Basware E-invoicing has proven highly successful in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, enabling businesses to enhance and accelerate accounts payable and receivable activity. Customers such as Heineken are seeing invoice-matching rates as high as 93% as a result of using E-invoicing.

The solution removes the need for manual intervention in data entry, validation and invoice matching, and consequently eliminates processing errors for a more streamlined and cost-effective means of managing invoice processing and related workflows.

To strengthen its UK presence Basware has joined the HubAlliance - in addition to partnering with over 30 e-invoicing network operators - to guarantee interoperability with 150,000 participating suppliers across Europe.

Such 'roaming' arrangements are enabling rapid uptake of E-invoicing services in a way that was not feasible with small private E-invoicing network operators. According to Basware, the per-invoice cost of E-invoicing should be no greater that that of a first class postage stamp.

Used within Basware's Business Transactions service, the E-Invoicing software enables companies to send and receive electronic invoices and related business documents, automatically routing them in the preferred format for immediate processing. Business Transactions also integrates seamlessly with other invoice processing, payment and ERP systems, ensuring ease of use and deployment.

A key benefit of electronic invoicing is that it reduces printing, mailing and scanning costs, as well as removing the need for physical storage costs, meaning that invoices can be handled and archived more easily and cost effectively.

Paul Cowley VP of Basware UK said: "The launch of the E-Invoicing solution represents a win-win situation for businesses sending and receiving invoices, and can ultimately reduce processing costs by up to 80% compared with hard-copy invoices - a saving which should grab the attention of any finance manager, especially wiith many facing pressure to making efficiency savings.

"E-invoicing results in faster invoice transfer, removing the need for manual intervention and resulting in faster, more efficient invoice rotation and improved payment timetables. This gives more streamlined financial management and an improved business relationship between supplier and purchaser."

Seven million e-invoices were transmitted via Basware's Business Transactions service in 2007, and the launch of a dedicated E-Invoices solution on a pan European basis provides businesses with an end-to-end monitored transfer and conversion service for electronic invoices.

A major advantage of the new software is that by extracting line information, incoming invoices can automatically be matched with the correct supplier and purchase contract to ensure a more efficient and streamlined payment cycle.

An additional function of the new solution is its supplier activation service, which identifies suppliers' e-invoicing status and connects with the receiver for sending invoices. In this way, customers can easily widen their network of suppliers who send e-invoices, to ensure maximum benefit from the system.