Etelä-Savon Energia Oy

Etelä-Savon Energia Oy is renewing its invoicing systems and solutions: with its new partner, Ropo Capital, it is able to extend its payment-related customer service and improve the quality of its invoicing processes.

Etelä-Savon Energia and Ropo Capital have concluded an extensive service agreement, according to which Ropo Capital will take over Etelä-Savon Energia’s invoice delivery, payment-related customer service and accounts receivable management. Ropo Capital is a company specialising in invoicing and payments monitoring services. Under the new agreement, Etelä-Savon Energia is able to improve the quality of its invoicing process and to ensure an efficient accounts receivable cycle. In addition, the company’s customer service times will expand to evenings and Saturdays in early 2016 with Ropo Capital in charge of all payment-related guidance.

– Each year, Etelä-Savon Energia sends its customers up to 180,000 invoices through various channels. The invoicing process needs to be as smooth as possible, which means error-free invoices and precise delivery schedules. The new service agreement generates some cost savings, but more importantly makes the payment process much more efficient while expanding customer service, explains Jari Nykänen, Sales and Marketing Manager of Etelä-Savon Energia.

– It is extremely important for us that our customer service processes are in line with our quality system. In energy sector, the invoicing process is highly structured and clearly defined. Ropo Capital’s new process model removes the uncertainties and problems in invoice delivery, and brings the whole system to the required, high level of quality.

Faster accounts receivable cycle

According to Mikko Uotinen, Account Director at Ropo Capital, the company has invested heavily in technology and automated services to ensure that its customers can get the full advantage of digitisation in terms of efficiency and high quality of service. By eliminating unnecessary integrations and intermediate stages, the accounts receivable cycle can become up to 20% faster while the number of errors is reduced.

– Invoicing, receivables management and payment-related customer service are not isolated processes, but parts of a system designed to monitor and improve invoice management from its delivery to its repatriation. This is where we come in: Ropo specialises in developing invoicing processes that not only maximise cost savings, but also let our customers concentrate on their core operations. We build entire invoicing systems, where the invoice moves as quickly as possible from order to payment, Uotinen stresses.

Uotinen explains that Ropo Capital emphasises transparency in service pricing, so that the customer always knows how much the system costs. This facilitates budgeting and makes price comparisons between different systems and service providers easier.

Cost-effectiveness is important, but so are common values. Jari Nykänen of Etelä-Savon Energia explains that when choosing new partners, accountability and Finnish know-how are ranked high.

– In service procurement, domestic providers are our No 1 choice. Local presence is especially appreciated, Nykänen says.

Etelä-Savon Energia (ESE) is an energy group owned by the city of Mikkeli. The Group is a pioneer in environmentally friendly Ekoteko energy products with some 25,000 electricity customers and 2,350 district heating customers. In 2014, the Group’s turnover was around EUR 53 million. It employs almost 100 people in Finland. www.ese.fi