The municipality’s desire to review and streamline the invoicing process aligns with the requirement for all Dutch government agencies, public organizations, and other contracting authorities to be able to receive and process e-invoices from their suppliers. To further optimize the invoicing process, the municipality plans to use Peppol, the network for standardized electronic messaging within the European Union.
In its search for a suitable solution to transition from paper invoicing to electronic invoicing, the municipality therefore explored the existing Unit4 Financials solution to see if it could accommodate this change. It turned out that while it was possible to generate and send an invoice as a PDF, it was not (yet) possible to do so as a Peppol e-invoice. The municipality also wishes to further optimize the processing of purchase invoices by automating the processing of suppliers’ e-invoices within its Corsa (BCT) invoicing workflow system.
Therefore, the municipality began searching for a partner with strong knowledge of Unit4 Financials to investigate the possibilities within Unit4 Financials for generating and sending e-invoices. “We chose 4CEE because of their years of knowledge and expertise in Unit4 Financials,” says Nico Kop, Application Administrator at the Municipality of Assen.
“The great thing is that, in addition to invoices, other documents such as reminders and payment notices can also be sent through the portal.”
Together with 4CEE’s consultants, the municipality’s requirements and the necessary functionality within Unit4 Financials were assessed. The solution was ultimately found outside of Unit4 Financials, specifically in 4CEE Exchange. 4CEE Exchange not only meets the existing need to digitize the outbound invoice flow, but it also immediately prepares the municipality for the next steps in its plan for further digitization.
“We deliberately divided the digitization project into three phases,” said Jan de Graaf, Group Administrator at the municipality of Assen. “This was also to keep it manageable for the internal organization and to stay in step with other essential updates and upgrades. Phase 1 involves enabling the ability to send invoices via email as PDF + XML files. This phase went live in mid-October 2021 and has been well received by customers. Phase 2 involves enabling the ability to send sales invoices via Peppol. Upon completion of Phase 3, the municipality of Assen will also be able to receive purchase invoices via Peppol.”
4CEE Exchange enables the municipality to easily generate, verify, and send sales invoices. Additionally, it is possible to attach multiple files to an invoice and bundle them into a single file—something that is not possible within the municipality’s current financial software but is a clear need. “The great thing is that document exchange isn’t limited to invoices—other documents, such as reminders and payment demands, can also be sent through the portal.”
“The project arose from the municipality’s desire to be able to send and receive digital invoices, thereby making the process more sustainable and further optimizing it. Looking back on the process, it was intensive. It took a considerable amount of time and energy to set it up properly. This was partly due to our desire to customize certain aspects so they would be better aligned with the municipality’s current workflow.
For example, 4CEE created an invoice layout based on our existing layout. We also wanted to add a new field labeled “fiscal period” to the solution. By default, “invoice date” is used for invoicing. The ‘fiscal period’ field is important for amounts such as rent for our locations, which are invoiced in advance. By adding this field, these invoices can now also be posted directly to the correct year and/or period,” Jan explains.
"It’s great to see how solution-oriented the consultants at 4CEE are"
“It’s great to see how solution-oriented the 4CEE consultants are in their work,” says Nico. “For example, we ran into the problem that we couldn’t submit files larger than 25 MB to our print service provider for printing and mailing invoices to customers who don’t yet want to receive digital invoices. To address this, a custom feature was ultimately built into the software that ensures the files contain no more than 150 invoices, keeping them under 25 MB per file. That was a clever solution from 4CEE,” said Nico.
“Thanks to the direct lines of communication and frequent consultations, it was a pleasure to work with 4CEE. The consultants know what they’re talking about. They’re familiar not only with our financial software but also with the processes that run through it,” adds Jan.
With 4CEE Exchange, the municipality is able to handle its outgoing invoice flow digitally by generating, verifying, and sending invoices. Further processing of the invoices takes place in Unit4 Financials. All in all, this has resulted in a more sustainable invoicing process, in line with the current digital age. In addition, digitization has made the entire process more streamlined—not only for the municipality but also for its customers. Thanks to the new digital method of submitting invoices, customers spend less time on the time-consuming manual tasks that were previously required to process paper invoices.
In the next phase following this initial phase, integration with the Peppol network via 4CEE Exchange’s certified Access Point will also be implemented . This will enable the municipality to send and receive sales and purchase invoices via Peppol.
“Optimizing the flow of incoming and outgoing invoices is a must for every organization. Know exactly in advance what you want to automate and what conditions you’re setting for it. Clearly map out your wishes and requirements. Make sure the project is manageable and that you assemble the right people with the essential knowledge needed to successfully carry out such a process,” concludes Jan.