Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment for Business Customers (Assignment of Open Items)

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment for Business Customers (Assignment of Open Items)

This Business Scenario Map is designed to show you how a customer makes online assignments between his open invoices and payments to a vendor. The map illustrates the benefits of efficient communication and collaboration for both counterparties. Information is shared quickly and easily between business partners. This reduces the communication effort. The result is a streamlined business process that saves time and money.
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Value Potentials Business Benefits

Up to 10%*

 Getting information for the clearing process is quick and easy

Up to 20%*

 Less time spent contacting customers

Up to 25%*

 Reduction in telephone and postal costs

Up to 10%*

 Clear and precise information received from customers
Integrate invoices automatically into A/R eliminating re-keying of information
Discharge of proprietary EDIFACT messages
Enable non-EDI companies to trade electronically
Vendor
Customer
Clearing of open items with payments not possible
Send information to customer
Receive automated message from customer
Check assignment
Receive automated e-Mail
Access vendor's Biller Direct Web application
Assign open items
.
Source:

* Discussions with customers
The value potentials shown in this table have been reported by selected SAP customers or independent third parties as referenced herein. However, there is no guarantee that such value potentials can be realized in any particular customer-specific business processes, and SAP does not make any representations and disclaims any liability as to the appropriateness of the referenced value potentials for any specific customer situation.
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Business Benefits Value Potentials
Avoid accounting errors
Integrate invoices automatically into A/P eliminating re-keying of information
Misunderstandings with vendors are avoided

Up to 30%*
Dunning notices from vendors are avoided

Up to 25%*
Information about whether or not the vendor has received the payment

Up to 10%*
 

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment for Business Customers (Assignment of Open Items)

Business customers usually receive their invoices electronically and check, post and pay them from their backend systems. Whenever the vendor is unable to clearly assign one of these payments to an open item, the vendor's AR accountant needs to check with the customer which invoice(s) he intended to clear with the respective payment. In this case, the vendor informs the customer of this by e-mail and requests him to assign the open items. The customer accesses his account online, makes the assignment as he already has in his own backend system and adds notes if necessary to explain the assignment. The customer saves the assignment and in doing so automatically sends a reply to the vendor. When processing this message, the vendor can accept the assignment and so clear the corresponding items automatically.

 

SAP provides the component SAP Biller Direct to support this business process. It enables customers and vendors to process these exceptions. The streamlined communication between vendor and customer makes the clarification easy, clear and efficient.

 

Companies that benefit most from using these business process are vendors and customers who send and receive large numbers of bills and payments, not restricted to any one industry. Typical vendors that profit from this automization include companies from the Telco, Utilities, Public Sector and Media sectors.