percent of its custom- ers from post to either e-mail or fax transmis- sion, in fewer than 30 days, she notes. Kalmbach pays 29 cents for each invoice sent electronically or via e-mail. Transcepta’s charge for sending invoices by fax or postal mail varies, depending on volume. “Our pricing is less expensive than a stamp considering the effec- tive transactional price,” Haq contends. THE PRICE IS RIGHT Buyers that use Transcepta to import invoices into their ERP systems can choose from several pricing models. Some license the software; some pay in advance for a certain number of inbound invoices; some pay as they go based on trans- action volume. Implementation for those buyers is more complex than for their suppliers. “If a com- pany uses a workflow system and it merely wants to transact invoices electronically, implementation can be relatively quick,” Haq says. But if the company needs to implement workflow functional- ity as well, the project can take many months, he adds.
employees who pre- viously spent a full day each month deal- ing with statements, Kalmbach notes. Those employees now can spend time making sales, rather than stuff- ing envelopes. Because her com- pany no longer mails invoices, Kalmbach plans to toss her $200- a-month postage meter when it reaches the end of its lease. “I’m replacing it with a $20- a-month machine,” she notes. For customers using the e-mail or fax options, who want to be billed more than once each month, the four-store business can now send invoices every morning. “I expect this to shorten our payment cycle,” Kalmbach says. In the future, her customers will also be able to use Transcepta’s Web site to pay invoices under an automated clearinghouse service. THE PAPER CHASE With all the effort Transcepta has poured into automating the payment side of the buyer-seller transac- tion, it is possible that the company will one day apply its exper- tise to taking paper out of other supply chain
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transactions, such as purchase orders. “Right now, however, Transcepta is laser-focused on perfecting invoicing,” Haq says. ■
because Transcepta charges less for those two methods than for postal delivery. In addition, outsourcing the invoice delivery process freed up two
Converting her customers from postal to e-mail or fax invoice trans- mission helped Kalmbach cut costs,
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