Taming the Invoice Tangle

J.P. Morgan Chase gets ready to offer EIPP In the ceaseless quest to secure greater efficiencies, businesses are gearing up for new ways to interact with their supply chain. And so, it's out with old, messy manual methods of phone, fax, and paper; in with electronic data transfer. E-procurement is an idea that gained its profile in the dot-com world and is a notion beginning to get attention from traditional companies, including banks. Bank of America, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, and First Union are some of the banks beginning to offer electronic payment solutions for businesses, says Avivah Litan, vice-president of payment systems for TowerGroup, Needham, Mass. After all, sophisticated electronic procurement methods akin to those offered by e-commerce provider Ariba require equally streamlined invoicing and payment methods--online--to complete the efficiency cycle. And what better dispatcher of a payment solution than a bank? So goes the logic within the J.P. Morgan Treasury Services Unit of J.P. Morgan Chase, which along with other early big bank adopters is out to stay ahead of changing cash management practices. Chase is set to offer an electronic invoicing presentment and payment system (EIPP) to Fortune 1000 clients. J.P. Morgan Chase partnered with BCE Emergis, based in Montreal. This technology developer (which picked up the core solution from an earlier acquisition of a U.S. tech firm, Invoice Link Corp.) created a customized version of its e-invoicing service that it will host for the bank, which, in turn, will market e-invoicing to treasury clients. While electronic billpay and bill presentment (EBPP) has gotten tons of ink, similar processes on the business side are less discussed. And yet, for BCE Emergis and others, great opportunity lies in that highly trafficked yet underserved arena. Basically, in putting a conduit between customer and biller, electronic presentment of invoices and statements could help tame the paper trail in large companies, which are typically overrun with invoices and need more streamlined methods for getting invoices and shipments matched, confirmed, and paid for. Banks like Chase are very excited about offering their clients more services in the cash management area, says Alan Neely, senior vice-president of e-Invoicing solution for BCE Emergis. CFOs of large companies often turn to banks to get advice about appropriate strategies for moving money. We think they are looking for a one-stop shop provider of these types of services. With consumers, typically, one member of a household is the designated billpayer and problems are relatively rare. For businesses, though, payment for goods and services often involves disputes, or a need for clarification before a final approval is granted and a check cut. Billing cycles range from 30 to 90 days. I think many billers mistakenly believe that their customers hold on to money as long as possible before making payments, when the reality is, they want to move it along faster, but have trouble keeping track of their documents, indicates Paul Simons, vice-president and senior product manager for EIPP at J.P. Morgan Treasury Services Unit. The hosted EIPP service lets both billers and customers avoid the high cost and complexity of EDI, says Simons, and is designed to integrate with existing enterprise resource planning, accounts receivable, and customer relationship management systems. So a company that is trying to keep its paperwork organized can subtract from organizational complexity. …

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