How Carlsberg Managed to Send 96% of Their Invoices as E-Invoices and Save 48%

Carlsberg is probably one of the most familiar beer brands in the world, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. What people may not be familiar with, however, is the fact that the Carlsberg Group employs 41,000 people and sends out more than half a million invoices per year from their Danish office.

How did they stop using post to send invoices and why did they do it? Read on to find out.

Moving from Post to e-Invoicing – It’s More Recent Than You Might Think

With the digital technology surrounding us and affecting every aspect of our daily lives, you’d be forgiven for thinking that companies use digital technology by default. Often something is required to make a compelling argument for change. This happened to Carlsberg Denmark in 2016 when they discovered that PostDenmark was going to double the fee for posting printed invoices. It was time to move to e-invoice sending, and fast.

“If we managed to transform 75% of our customers to email we would have an extraordinarily good business case” – Liselotte Frost Christensen, Credit Manager, Carlsberg Denmark

The Journey Taken to Ensure 96% e-Invoice Sending

Initially, 45% of customers were receiving email invoices via Basware once Carlsberg went fully live with the solution. Then, when customers were informed they could activate themselves, the figure quickly went up to 79% of email share. But their goal was to get to 90%. After making it mandatory, Carlsberg ended up with 85% - not close enough. Finally, in collaboration with their call centre, they managed to convince 96% of customers to receive email invoices. 

“Currently we are sending email invoices to 96% of our customers. It’s fantastic! I have a happy CFO.” – Liselotte Frost Christensen, Credit Manager, Carlsberg Denmark

This success story was the beginning of invoice improvements with Basware.

“In terms of invoicing, more things are in my control than before – so it’s easier to do things that will optimise our processes.” – Liselotte Frost Christensen, Credit Manager, Carlsberg Denmark

With the Basware visibility solutions, portal, and dashboard, Liselotte can follow up on challenges facing her team very closely. They have more than halved the number of calls the credit management team receives asking for misplaced invoices and been able to save 48% on their postal cost. In addition, it no longer takes between two and ten days for customers to receive invoices, which made it difficult for them to pay on time. 

All the frustration of misplaced invoices, postal delays, queries, and postal costs is now a distant dream, thanks to Basware.

Download the full case study to find out more about:

• Unanticipated benefits such as visibility, control, and process optimisation.

But don’t stop here…

Learn more about global e-invoicing mandates and the positive ways e-invoicing can change your company in our blog.