Some recent survey data from the Asset-Based Finance Association (ABFA) has shown that companies which borrow money against their invoices are not accessing all the funding that is available to them read more    

According to ABFA, banks have been marketing such loan facilities to businesses in the past year.  Invoice financing has historically been very popular in sectors such as recruitment, where companies have no assets to borrow against, but it has been rejected by many others because of the high charges. 

However, as we discussed in our recent article on dynamic discounting and reverse factoring, having close control and visibility over AP functions can make this a much more viable method of working capital harder, and minimising costs and charges.  Perhaps this could be the key to the wider adoption of factoring? Read the article

Here’s an interesting interview with Liam Mullaney, the MD of Sage Ireland, the leading accounts software company.  He makes a convincing case for companies to adopt e-invoicing.  He points out that the European Commission has set a target that by 2020 all invoices sent in Europe will be electronic - which it says would save Europe €240bn within six years. 

Further, a report by Celtrino estimates that businesses can save up to 2% of their turnover by cutting out paper invoices – which is a handsome ongoing saving.  It’s an interesting read:  http://digital21.ie/news/item/798

This article from the IAPP publication, Financial Operations Matters, takes an in-depth look at how companies can approach purchase-to-pay automation, one step at a time.  It also reveals some interesting trends:  for example, just 50% of best-in-class companies have standardised their invoice receipt and workflow processes, according to a recent Aberdeen study found.

The article includes some interesting real-life examples from a range of organisations.  It’s well worth a read at:  http://www.iappnet.org/ViewItem-2740.do?parentCatId=1334

Here are two further publications for our article on how advanced AP solutions can support dynamic discounting and reverse factoring, helping organisations to work their capital harder by negotiating discounts for early settlement of invoices.

It’s been placed in outsourcing portal, Sourcing Focus (link) and on leading finance and treasury website, GTNews (registration may be required).