EMEA B24: EDI Invoicing

Our current invoicing process is inefficient, manual, and increasingly unsustainable. While we offer email invoices, several of our largest customers won’t accept them — forcing us to print and post hard copies or manually upload invoices into customer-specific portals. These workarounds are not only time-consuming but introduce risk, create inconsistency, and can delay payments.

This isn’t just about internal process inefficiency — it affects how we are perceived externally. We want to be an easy, reliable partner to work with. EDI is no longer a “nice-to-have”; it is a critical enabler for scale, risk reduction, and strengthening customer relationships.

Key Drivers for Change

1. Customer Compatibility & Strategic Alignment

   • 13 of our top 15 customers are EDI-compatible, and 11 of those use B24, our preferred provider.

   • These customers are ready for streamlined, automated invoicing and increasingly expect suppliers to meet this standard.

   • Not implementing EDI risks damaging key relationships and affecting future business opportunities.

2. Operational Inefficiency & Scaling Constraints

   • Manual processing (printing, uploading, posting) is time-intensive and diverts finance and account teams from higher-value activities.

   • The current approach cannot scale with business growth without significant additional headcount.

   • EDI would automate a large portion of this effort, enabling the team to support higher volumes with existing resources.

3. Customer Experience & Competitiveness

   • Delays and inaccuracies in invoice submission frustrate customers and result in late payments, chargebacks, and disputes.

   • We’ve received direct feedback that competitors are already easier to do business with — putting us at a disadvantage.

   • EDI removes friction and positions us as a reliable, professional supplier.

4. Compliance, Controls & Confidentiality (SOX Risk)

   • Manual handling of invoices increases the likelihood of human error, missed entries, and audit issues.

   • EDI strengthens SOX compliance through automated, traceable, and secure data exchange.

   • Posting paper invoices introduces a serious confidentiality risk — invoices can be misdelivered or intercepted, exposing sensitive commercial information such as pricing, discounts, and customer terms.

   • This could damage customer trust and breach internal information security policies.

5. Return on Investment & Cost Avoidance

   • Avoids the need to hire additional resources as invoice volume grows.

   • Improves cash flow through faster, more accurate invoice delivery and fewer customer disputes.

   • Reduces chargebacks and penalties due to late or incorrect invoicing.

   • With the majority of key customers already using B24, implementation is low-risk and offers strong ROI — typically within 12–18 months.

Conclusion & Recommendation
Our invoicing process must evolve to support the business we are — and the one we are becoming. The status quo is costly, risky, and unscalable. With 13 of our top 15 customers EDI-ready (11 via B24), the case for change is clear.

We recommend proceeding with B24 as our EDI partner to modernize and secure our invoicing process. This investment will reduce operational burden, enhance compliance, protect sensitive data, and most importantly — help us deliver a better experience to our customers.