Tungsten Cuts E-Invoicing Prices, Adds Invoice Discounting

The e-invoicing market keeps getting more competitive and efficient — and the result is that providers are simplifying and slashing prices for their basic e-invoicing services, Cash & Treasury Management File reports.

Case in point: The Tungsten Network e-invoicing platform last week announced a simplified pricing structure that enables suppliers to submit tax compliant e-invoices in 47 countries — and when it’s fully rolled out, Tungsten said it expects that more than 80 percent of suppliers will no longer need to pay transaction fees to send an e-invoice over the Tungsten Network.

Under the new tariff, all suppliers receive an annual number of free transactions, regardless of whether they use Tungsten’s online Web Form tool or its integrated solution. Larger suppliers who have an automated connection to the Tungsten Network will see an increased yearly fee, but they’ll also get 520 free transactions, according to the company.

The new pricing follows a successful pilot in the UK earlier this year, and will shortly be available to all new suppliers and then rolled out across existing suppliers on the Tungsten Network. In the UK pilot, one major buyer reported that supplier adoption of Tungsten e-invoicing increased from 55 percent to 64 percent in three months as a result of this new pricing model.

Tungsten has added new services such as a Click-to-Accept portal, which eliminates paper from the contract management process for all suppliers signed up with the network. Tungsten is also rolling out its Invoice Status Service to as many customers as possible.

With e-invoicing as a loss leader, revenue still must come from somewhere. Tungsten is now offering an early payment discounting service for suppliers in its main English speaking markets.

Pricing for the early payment discount depends on the credit rating of the buyer paying the invoices, the number of days outstanding on an invoice, and the supplier’s annual invoice volume over the network. The discount rate decreases as the invoice nears its payment date, and the daily rate and corresponding charge are clearly displayed next to each invoice available for financing within the supplier’s portal.

For example, an invoice of £10,000 that has been approved for payment and has 30 days remaining before the due date might have a cost of £100, so Tungsten would pay the supplier £9,900 within one business day. If the same invoice had 45 days outstanding, the charge in this example case would be £150.

While that’s an annual percentage rate of 12 percent, it’s still less than dynamic discounting schemes have charged before, Cash & Treasury Management File points out.