We regularly engage large, small and mid-size supplier organizations and ask them about their biggest challenges regarding order-to-cash processes. We do this at conferences, spot studies and, of course, our biennial Perceptions Study. Although we received a good deal of quantitative data through our Perceptions Study, we also asked suppliers to share, in their own words, their greatest challenges when it comes to things such as invoice submission, payment receipt and collections.

When specifically asked what their greatest challenges were when submitting invoices to their customers, we received scores of written responses. We’ve compiled and categorized those responses and listed many them below in ascending order based on the frequency of the comments provided. Although we could have created a list of the top 75 challenges, the vast majority fell into 7 specific areas. The more respondents providing feedback in a particular area, the higher that issue rose on our list.

Following are top 7 challenges organizations told us they face when submitting invoices to their customers.

#7. There are too many invoice submission methods.

Supplier organizations must regularly navigate different invoicing submission methods and preferences based on individual customer preferences. While there is standardization across some invoice submission methods, there remain too many variations and too many customers leveraging those multiple variations.

The Top 7 Challenges Organizations Face When Submitting Invoices to Their Customers