Esker Launches World's First Complete SaaS Accounts Payable Automation Solution

Online, December 21, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Madison, WI - December 18, 2009 - Esker, the leader in document process automation solutions, today announced the release of Esker on Demand Accounts Payable automation for businesses running SAP. Designed to make paper-free vendor invoice processing feasible for organizations of all sizes, this new offering represents the first complete AP automation Software as a Service (SaaS) solution developed specifically for use with SAP applications.

Available immediately worldwide, the service includes:

• Full automation functionality, including three-way matching of Materials Management (MM) invoices in a single interface1

• Straight-through processing directly to SAP applications without any human intervention when invoice data matches related purchase orders

• Exception handling with live connection to SAP applications

• Sophisticated electronic validation and approval workflow to eliminate manual sign-off processes

• Access to invoice images directly from SAP interface or through web interface

• 100 percent web deployment

As an alternative to the heavy expense of time and money associated with AP automation solutions based on the traditional licensed software model, Esker's SaaS approach delivers rapid cost reduction, productivity, accuracy, visibility and control benefits to SAP customers with no software and minimal up-front investment. Esker on Demand Accounts Payable automation capitalizes on Esker's unique depth of experience in working with SAP customers to cut paper use and automate back-office business processes. It offers seamless live and fully secured integration with
SAP applications, leveraging - in a SaaS mode - native SAP integration and encryption technologies including Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI), RFC (Remote Function Call) as well as SAP's recent SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) initiative.

"Having served the SAP community for over 10 years, and being an SAP customer ourselves, we are tremendously excited to be the first to bring it the benefits of the SaaS model for accounts payable automation," said Emmanuel

Olivier, Worldwide Chief Operating Officer at Esker. "We see this new service as a major milestone in the Esker history of providing innovative, sleek, fast-ROI solutions designed to improve profitability, speed and accuracy in doing business."
According to recent Aberdeen Group research, processing a single invoice costs the average organization $16.91 and takes 14.6 days. In its own experience, Esker has found that customers who automate AP processing are able to:

• Lower operational and administrative AP costs by 40 to 60 percent

• Receive and enter vendor invoices up to 65 percent faster

• Accelerate cut off procedures and overall financial close process

• Take advantage of fast-payment discounts from vendors

• Prevent duplicate payments and fraud

• Help protect their credit rating to control financing costs

• Improve response to vendor inquiries concerning invoice status

• Gain access to information for reporting and analysis to balance workloads and identify process bottlenecks

With SaaS solutions available for sales order processing, accounts receivable and purchasing as well as accounts payable, Esker has positioned itself as a leading developer of on-demand document process automation solutions. Currently, SaaS solutions represent more than one-third of Esker's business.

About Esker
Esker is a recognized leader in helping organizations eliminate manual processes, gain process visibility and control, and reduce the use of paper by automating the flow of documents into, within and out of the organization. Esker offers a total solution to automate every phase and every type of business information exchange. Customers achieve significant and immediate operational efficiencies, cost savings and measurable ROI in as little as three to six months. Esker has global headquarters in Lyon, France and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For further information visit - www.esker.com.
Contact Details:
Esker Inc.
1212 Deming Way
Suite 350 Madison,
WI 53717
Tel: 608.828.6000
Fax: 608.828.6001
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.esker.com/