L&T leverages Pagero's onboarding to boost e-invoicing adoption

With a supplier base of 3,200 companies, only about 500 of whom are on long-term agreements, L&T faced a significant workload in handling invoices. Annually, the company receives approximately 90,000 invoices and sends out about 100,000. So, efficient invoicing is essential to running operations smoothly and ensuring customer and supplier satisfaction.

"Our clientele includes both public and commercial property owners. We handle the properties of some of the biggest hospitals in Sweden, like the Karolinska Hospital and the hamburger chain Max. Our services are divided into different areas, but you could say that we care for things like cleaning, energy solutions, repairs, property technology, etc. The idea is that when you partner with us, you can concentrate on your core business," says Victoria Hjort Stålgren, Administrator at L&T.

L&T initially partnered with Pagero in 2017 to address the challenges of manually handling their large volume of supplier invoices. They started off using the accounts payable (AP) solution as well as exploring the Pagero onboarding program, which is designed to assist customers in increasing the share of e-invoices by engaging suppliers and ensuring a smooth and efficient transition for all parties. However, the project was delayed due to COVID-19.

Following the pandemic, other priorities caused further postponements until L&T transitioned to the purchasing platform Symbrio, which mandates using e-invoices. This shift provided the necessary impetus, and the project took off in January 2024, concluding in May.

Given L&T's extensive supplier base, not all suppliers were included in the onboarding project. Many suppliers are used infrequently, making it impractical to reach out and convince them to adopt e-invoicing. This challenge is common for most companies transitioning to e-invoicing, as reaching suppliers can be difficult.

"We may not even have the correct contact information for all suppliers," Victoria notes. "So, for the onboarding project, we selected 200 of the larger companies on long-term agreements and disregarded the smaller ones since they may also be harder to convince."

Reflecting on the experience with Pagero, Victoria highlights the professionalism and efficiency of the process and team.

"We initially met up and were told by Pagero what the process would look like and what was required from us. Everything was so incredibly professional and structured, and the communication was great throughout," she says.

The engagement from Pagero's onboarding team was crucial for L&T since they lacked the resources to contact suppliers themselves. Pagero also set up a website for suppliers, so when they turned to L&T with questions, the financial team could easily refer them to the correct information without putting in too much effort.

"We learned a lot from seeing how Pagero works in these projects. Whenever there was any confusion, they were very clear and took action to drive things forward," she explains.

The results were significant, with around 20,000 e-invoices added. E-invoicing went from representing 60% of all invoices to 80%, which has meant many efficiencies and a better situation for the staff.

"Invoices are more complete and correct and sent automatically, and frustration is reduced when you don't have to spend so much time correcting data," Victoria notes. "We've seen a lot of time savings in the accounts payable process, but that's not only due to the onboarding project but also because we have other Pagero solutions like e-banking. The time we save can be used for more important things, like keeping in touch with suppliers or customers."

Victoria also shares valuable lessons from the process, saying L&T learned a lot. Early on in the project, they communicated that all suppliers had to convert to e-invoicing. They later had to back away from this, as they had to accept that not all suppliers could make the shift. She says this change in communication made them look inconsistent.

"I recommend companies to think about these things beforehand. Can we really force suppliers? How do we answer questions? If suppliers can't adopt it, what can we ask them to do instead, and what compromises are we ready to make? So, talk internally and decide how you want to handle issues like this."

Another aspect is also to include benefits for suppliers in the communication strategy.

"There are benefits for the suppliers, too, and that's worth emphasizing. When the data is correct and handled automatically, they are more likely to be paid on time, and they won't have to send out reminders."

Finally, Victoria lauds Pagero's onboarding offer, emphasizing the seamless and professional experience they provided. The entire process was handled with a high degree of competence and efficiency.
 
 "I would like to recommend Pagero's onboarding offer. It's very smooth and professional. We gathered the contact info and gave it to Pagero, and they did more or less the rest of the work. It saved so much time for us."