Friday, October 29, 2010

New Computerized Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) Requirements In Europe

For companies doing business in Europe, there are some new electronic message (EDI/B2B) requirements that must be in place by January 1, 2011.  Don't you just love governments telling you where to spend your IT budgets?

Since April 1, 2010, companies which transport excisable goods under duty suspension have been required to migrate from traditional paper-based ADD systems to a computerized Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) that uses electronic messages to monitor movements of excise goods.  The migration must be completed by January 1, 2011.  You didn't have anything planned for the holiday season did you?

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Interview with Mexico e-Invoicing Expert Scott Lewin, Part 2

This is Part 2 of this interview on Mexico e-Invoicing.  Read Part 1 here.

Kevin: How much needs to change on the backend ERP to support these new Mexico e-Invoicing requirements?

Scott: Not very many changes are required in the ERP if you use a managed service like Crossgate. If one of our customer's outbound invoices does not contain all the required fields for compliance, we can often add those fields for them as part of our managed service. We have the ability to help companies gain compliance without a lot of backend work. Inbound invoices also will need to be validated. Some companies receive both paper and electronic invoices from suppliers. Starting next year they need to send the inbound invoice information to the SAT and then store the validation in their system. We can also help them set this all up and be compliant.

Interview with Mexico e-Invoicing Expert Scott Lewin, Part 1

I had the opportunity last week to interview Mexico e-Invoicing expert Scott Lewin about the new requirements announced by Mexico's SAT on September 3, 2010.  In this announcement Mexico's SAT said the following, "The impact on business processes will be significant for companies that haven’t prepared in advance."  With that warning, let's jump into the interview.

Kevin: What are you hearing in the Mexico e-Invoicing market today?

Scott: Many big companies are still not aware of the upcoming e-Invoicing requirements. Mexico announced these changes in early September, but many remain unaware or confused.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Mexico e-Invoicing and an Interview with e-Invoicing Expert Scott Lewin

I am attending SAP's TechEd this week and noticed that International Flavors and Fragrances is speaking on the topics of SAP EDI and e-Invoicing.  They are an SAP user and have chosen to use a BPO service provider to support the e-Invoicing requirements of Argentina and Brazil.  The service provider is a global e-Invoicing service provider that SAP co-owns called Crossgate.

I had the opportunity to recently interview Crossgate's President Scott Lewin about e-Invoicing.  He said there is a lot of interest in e-Invoicing today that is being driven by recent changes and deadlines for compliance coming from Mexico and other places. 

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

New NF-e 2.0 Mandates - Brazils e-Invoicing Requirements, Part 2

This is Part 2 of a series on the changes to Brazil's e-invoicing, NF-e 2.0 requirements.  To read Part 1 of this article, click here.

More from electronic invoicing expert, Scott Lewin, President of Crossgate, Inc. “We analyzed the new regulations and have updated our solutions accordingly.  We studied  the requirements for outbound, contingency, and inbound compliance so we could manage these changes."  Staying on top of these fast changing regulations and mandates is important for companies like Crossgate that provide electronic invoicing services so their clients can avoid implementation delays or costly fines for non-compliance.

New NF-e 2.0 Mandates - Brazils e-Invoicing Requirements, Part 1

Yikes! The new requirements for complying with Nota Fiscal Electronica mandates (Brazil's e-Invoicing requirements) total more than 200 pages. I hope you are ready to make some changes.

Let me give you some history. Regulatory compliance laws in Brazil changed earlier this year (2010), mandating the replacement of the traditional hard copy nota fiscal (invoice) with an electronic invoice, the Nota Fiscal Electronica (NF-e).

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Video Comments on Mexico e-Invoicing

I have been researching the new enhanced requirements for Mexico e-Invoicing and recorded a few comments on video for your reference.  This 3 part series covers the basic concept of e-Invoicing, some of the specific requirements for supporting Mexico e-Invoicing, and finally the impact these requirements may have on your backend ERP or business application.


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Kevin R Benedict SAP Mentor, SAP Top Contributor, SAP Blogger
Independent e-Invoicing and EDI Analyst and Consultant
www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbenedict
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP EDI and SAP Information Interchange group on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=2884582&trk=anet_ug_grppro

*Full Disclosure: I am an independent consultant that has worked with and for many of the companies mentioned.

Accenture Acquires Parts of Ariba

This morning I read in EEIPlatform  some very interesting news.  Accenture is acquiring some of Ariba's BPO and managed services business.  It seems Accenture is growing their managed services and BPO services for sourcing and procurement services, while Ariba is leaving that area and focusing more on their technology solutions.  Here is an excerpt from the article: