InExchange: E-Invoicing Made Easy – Thordur Erlingsson

Many companies view the transition to e-invoicing as both expensive and time consuming. Thordur Erlingsson of InExchange explains how, with an open, collaborative business model, this need not necessarily be the case. 

Although its popularity is growing in Europe, e-invoicing still suffers from an image problem. Many companies have been discouraged by a lack of format standardisation, and the perceived hassle and expense of moving to a new system. In the view of Thordur Erlingsson, CEO of Swedish electronic invoicing specialist InExchange, the transition does not have to be a difficult one.

"Many of our customers are moving into electronic invoicing and want their suppliers to be activated as well," Erlingsson explains. "We take care of the whole activation project, contacting all of the buyer's suppliers and helping them get started. Once we have set up a customer, they don't have to undergo any format or communications testing. They can immediately reach everybody within our network."

Founded in 2007, InExchange already has 6,500 customers from across Europe. The firm places a premium on efficient, cost-effective systems implementation based around the maxim of ‘connect once, reach all'. The company offers three models.

• InExchange Web is designed for suppliers that send a small number of invoices each year. Suppliers can access it by registering online and enter the invoice details directly in their web browser.
• InExchange Virtual Printer allows suppliers to create simple and cost-efficient routines. The supplier prints invoices from its existing accounting system using this tool. InExchange then converts the printed information into e-invoices.
• InExchange Integrated Services is designed suppliers that send a large number of invoices each year. The supplier creates invoice files in its existing accounting system and transfers them to InExchange. InExchange then validates, checks and if necessary converts the files for transfer.

Quick starter

"For an SME it only takes about two hours to get the system off the ground, with registering your invoices online taking only ten minutes," Erlingsson explains. "If a company wants to use the printer, no technical knowledge is required. They send their invoices to our virtual printer and we retrieve them, convert them into the right format and send them on."

As well as producing considerable cost savings and an expedited approvals process, InExchange's system improves the quality of invoice information by reducing levels of human error.

"Whether the invoice is scanned or is in paper form, the faults are the same," Erlingsson says. "Information, such as the buyer's reference or order number, is often missing. Scanned images might have optical character recognition faults, such as threes appearing as eights. Automation, when done right, eliminates 99% of the faults associated with paper or scanned invoices."

Erlingsson strongly believes that, for adoption levels to increase, e-invoicing systems and the companies that run them should be interoperable. InExchange has agreements with many operators across Europe and actively encourages others to get in touch. "We don't believe that we should stop anyone from sending or receiving invoices," he explains. "This summer we are even putting our interoperability agreement on our website, so operators can download it, sign and starting working with us immediately."

In this vein, and unlike many others in its field, InExchange doesn't charge roaming fees. The company views collaboration as integral to the growth of the whole segment. It also believes that cooperation can help resolve another issue that discourages many from adopting e-invoicing – a lack of format standardisation. "If e-invoicing is going to be a success, then things like roaming fees between operators should not be enforced," he says. "We believe in a completely open platform and promote this as much as we can. We are also heavily involved with the implementation of a proposed European standard, though we do have the ability to deal with many different format types."

New e-order

Sweden has long been a leader in the implementation of e-invoicing and the next few years should see considerable strides being made. With the e-invoice already making considerable headway in the domestic market, attention will turn to the e-order, which could be hugely beneficial to both buyers and suppliers.

"The e-order will allow buyers to use the same channels to service all sizes and types of supplier, from the very smallest to the very biggest," Erlingsson explains. "This has been done before through one-to-one connections, but never through multiple models like we are trying to achieve."

In addition, Erlingsson is anticipating wider implementation of cross-border invoicing, driven by the continent-wide shift towards a standard payment format and the possibilities for collaboration that this will encourage.

"More and more companies are looking to implement Peppol, which will make cross-continent integration much easier," he explains. "Operators will be able to work towards a mutual business model, making our product even more attractive."