Our AP automation software reduces average invoice processing costs by 90%

Many validations are built-in and standard such as invoice duplicate number detection, invoice recipient selection, invoice date, payment date, currency validation, etc.

However, a key differentiator that Tradeshift offers is the Business Firewall.

It provides validation on your all documents (e.g. invoices) before they even arrive in your Tradeshift account. This ensures that potential errors and omissions are caught before an invoice is presented for early payment.

This ensures the quality of incoming data. Typically the rules are buyer business entity and/or supplier group specific although default rules can be applied to all suppliers. These rules are defined by the receiving organization and only applied on inbound documents.

The Business Firewall contains user-defined rules to validate incoming documents. They are rules that define what is required on the different document types (invoices, credit notes etc.) in order .

There are two types of validation against rules, static validation and dynamic validation.

Static Validation — Static validation allows user to choose what fields in the document are required, optional or not allowed. Regular expressions can be used to enforce a specific format or static values of these fields. For example, purchase order number on an invoice must start with the letters PO and be 8 digits long in total. Another rule could be that VAT number is required on all invoices from suppliers in countries X, Y, and Z.

Static validation can be branch, document type and supplier specific. Static validation does not require an interface between customer IT and Tradeshift as they are configured and maintained in Tradeshift product by Tradeshift staff.

Dynamic validation allows users to validate the contents of selected fields. Users define what fields are to be validated and provide the values that the field contents are validated against. Typically the rules are only used to validate contents of fields that allow workflow/ERP to achieve higher levels of automation. For example, location IDs provided on an invoice must match a list of valid IDs provided by the buyer organization. Dynamic validation can be branch specific.

The Business Firewall is kept on every branch instead of the master branch. There is a function to copy a new set-up to all branches.

Yes.

Tradeshift’s AP automation solution integrates seamlessly with any existing ERP and financial system.

Tradeshift offers various methods to integrate your systems directly, including a simple and fast-to-implement REST-based API that allows for the exchange of business documents and access to a wide range of functionalities.

We have built standard connectors for common ERP systems such as SAP ECC 6.0, SAP S4/HANA, Oracle eBusiness Suite, and Oracle Fusion.

However, the power of Tradeshift is in the flexibility of our middleware. Tradeshift can take any input, transform, and pass to any output!

Many of our customers have implemented subtle changes to their data model, and need some level of customisation.

Tradeshift supports this through a simple mapping UX.

Setting up and configuring Tradeshift’s AP automation solution is designed to be a straightforward process, supported by a modern and intuitive user interface.

Our team works closely with your organisation to ensure a smooth transition. We start by setting up your account on the Tradeshift network and configuring it with data validation rules to avoid invoice exceptions.

We also build a custom pathway that fits into your existing AP workflow, allowing for minimal disruption to your operations.
Additionally, we assist in connecting and onboarding your suppliers to the Tradeshift network, ensuring that they are ready to send invoices digitally. Our First Invoice Onboarding capabilities enable suppliers to begin the onboarding process simply by sending a PDF invoice to a dedicated email address we set up for you.

Our dedicated supplier onboarding team manages the entire process and is on hand to help suppliers with specific questions. We also have a highly skilled technical team ready to support suppliers with more complex integration needs.

Once set up, you’ll have access to Tradeshift University for training and development, as well as 365-day support to address any issues that may arise.

Integrating an AP automation solution with your ERP can enhance your capabilities without replacing your current systems.

Tradeshift complements your existing ERP system by providing a digital platform for your business transactions with other companies.

It offers a range of services such as e-Invoicing, AP automation, and e-procurement, which can help streamline your processes, improve collaboration with suppliers, and ensure compliance with global tax regulations.

Additionally, Tradeshift’s network connects you with millions of companies worldwide, potentially opening up new business opportunities.

ScanIO enables you to receive business documents (e.g., invoices, and credit notes) from suppliers via multiple buyer-endorsed sources, such as Scanning Partners and value-added networks (VANs).

The app accepts TS:UBL files. Conversion from other formats to TS:UBL happens either through Babelway, Tradeshift’s integration middleware, or other interoperability partners.

The app validates incoming documents for technical correctness and allows for manual correction of errors through its interface.

Extensive services are offered, including:

1 – Project Advisory – Ensuring that the Customer has confidence in the fact that the project has the necessary executive support & leadership

2 – Project Management – Providing the Customer a project manager to lead the project implementation successfully from Kick-Off to Go-Live.

3 – Compliance – Supporting the Customer with guidance and advice in compliance matters associated with VAT and e-Invoicing.

4 – Configuration – Setting up the Customer account on Tradeshift and ensuring that the relevant business processes are implemented.
5 – Integration – Assisting the Customer’s technical team integrating their backend systems with the Tradeshift platform.

6 – Quality Assurance and Testing Support – Supporting the Customer in testing activities, specifically in regards to User Acceptance Test (UAT).

7 – Training – Training the Customer’s users and partners on the Tradeshift Solution in order to optimize usage as well as making the Customer self-sufficient long-term.

8 – Change Management – Helping the Customer navigate through the change process upon the implementation of Tradeshift and the change to the business processes.

9 – Supplier Onboarding – Onboarding the most important suppliers and assisting the Customer to gain the ability to run onboarding without support.

Tradeshift, in combination with its partners, offers compliance with all local regulatory requirements, including archiving.

The Tradeshift platform conforms to the assurances outlined in the International Standard report on Assurance Engagements 3402 which includes controls and procedures for data storage and archiving.

We also have the technical capability to integrate to a digital archiving system by leveraging the combination of open APIs and our own middleware application (Tradeshift Link).

As you would expect, we take this very seriously.

Our platform is hosted on AWS.

Tradeshift Security accreditations: ISO27001, SOC 1 (Type 2), SOC 2 (Type 2), ISAE 3402

Tradeshift supports the following transactions:- Request for Quote (RFQ)- Quote (QUO)- Purchase Request (PR)- Purchase Order (PO)- Change Order (CO)- Blanket Purchase Order (BPO)- Good Receipt (GR)- Invoice (INV)- Prepayment invoice- Proforma invoice- Credit Note (CN)- Remittance Advice (RA)- Advanced Shipment Notice (ASN)- Invoice Copy- Credit Note Copy- Remittance Advice Copy- Application Response message=capability to send and receive conversational messages (machine to machine, human to machine) => to make the collaboration everywhere approach real

Tradeshift has a service called Business Firewall (BFR). The BFR validates documents against different sets of conditions so that invalid documents are prevented from reaching the buyer, giving a chance for the seller to correct the issue and resend the document. In addition the rules can also be set on outgoing documents to prevent invalid documents to be sent to the supplier.

Tradeshift currently supports the following languages: English, Bahasa Melayu, Castilian Spanish, Danish, German, Swedish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (PT), Portuguese(BR), Romanian, Slovak, Czech, Finnish, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified). Currently road mapped languages include Turkish, Arabic. Other languages can be added to the platform if required.

Tradeshift has a service called Business Firewall (BFR). The BFR validates documents against different sets of conditions so that invalid documents are prevented from reaching the buyer, giving a chance for the seller to correct the issue and resend the document. In addition the rules can also be set on outgoing documents to prevent invalid documents to be sent to the supplier.

Yes.

The Tradeshift Platform includes a collaboration chat feature which is available at transaction-level.

It allows a user on CLIENT-side to start a chat internally or externally with the Supplier on a specific invoice issue for instance.

Conversely, also the Supplier can start a chat with CLIENT around an invoice approval delay for instance. When the supplier starts the conversation, it goes to the invoice assignee.When CLIENT starts the conversation, the user can choose which colleagues to add on the loop.

Besides, Tradeshift virtual assistant (named Ada) is suggesting CLIENT users which colleagues to ask questions to based on machine learning.In addition to people, users can add attachments to this collaboration chat and all conversations including attachments, original document transacted (ie: invoice) but also related-documents (PO if any, GR if any etc.) and approval historic are stored for 10 years and can be retrieved and consulted online as an audit trail.

Tradeshift’s platform has been built and roadmapped to help our AP client teams automate their inbound invoice handling process.

All steps of the invoice handling process (5 steps) could be automated, until you attain 100% digital AP automation with touchless invoices for your AP/SSC teams :

1. Starting at the acquisition part of the process : the Business Firewall controls invoice arrivals and perform data validation so that only correct invoices enter in the matching process

2. Automatic invoice matching when the PO/GR/Blanket PO N° is mentioned on the invoice or using the order line remapping feature to link invoice lines with PO lines, so that every invoices visible in CLIENT Tradeshift account are matched and depending on the matching results go to step 3b

(step 3a. if Non-PO invoices) or are sent directly to step 4 or 5 when the matching is correct.3a.

ADA Coding ‘auto-coding’ for touchless Non-PO invoices : ADA, under a certain level of confidence, will auto-code non-PO invoices for you based on machine learning and process the invoices into approval and/or directly to posting.

3b. Automatic Task Allocation when mismatch or discrepancy after invoice matching. Tasks are assigned to specific users/group of users who can use the collaboration features to solve the dispute.

4. Invoice approval process can be defined at the minimum. It depends more on your DoA than on our capabilities here and we do support mobile approval and fast track approval to accelerate the approval process as well.

5. Invoice posting to ERP after automatic validation with external source (ie: ERP)

Yes, Suppliers have access to the status of their invoice throughout its lifecycle.

By accessing the Platform, Suppliers have access to a Dashboard (when they can drill-down if needed) presenting the different documents and statuses associated.

For invoices, 13 status are available and are retrieved either manually and automatically from as many as systems as needed.

It can be :- Tradeshift Platform when the invoice is processed and approved through it (sent, rejected, accepted, overdue, draft..)- ERP or other back-end systems for retrieving final payment status such as (paid)- Modified manually by the Customer or the Supplier itself (marked as paid, dispute ..)

Whatever the invoice acquisition channel, the matching with the PO and other underlying documents is automatic, as soon as the documents are electronic, on the platform and mentioned on the invoice (at least for the PO N°).

The result of the matching is available directly on the invoice and all underlying documents can be consulted online, including during the invoice approval process.

Yes.

Invoices scan or PDF images can also be retrieved in copy into your ERP system

The process for incoming invoices concerns these key aspects – authenticity of origin, integrity of content, readability and compliant storage.

AUTHENTICITY OF ORIGIN

The key to ensure authenticity of origin on Tradeshift is by putting in place effective business controls. Tradeshift enables these controls in the following ways:

1. Tradeshift Business Firewall The Business Firewall is configured individually for each customer, and is used to confirm that all required information is included in every inbound document. By making certain information mandatory, authenticity can be ensured. The easiest business control to implement for ensuring authenticity of origin is requiring Purchase Order number on inbound invoices.

2. Tradeshift Connection Model To connect buyers with suppliers, it requires mutual acceptance by both parties. This means that, before any invoices can be sent from a supplier to a buyer, the buyer must accept the supplier connection. During this step, controls can be put in place to ensure that only authentic suppliers are allowed to send invoices.

Furthermore, suppliers are onboarded to the Tradeshift network which allows buyers to be assured that only the correct suppliers are connected.

3. Tradeshift Workflow and Matching Optionally, Tradeshift provides additional services beyond electronic invoicing that allow for more security around authenticity: Tradeshift’s workflow matching solution ensures that all incoming invoices are matched with issued purchase orders and/or goods receipt documents in the buyers’ systems. On the side of supplier onboarding, the Tradeshift Risk solution allows additional checks for all onboarded suppliers, including such controls as looking up details in external databases and verifying bank account information.

 

INTEGRITY OF CONTENT AND READABILITY

Regardless if documents are sent using the EDI or digital signature e-invoicing methods, an integrity signature will be applied. Business documents are integrity signed when received on the platform, regardless of the channel of delivery. If a document conversion is involved at the supplier side, both the pre- and post-conversion documents are included in the integrity signature. The post-conversion document includes the human readable representation encoded as a PDF file. Effectively this means that the post-conversion document, the pre- conversion document and the human readable version all are signed, and conversion traceability may be inspected at both the sender and recipient’s end. In this way, all requirements regarding integrity and readability are satisfied for all documents sent and received through Tradeshift. To ensure integrity of business documents they are signed upon storage. The signature is created based on sha256 with 1024 bit asymmetric key and may be verified with the public part of this key.

The signature is embedded in the document using the XML DSIG standard. For scenarios where advanced digital signatures are used, this signature exists in addition to the default integrity signature applied by Tradeshift. For the signature method, this depends on country-specific regulations. The Tradeshift platform integrity measures are covered by controls elaborated in Tradeshift’s compliance with ISAE 3402, ISO-27001, SOC1-Type2 and SOC2-Type2.

STORAGE

The third aspect of e-invoicing compliance relates to the storage of sent and received documents, which has to follow a number of specific regulations laid in place to ensure the auditability of the documents by the relevant authorities. The storage component of e-invoicing compliance is especially complex, as many countries have unique requirements for compliant storage. Whilst Tradeshift does by default safely store all documents for a minimum of 10 years, it is uncommon for our customers to utilize Tradeshift for the legal storage of their documents for auditing purposes. It is more likely that audits are performed against the data in the customer’s ERP system. However, if desired, Tradeshift can offer compliant storage solutions via a number of partnerships. The precise nature of the partnership depends on the country in question.

If interested, please contact a Tradeshift representative for more information.