Specification for e-Invoicing System / PQQ

Contract Notice

This contract notice aims to identify suitable candidates for an e-invoice solution to SSE. The e-invoice solution in question will have to accept invoice flows from several sources and transfer the data to SSE.

This notice contains a short description of the required solution and a number of questions of which the answers will be used to assess and select which candidates are the most suitable and will be taken forward to the next stage (tender).

Summary

SSE is investigating the possibilityto engage a third party to receive and validate invoices and transfer the invoice data in an electronic format to its ERP systems. At this moment in time SSE operates 3 different Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, Oracle R12, Causeway Vixen and MS Dynamics AX.

The desired solution willreceive an invoice in any format and also have the option to generate invoices for those suppliers that do not have the abilityto generate invoices electronically themselves (two options: send a paper invoice to be scanned or use the PO data to create an invoice).

SSE receives invoices from a large supplier base both in and outside the UK. It is the intention to minimise the manual handling of this invoice stream by using a third party to receive and process invoices on behalf of SSE. It is envisaged that this system can receiveinvoices in any format. The next step would be a validation of the invoice (against set criteria given by SSE and provided in a Purchase order file) and translate the incoming data in a consistent format to import in the SSE ERP systems (Oracle, MS Dynamics AX, Causeway Vixen).

The validation of the data can result in a rejection of an invoice, which the system shall return to the supplier with reasons as to why the invoice is rejected. At the same time records of the rejections need to be kept and shared with SSE. Correct validated invoices will be transferred to SSE in an electronic format.

SSE receives around 230,000 invoices per annum, of which the majority eventually is expected to be handled via this solution. The supplier base currently consists of around 8000 active suppliers.

In order for the system to be of optimal use for SSE, there are a number of requirements.

The e-invoicing solution:

  • will have to be able to validate the incoming invoices before sending approved invoices on to SSE
  • will have to return (reject) invoices that fail the validation requirements to the supplier (with explanation)
  • will have to operate in accordance with the local tax regulation / legislations that apply on the transactions

Please find as part of the Contract Notice this limited Scope of work and a Prequalification Questionnaire (PQQ).

In order to qualify to participate in the tender you will have to answer all questions in the PQQ truthfully and correct. Your answers will be assessed by a team of people in SSE and the top 6 scoring candidates will be taken forward to participate in a tender.

It is SSE’s intention to eventually reach an agreement defining prices per invoice quantity handling and configuration and implementation costs (including an on-boarding exercise for suppliers). This will allow us to enter into an agreement that can cover several years of service.