Nowadays, many companies are sending and receiving invoices digitally, as it is more efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional paper-based invoicing. However, it can still be a hassle to streamline the invoicing-to-payment process, maintain an accurate record-filing system for invoices (as different companies have different invoice formats), and communicate with counterparts.
This event, sponsored by IMDA Singapore, featured three speakers: Chew Lee Huat (Technical Consultant at SBF Centre’s Advocacy and Policy Division), Phoebe Hu (Business Analyst at Yonyou Singapore), Kendrick Choo (Manager of Technology Consulting at Stone Forest IT).
Lee Huat shared about InvoiceNow, a nationwide e-invoicing network in Singapore that allows businesses to send and receive invoices electronically in a structured digital format. It is based on the Peppol e-invoicing network, which is used in over 40 countries worldwide. Some of the benefits of using this system include reduced costs, increased efficiency, improved accuracy, and faster payments. The Singapore government has also introduced grants that businesses can apply for to subsidize the implementation of this system in their daily business operations.
Phoebe explains how Yonyou’s products, YonSuite and YonBIP, integrate with InvoiceNow. Our ERP systems can link and sync with the Peppol e-invoicing network, streamlining invoicing processes for businesses even in countries abroad. She also elaborated on an alternative solution of using Yonyou’s Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to eliminate the tedious processes of transferring invoice details accurately. This is vital because manual entry increases the likelihood of errors and inefficient use of resources. The cost associated with traditional machine learning techniques for invoice data extraction also tends to be high, and such methods often lack flexibility when it comes to adapting to changes in invoice formats. However, our RPA is able to perform this task effortlessly, freeing up manpower to do other important tasks.
Kendrick presented Stone Forest IT’s offerings of CTO-as-a-Service, a government-supported initiative under the SMEs Go Digital Programme developed by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore identify and access the resources they need to digitally transform. With this initiative, SMEs can employ Stone Forest’s digital consultants without incurring significant costs. The digital consultants can provide advice on digitalization, cybersecurity, and data protection, which are essential aspects of any company, especially in today’s digital age.
