AR professionals look to e-invoicing

E-invoicing is the only invoicing method to
have shown an increase with 6% more organisations said to have
migrated to the payment method in the last year, according to a
report by e-invoicing network OB10 and the International Accounts
Receivables Professionals (IARP) association.

In contrast, the 2011 OB10-IARP Accounts
Receivables Survey shows EDI, e-mail, fax and overnight
invoice submissions have shown declines when compared to last
year’s results.

Accounts receivable professionals reported an
increase in the level of demand for e-invoicing from their
customers, with 69% indicating one or more of their customers asked
them to bill them via the payment method during 2010. Of that
group, over a third noted an increase in request for e-invoicing
from their customers.

“Survey respondents, including CEOs,
presidents, owners and accounts receivable directors and managers
from a cross-section of organisations, indicated that ensuring more
predictable payment from customers is still critical to proper
management of a company’s cash flow,” said the report.

It is noted that while 91% of respondents are
somewhat or very satisfied with their collection efforts, 50% are
only somewhat satisfied, which the report suggests shows
significant room for improvement. 74% of respondents are said to
keep their collection operations in-house, of which 77% have no
plans to outsource those operations.

Account receivable professionals reported an
average days sales outstanding (DSO) of 33.5 days, down from 36.1
days in 2010.