Summary
- ERP/DMS clients are facing significant issues with manual retyping of data from invoices.
- Invoice data extraction brings a great new source of SaaS income for the ERP or DMS provider
- The competition is already ahead
The ERP and DMS market, similar to other mature markets, is a space with a high level of competition. With that in mind, price is a significant factor for clients who are looking for an ERP or DMS system. Competing on price is a zero-sum game and leads to more trouble than good in the long run. That is why a lot of ERP and DMS providers have learned that the real space in which they should be competing is their offering to the clients. Who can fit the needs of the clients better?
And one crucial offering that is starting to gain traction in a lot of ERP, DMS offerings are invoice data extraction solutions.
But why would clients want invoice data extraction, and why now?
Typing data from invoices into digital ledgers is one of the most common tasks that most ERP clients face. It is a repetitive and costly task that takes a lot of time if you have a lot of received invoices. It is also very dull, and most people have resistance to do it. Imagine if you are a small business owner, and you have your day fully occupied running your business. The last thing you want to do is manual retype data from invoices to pay the bills. Thinking of how much these hours of retyping cost you, the numbers can be quite astonishing.
Are e-format invoices the solution?
Typing data from invoices into digital ledgers is one of the most common tasks that most ERP clients face. It is a repetitive and costly task that takes a lot of time if you have a lot of received invoices. It is also very dull, and most people have resistance to do it. Imagine if you are a small business owner, and you have your day fully occupied running your business. The last thing you want to do is manual retype data from invoices to pay the bills. Thinking of how much these hours of retyping cost you, the numbers can be quite astonishing.
Leverage your upper hand
If the ERP white labels the invoice OCR solution, they can integrate it seamlessly into the existing work-processes of their clients. For that, they need invoice data extracting services that have API access. An integrated solution is a pure upside for the clients, as they don’t need to change any workflows or use external apps. With that in your ERP, you don’t have to worry about any external providers offering invoice OCR. You are the one that can make the best user experience and integration. And the seamless integration part is essential for clients!
Automated accounting. No problem, I am ready!
In the coming years, automated accounting will become a must-have for ERP providers. Fields extracted with invoice OCR service are base to do that. Without an excellent invoice OCR extraction service, your clients won’t want to use the automated bookkeeping solutions as they will still need to retype the data. So, in fact, without the invoice data extraction service, this won’t be an “automated” service. Implementing invoice OCR solution is an excellent base for your future development and other products.
A new source of income. And it’s the best one – SaaS!
A great reason to implement an invoice OCR solution in your ERP/DMS is the fact that you can get a great new revenue stream that is subscription-based. The value of your clients rises because you sell services on top of your standard ERP/DMS offering. Accountants monthly process around 400-1500 invoices. That means an extra 60-250 EUR per accountant on top of your ERP/DMS offering. Adding this together adds up quite a lot, don’t you think?
The competition is already extracting data from invoices
And one more important reason to do so is also the fact that the competitors are already doing it!
In the ERP/DMS landscape, the invoice data extraction service is starting to pick up. For example, one of the biggest ERP providers in Poland – Comarch presented its invoice data extraction offering in 2019. Cloud accounting ERP giant Xero bought Hubdoc in 2018. One of Hubdocs primary offering is the invoice data extraction. To date, this was Xero’s largest acquisition ever. The CEO of Xero Steve Vamos said the acquired company fitted in with Xero’s long-term plan to lead in so-called “code-free accounting.” Intelligent software automates the accounting process, so accountants no longer have to worry about transaction coding and matching invoices up to specific budgets or accounts. One of the leading ERP/DMS providers in the South-eastern Europe region, Datalab d.d already has white-labeled Typless API invoice OCR.
So if you are an ERP/DMS executive or developer and haven’t thought of integrating invoice data extraction, start thinking about it. The solution expands your client’s offering, saves them a vital pain point, but also opens up a new monthly revenue stream for you.