OB10: A truly global network – Luke McKeever

Buyers and suppliers alike are coming to realise the benefits of e-invoicing. As the industry grows, there is a need for operators that will ensure full legal compliance and the smooth running of operations. Luke McKeever, CEO of global B2B e-invoicing network OB10, outlines the factors that have made his company a world leader.

Slowly but surely, e-invoicing is moving up the managerial agenda. As the practicalities are ironed out, and the challenges surrounding legal compliance are addressed, paper invoicing is beginning to seem retrogressive. More and more organisations are using e-invoicing to save money, streamline workflow processes, deploy personnel more efficiently and improve supplier relationships.

Global B2B e-invoicing network OB10, headquartered in London, has been well-placed to chart this progression. Founded in 2000, the company has remained resolutely at the top of its game. With a network of over 100,000 suppliers in 150 countries, its clients include a vast array of global brands, GlaxoSmithKline, Aviva, HP, Tesco and Unilever among them.

The economic advantages of e-invoicing to suppliers go almost without saying. With printing expensive and postage still more so, it makes simple financial sense to switch to an electronic format. However, the real value for suppliers is generated by access to new and timely information. They can see when their invoice has been received and approved, and can extend their trading relationships with the confidence that payment is imminent.

"From the buyer side, the principal benefit is a significant reduction in expense," says Luke McKeever, CEO at OB10. "In an ideal environment, companies should have touchless invoice processing, from invoice to payment without any human interaction. There are incredible savings here." The less obvious impact is on working capital management. The sooner the invoice is in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, the sooner the buyer organisation can pay, which offers opportunities from early payment discounts and more effective use of capital.

On time and on budget

Efficiency is key. If a client follows the appropriate procedures, OB10 can shrink its paper invoice processing costs by around 60%, and return on investment can be achieved in less than a year.

In addition to reducing the number of hands and eyes needed to review an invoice, additional savings are generated by cutting late payments. "Buyers are better able to manage their cash position - adhering to deadlines and commitments," says McKeever "As a result, suppliers using the OB10 service tend to receive their funds 11-15% quicker than they did before connecting to the network. That also takes into account the number of days that a buyer or organisation might typically take to pre-process an invoice. The clock starts ticking sooner."

OB10 works with several US federations that have very specific payment-on-time objectives. These clients have now virtually eliminated late payments, and avoided some hefty penalties.

Buyer organisations are also registering a significant drop in supplier calls to their response centres. "Accounts receivable staff can log in to a portal and see that the invoice has been received and see its status," explains McKeever. "It's great to know that your invoice has been approved for payment and get an anticipated payment date. In practical terms this translates to peace of mind for the supplier and saves up to 60% of calls into our buying clients' response centres."

Ultimately, this leads to an improvement in buyer-seller relations. The buyer, benefiting from enhanced cashflow management and reduced call volume, is better placed to meet its commitments to the supplier. Meanwhile the supplier can be confident that the invoice has arrived and that it will be paid on time, creating an environment conducive to driving good value across the supply chain.

This process is, of course, finely tuned. Both buyer and seller need to be fully aware of best practice, and OB10 works closely with each party, facilitating clear communication and guaranteeing that key project milestones are met.

"The most critical success factor for the buying organisation is the unity between the procurement team and the accounts payable shared services team," says McKeever. "If one of these teams is less in favour of running an electronic invoicing programme than the other, the programme can be completely undermined. So we need to make sure there's a common set of goals and processes, and executive-level commitment within a buyer organisation."

Each buyer is therefore given access to a programme manager who works with them to optimise their supplier database, offer best practice advice, and provide the tools to initiate an internal and external communication campaign.

On the supplier side, OB10 has a dedicated multilingual implementation team. Providing an end-to-end activation service, this team enrols and educates suppliers worldwide and sets them up on the network.

"We want to make sure that getting involved is as seamless and easy as possible," says McKeever. "It's about helping each buyer and supplier connect their data with the minimum of fuss, getting them to use the system for sending and receiving invoices, and providing them with the reports so they know that everything's working as they'd expect."

Interoperation and compliance

Of particular benefit to the supplier is OB10's approach to interoperation. While there are numerous e-invoicing networks across the globe, interoperation allows one network to pass invoices through another that the supplier already has in place.

"Let's say the buyer is connected to OB10 but the supplier is connected to another network," says McKeever. "Well, we're going to continue to manage interoperation agreements, enabling the supplier to connect just once and not have to build multiple relationships and connections."

Currently, OB10 has 26 interoperation agreements in place, and expects that more will be required in the future. Moving forward, the company's competitive edge is predicated on the number of regions it can support, which raises the issue of international legal compliance.

"Legal and fiscal requirements differ by country," says McKeever. "We can get invoices sent from Mexico to a buyer in Germany, which have two entirely different sets of tax laws. It's a matter we take extremely seriously - we have to make sure we offer a compliant service in every region that we support."

The company works closely with local tax offices and independent advisers to ensure that the appropriate laws, both local and cross-border, are met. Its success so far has been unparalleled. OB10 is now VAT and tax compliant in 38 countries around the world and this figure is set to increase.

The level of OB10's environmental impact is also rising. "We're extremely conscientious when it comes to trying to eliminate the use of physical paper invoices," says OB10 CEO Luke McKeever. "Since organisations produce billions of invoices every year, you can imagine the number of trees our customers are saving."

With 11 years of experience helping some of the world's largest businesses run multinational programmes, OB10 is that rare thing within e-invoicing: a truly global network. Ensuring full data integrity and accurate information, it boasts innumerable references and client case studies.

"The sheer scale and stability of our solution and how it runs is unprecedented in our industry," says McKeever. "Our ability to run multilingual programmes and focus on the benefits to both suppliers and buyers is a pretty tall order for anyone but we've managed to get the balance about right. We will continue to invest in increasing the value of the system for both ends of the supply chain."

As the e-invoicing industry continues to gain ground, OB10 remains focused on generating value at both ends of a transaction, meeting corporate social responsibility targets and driving technological innovation.