Global Multimodal Provider

  • Operating in more than 100 countries throughout the world

The company delivers its services through different operating companies. Each company within the group trades with and invoices all of the companies in the group. Every invoice has to be effectively reconciled and compensated within its 55 day payment cycle. In just over a decade, the amount of invoices has increased almost fivefold. The company processes more than 50,000 invoices every month, so it is neither practical nor economic to individually process invoices. An international organisation, the company requires business units in different countries to invoice each other and needs the ability to effectively manage exchange rate risk which makes a significant difference to the profitability of the company.

Objective

Central processing of inter-company invoices, allowing different business units to upload invoices, consolidate and settle in batches to minimise bank transfer fees. Manage exchange rate risk via global view of cash flow.

Steps to Success

  1. Centralised approach to inter-company invoicing for one global view of cash flow
  2. Implement a managed service approach with a web-based solution to allow users to upload invoices into an AP view, also provide AR view to check when funds released
  3. Use well defined formats available over the Internet to allow new users to be added immediately they are approved
  4. Easy to use so that company accountants can access and operate anywhere in the world with minimal training
  5. Enabling a move to shared service centres when the company is ready

Results

100 business units connected to the Netting system throughout the world able to view what is owed two months in advance and in which currencies payments will be made.

  • 600,000 invoices from 100 business units worldwide processed each year
  • Invoices uploaded to system in less than one minute
  • Netting system easily extends as invoice volume grows and new business units are added
  • Web-based interface ensures new system users are productive quickly
  • Exchange rate fluctuations accounted for, bank transfers minimised