From a sponsor company at the upcoming marcus evans CFO Summit 2012, in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, 4 – 6 March, DuMonet highlights the value of document process automation for CFOs.

Read the full article here.

The cure is sales order automation. A solution that makes every order electronic, increases order visibility so you know who’s doing what with each order, and cuts order processing cost and time by at least 40% is out there. Even better, this solution is affordable, scalable, and can automate invoices and other documents as well.

Join Esker for a live webinar, “Automating Fax and Email Orders without Breaking the Bank” on February 16th at 1:00pm CDT to learn more about taking the pain out of fax and email orders. You’ll learn about the benefits of order automation and hear about our customers who have realized great gains in customer satisfaction, employee productivity and cost savings as a result.

To attend the webinar, register here: http://www.esker.com/feb16webinar

This headcount balancing act is not an easy one. Making sure you have the right number of customer service reps processing orders to not have downtime or overload is a science. Luckily, our customers have figured out that adding order automation to the equation makes things in the customer service world a lot better. With an automation solution, management is able to have visibility into order volumes, therefore being able to better forecast and measure workload, and it also frees up the customer service reps from manually entering order data and shuffling around paper to focusing on what is most important: the customer.

Learn more at www.esker.com.

Of the 450 sales orders received daily — across all of Kärcher’s 12 distinguished product brands and seven North American locations — nearly 90 percent of them come in via fax. Since each fax is manually processed, and all Kärcher brands have independent customer service organizations, the visibility, efficiency and confidence in their paper-based method was low. In an effort to improve processes, optimize staff and simplify the customer service landscape, Kärcher sought a hosted solution that could easily integrate with their current SAP® system.

Read the full Press Release here.

Growth continues at rapid pace in Q4

Esker Q4 2011 sales revenue increased 10% based on fixed and current exchange rates over a particularly strong Q4 2010. At over 10 million Euros, Esker experienced its most successful quarter since its establishment in 1985. Despite difficult market conditions, particularly in Europe, these excellent results are largely due to the success of Esker’s document process automation solutions (+15%) and its solid performance in the United States.

Read the full Press Release here.

Read the full Press Release here.

I read an interesting article from Tech Crunch about why Apple bought Anobit. 

The article states two main reasons:

1. Because of the flash memory controllers produced by Anobit are used in Apple’s Products
2. With this one acquisition Appled added 160 Chip Engineers (this represents about a 10% increase in Apple’s current Chip Engineering Department).

 Anyone that follows Apple knows that they have a ton of cash but, they don’t spend it foolishly.

This acquisition is a great example of the value of Human Capital. Not every company has a team of high tech Engineers, but we all have employees that make our companies what they are today. So how do we get more out of our Human Capital and thus make our company more valuable? It can be as simple as walking around the office to see if employees at every level have the tools they need to do the best job they can. Does your Customer Service Team have the means to effectively interact with your customers, or are they spending time entering orders?  Does your Accounting Team spend time working with vendors and collecting revenue, or do they squander their day with data entry and filing documents?  These are two simple ways that Esker can help you to get the most out of your Human Capital and make your company a little more valuable.

• Automation continues to grow: Not only do large corporations invest in accounts payable automation, but now the smaller organizations are also starting to see the benefits of eliminating a manual accounts payable process.   The article goes on to say that only 46% of AP departments have an actual workflow solution in place.   That means the majority of AP departments are still processing invoices manually.

• SaaS solutions become more prominent: With Software as Service solutions offering a low upfront cost as opposed to requiring the buyer to purchase software, servers, maintenance, etc., acquiring an accounts payable automation solution becomes much more feasible for smaller companies.  Along with this idea, there appears to be a growing demand for accounts payable applications to be available via mobile devices….mainly for invoice approvals and purchase requisitions.

• Employee numbers continue to decline: Ever since the recession, companies have been putting pressure on their accounts payable departments to shrink their staff.  As people retire, leave jobs, etc, the staffing positions are not being filled.   This doesn’t mean the work load has diminished…far from it.   The fact is more and more companies are using automation to handle any increase in invoices that need to be processed.

You can read about how automation is leading the way for a leaner accounts payable department by clicking here.

There are several reasons vendors wish to send their customers e-invoices (e.g., cost savings, process efficiencies, reduced environmental impact, etc.). Unfortunately, many customers do not welcome the e-format — some are reluctant to follow their vendors’ practices. In other cases, small companies, free-lancers and other businesses in unique sectors are simply not prepared to use the e-format. Additionally, e-invoices are not obligatory and cannot be imposed. In Spain, where e-invoicing regulation is among the strictest in the world, customers must give consent before receiving e-invoices from vendors, keeping the right to withdraw their decision at any time.

In today’s economic climate, companies have to make the most out of reduced resources while keeping their customers happy. Therefore, automating an Accounts Receivable process requires technology that allows customers to switch to the e-format when they decide to. In other words, paper and digital formats are forced to coexist, at least in the early stages. The challenge is that paper must gradually disappear in favor of the e-format. How? Create an environment that enables the management and sending of customer invoices — whether electronic or paper — to ensure a satisfactory transition that will not be traumatic for the customer.

Achieving this ideal environment implies keeping the customer well informed (e.g., sending informational emails about the new invoicing system, attaching a letter to paper invoices or using the reverse of the invoice so the recipient reads it, suggesting a meeting to explain e-invoicing, taking advantage of our sales network to promote it, etc.). One proven booster for e-invoice adoption is having an intranet for customers to learn more about it, along with external links and the possibility to subscribe to the e-format on a permanent basis. Another key factor is to always communicate the environmental benefits of quitting paper, stressing the additional benefit of using a solution that allows organizations to calculate their CO2 footprint reduction. Other incentives include: free archiving during five or six years, commercial benefits, credits, raffles, etc.

It is impossible to convince 100% of your customers to switch to e-invoicing. But, you have the option to succeed gradually thanks to solutions that allow you to automate the management and sending of invoices in any format, while ensuring a good communication stream between you and your customers. The benefits are mutual but you — the vendor — must help them take the final step. In the end, the relationship with your customer base will be greatly reinforced.

Jesús Midón Pablo, CEO of Esker Ibérica

Read the full Press Release here.