Where do the electronic invoices come from?

• The vendor produces the invoice from its accounting system. Similar to printing out their customer invoices, they choose another option for your account and “print” the invoices to an electronic file instead of the printer, and that file is sent to your TradeSync account.

Which vendors can send electronic invoices?

• Pretty much any vendor that has a computer system. We have never encountered a firm that could not generate an electronic order acknowledgement or invoice. It is a common feature on most distributor business systems since the 1980’s, and distributors are using electronic documents regularly to send PO’s to, and receive invoices from, manufacturers.

How does the invoice get from the vendor to my TradeSync account?

• Clearbridge takes care of this as part of your TradeSync service. Your distributor may call this a VAN (short for Value Added Network) for EDI transactions (again, short for Electronic Data Interchange). Our VAN services are like a private, secure email box that is, rather than open on the Internet, part of a very secure, closed, private network that is operated in conjunction with other trusted VAN service providers like Clearbridge. Unlike the Internet, there are no anonymous accounts on the VANs, and fees are charged for each document transferred, so this means only legitimate businesses are sending documents and they are only sending real business documents between computer systems, not text emails or other personal communications.

Why can’t I just use email?

• Email was not designed for automated business processes, it was designed for person-to-person communications. As such, problems are encountered when companies try to use email systems for purposes they were not designed for. Examples include:

  • Spam clogs email boxes, making automatic processing difficult.

  • Spam filters are not perfect and often screen out real correspondence.

  • Email was not designed to guarantee delivery and failure notices are not always used.

  • Most email systems do not acknowledge successful delivery either.

  • Email has no audit trail to assign accountability or aid in resolving technical difficulties.

  • Email servers often re-format email, making automation within systems such as TradeSync or your accounting system unreliable.