paper completely, Kristoffer thinks, and Anton agrees.
- "Of course we try to use as many e-invoices as possible. I feel that customers are also reasoning like this more and more. Not many customers want paper invoices if they have the option of receiving the invoices electronically.

The resistance regarding the presence of paper in the invoice flow is so compact that Bravida says no to this old outdated variant.
- Yes, we have been tough since we switched to Inexchange, Kristoffer says. We don't accept paper invoices and preferably not so many PDFs either. We request e-invoices from suppliers as far as we can. We closed the invoice addresses two and a half years ago.

Making it easier for everyone

Kristoffer and Anton say that Bravida and Inexchange have been working closely together for several years to speed up digital development on the invoicing side. The result has been good. The amount of e-invoices is constantly increasing.
- It's hard to say exactly what the time savings will be, but there's no doubt that it's substantial. If you look at e-invoices compared to PDFs, it makes it easier not only for us in Accounts Payable but also for the user who has to approve the invoice. If the supplier sends an invoice that is electronic, it is in our system about one or two minutes later. As a PDF, you can count on at least one or two days," Kristoffer claims in a quick estimate.
He then points to another plus factor:
- "If you send an e-invoice, there will be no errors. When it arrives and is processed, we can be sure that the figures are correct. A PDF is scanned or interpreted manually. Then it can be wrong in many ways. Currency, dates and so on. Because the human factor is involved, there is always some risk of error. If it's an e-invoice, everything is done electronically. It saves time.We don't have to sit and correct errors, either immediately or when we discover them afterwards.

Always consistent

The e-invoice also has additional features that simplify handling. Kristoffer mentions one more.
- "An e-invoice is always uniform. It is always the same type of invoice image that Inexchange provides us with. Inexchange creates an image based on what the suppliers send to us electronically. That helps us. We know where to look at the invoice image regardless of which supplier sends it. It looks the same all the time.

The electronic format is also a priority for Bravida's accounts receivable department, where Anton has his domain.
- "When we add a new customer, we immediately check whether they can receive e-invoices. If so, we make sure to include what we need in the file we send to Inexchange. Then it is basically solved. Of course, there may be errors sometimes, for example, that it was wrong in our file or was against the wrong VAN operator, but it is not so often. We are working on using e-invoices as much as possible," he says.

Do you want to receive more e-invoices?
Kristoffer and Anton offer good tips:

• Do your research
  Weigh the pros and cons. See what, for example, 80 percent e-invoice versus 40 percent PDF and paper would do for you. This will give you an idea of how much it will help you take a bigger digital leap forward. Once you realize this, the motivation will increase to take this piece seriously.
  
  
• Structure everything
  Once you get started, and perhaps have a lot of PDFs, it's good to structure everything and see which suppliers email these. If you create a good structure from the start, it will be easier to reach as many people as possible. There are probably low-hanging fruits to pick.
  
  
• Start wide
  A good piece of advice is to start on a broad front in the work to get suppliers to send electronically. Then, as you raise the digitization requirements, you can target those who have said they cannot send e-invoices and who have large flows.
  
  
• Straightforward and simple message
  Be clear in your information that you want e-invoices. Describe in an educational way why you are making this requirement and how the invoice is sent. Avoid technical details. Instead, create an understanding of why you should digitize and what the benefits are. Also, balance the length of the text: not too long and not too short. Don't make it so long that people don't bother reading just because they can't be bothered. But it should also not be so short that it raises a lot of follow-up questions.
  
  In the pictures below: Kristoffer (left) and Anton.