Smart methodology at Språkservice behind more e-invoices and e-commerce

It's fun to talk electronic invoicing with Kerstin Forssman. Because she is so convinced of how much it makes everyday life easier and what development opportunities there are in this area. As financial manager at Malmö-based Språkservice AB, she has seen and felt the benefits at first hand.
Kerstin throws in several examples during the conversation.
"We think it's an incredible difference compared to sending paper invoices. And how easy it is to find in the invoice printer; GLN numbers, addresses and so on" she notes with satisfaction in a sudden reflection.
At another moment, Kerstin stops to think about how it used to be when she and the other employees sat and folded paper invoices. It took two or three days to get the invoices out. "We save a lot of time now," she says happily.
She also puts the differences into a perspective that benefits us all.
"Paper consumption has fallen radically. As has transportation. The environmental gain is significant. Which is important. Helping to save the earth's resources permeates our everyday work at the company," Kerstin points out, and this statement is underlined by the fact that Språkservice received the 2019 edition of the InExchange environmental award.

A gradual approach

The journey hand in hand with InExchange has been going on since 2013 when Språkservice became an invoice printer customer. Three years later, the next step was taken when the Scanian interpreting and translation provider upgraded the computer system it uses with the integrated services provided by InExchange.
As a result, invoice processing has become smoother every year. As I said, one of the main reasons for this is that Språkservice works methodically and constructively.
- We have taken a step-by-step approach and made agreement after agreement. Of course we have. It has taken time, but in 2018 we had at least achieved 100 percent e-invoicing in all our agreements except for those customers who, for one reason or another, are still unable to receive electronic invoices," Kerstin emphasizes.
Language Services thus acted long before the law on mandatory e-invoicing in all public procurement, which came into force in April 2019. With a large number of authorities as customers, it was of course prudent to change so early.

Implementing pure e-commerce

But at the same time, Språkservice wants to make even greater use of electronic communication channels.
- "We aim to gradually move our electronic invoices to a server environment and be able to invoice one invoice per order," Kerstin declares.
The intention at Språkservice is to implement pure e-commerce. This has not been possible so far because customers do not buy orders and items.
- They emphasize that they should have e-commerce and that it should be electronic invoice, but at the same time request that it should be monthly and collective invoice. These are concepts that don't really belong together, Kerstin says, and notes that this requirement means that the company still has some of its invoicing on the invoice printer.

Different conditions

What complicates matters is the actual ordering of interpreting services.
It is easy for a municipality to buy, for example, tomatoes and cucumbers on items. An invoice thus becomes an order, but may contain several hundred items. Once the supplier is entered in the system, all that remains is to place the weekly order.
But if you need to hire an interpreter, the process becomes more complicated. It is not possible to look quickly in a catalog. "We don't have interpreters sitting in a warehouse," as Kerstin jokingly describes the situation.
The order flow therefore takes on a different form.
- A booking with us becomes just that - a booking. It is an interpretation opportunity and at the same time the booking number. The majority therefore receive a collective invoice from us each month for different customer numbers and delivery numbers," Kerstin explains.
But the energetic financial manager at Språkservice notes that things are slowly moving in the right direction.
- "Customers are coming in all the time who want it to be e-commerce. It should be with article number, purchase order number and an invoice per order. So it is underway. Even with public authorities and when it comes to interpretation," she adds optimistically.

Simplified item structure

To meet this transformation, the Language Service is working on finding a simplified article structure. The program environment where orders are placed will be clear and the number of article numbers will be kept to a minimum.
- We will also try to get away from having attachments in the invoice. Instead, we will have an invoice so that we can send it via Peppol - or more precisely that Peppol can receive an invoice from us via InExchange - even if it is a negotiated invoice. It could be a consultancy invoice of perhaps 50 pages with a summary at the back where each booking is indicated on the invoice," describes Kerstin Forssman.