Basware ready to shore up UK public sector finance security

Basware will be expanding its e-invoicing service to a number of existing public sector customers. The Accelerate initiative is designed as a partnership: in exchange for software and support, each participating organisation will agree to share their implementation journey with their peers.

The announcement comes as the latest report on invoicing practices in the public sector is published. In its third year, E-Invoicing in Local Government, a joint study from Basware and iGov, surveys organisations across local government, housing and emergency services. It finds that the public sector is still reliant on inefficient resource-heavy processes to manage invoices, despite increasing awareness of the opportunities presented by e-invoicing.

Whilst many are turning to PDF invoicing, over 60% of local authorities, emergency services and housing associations are opting for printing rather than PDF invoicing. This is then followed by scanning, meaning organisations may be losing all the accurate content added by the supplier. Moreover, 92% reported a continued reliance on paper invoicing.

The study highlights increasing pressures on existing invoicing practices in departments across the country. Time spent by staff issuing, transmitting and receiving invoices was identified as the biggest problem facing organisations this year, with 51% describing it as a ‘main challenge’.

Over half (53%) respondents believe that e-invoicing provides a cost-effective means of increasing efficiency. A further 52% agree that it improves the time within which invoices are processed. However, 43% cite the implementation of new invoicing technology to be a pressing charge over the next 12 months.

But with under a third (31%) reporting the use of these technologies, there are still barriers obstructing widespread adoption. Lack of resources remains the most prevalent of these and is worsening: cited by 38% of respondents in 2017, rising from 32% on the previous year.

Over a third (38%) report the burden of choosing the ‘right’ technology as a challenge, while 35% highlight gaining supplier adoption as a major concern.

All in all, nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) plan to invest in e-procurement in 2017-18, and a further 21% intend to increase their capacity for receiving e-invoices.