In a nutshell

Accounts Payable Service is a very broad term to attempt to define. The most famous character in the plot though is an invoice. Any invoice generated and delivered for a product sold or a service provided becomes a part of the buyers or the customers accounts, which is payable.

The services’ related to the management of these accounts is termed as Accounts Payable Services. Accounts payable is a from of credit that a buyer enjoys as he only has to pay once he has received the product or utilized the services provided by the seller. A seller usually has payment terms mentioned in the invoice, which could vary from zero to 30 days or more as per the negotiations between the buyer and the seller.

An Example

Let us consider a spare parts manufacturing firm Tech-Spares Ltd., supplying spares to an automobile manufacturer BestCar Ltd. Let us assume, 30 days is the terms of payment negotiated between Tech-Spares and BestCar. 30 days from the date of invoice is the period BestCar enjoys credit for the amount in that invoice for which it has already received the goods.

Let us consider another example of a Mobile Phone Service company OneConnect. OneConnect provides mobile connectivity services to its customers for which it bills it customer on a monthly basis. The invoice generated by OneConnect to its customers will have a statement date (date the statement was generated) and a due date (date the amount on the invoice is due). T

he day the customer receives the invoice, it becomes his accounts payable and from that day till the due date is the number of days the customer enjoys credit for services he has already used.

Advantages of outsourcing to India

There are various advantages India provides as an outsourcing destination:

? English is one of the well-spoken languages amongst the educated Indians.

? The cost of hiring an Indian accounts payable representative maybe anywhere between 7 to 15 dollars a day. The same representative in a developed market might cost the organization more than 5 times the amount considering remarkably higher minimum wages and even higher administrative costs.

? Setting up businesses in India have become easier post 1991 reforms, which saw India opening up its market to foreign trade and investments and since then India has become a economic powerhouse that the world keeps and eye on.

? Moving accounts payable operations to India gets the off shoring company familiar with the Indian territory and business practices and may be the first step to moving other key areas of their businesses to India.

? Companies can explore other business opportunities, as India grows at a break-neck speed year on year and proves to be one of the largest markets in the world with a very high appetite for consumption.

Data Enrichment involves a process whereby data is standardized, validated and corrected in order to maximize its integrity and value. Data intensive fields such as banking, insurance, retail, and telecommunications are in constant need of Data Enrichment Services and Data Extraction Services in order to acquire the business results they desire. Data Enrichment also helps source information that would give easy access to marketing, sales and support teams and all other personnel who interact with the customers on a daily basis. It also ensures that a company’s database – material files, product catalog files, and item information etc. – are current, accurate and complete.
Outsourcing to India reduces unnecessary costs and provides the best service available in the industry. Indian outsourcing companies offer the following data enrichment services
? Identification and removal of duplicate and incorrect data
? Removal of obsolete data
? Consolidation and interlinking of multiple data sources
? Page maker to Adobe PDF Conversions
? Verification of  the accuracy of the customer data
? Validation of consolidated data (for example: using a post code checker to validate addresses)
? Enrichment of data – with product attributes, images, and manufacturer specifications
? Identification and tagging of similar records
? Identification of missing or incomplete data
? Removal of spurious and invalid records
? Comparison and removal of records matching third party information, such as the opt-in and opt-out list
? Data aggregation, organization, and cleansing

Businesses outsourcing their Data Enrichment Services to India are also benefitted by data scrubbing services. Data scrubbing software is used to systematically examine data for flaws by using rules, algorithms, and look-up tables. Since data may have been derived from various sources, its format is often inconsistent. By using the above tools the process of data cleansing is accelerated and both cost and effort is minimized.

Clients worldwide have now realized the huge benefits they reap by outsourcing their Data Enrichment Services to India. Since all projects are custom based to suit the exact needs of the customer, huge savings in terms of time, money and infrastructure are among the many advantages that outsourcing brings. The signing of Non-Disclosure Agreements and Service Level Agreements ensure that all Data Enrichment projects are secure and will be completed well before the given deadlines. A few other advantages are
? Skilled and qualified technical staff who are proficient in English
? Quick turn around time
? High quality records
? Cost-effective prices
? Well developed infrastructure and redundant systems  that offer uninterrupted services
? Secure Network systems to ensure data safety
? Usage of Data Scrubbing tools to identify errors
Outsourcing of Data Enrichment Services not only saves businesses thousands of dollars and man hours but it also enables them to have a standardized database which will help them develop an edge over their competitors. Subscribing to data enrichment services would ensure an accurate and up-to -date database at a minimal cost.

ABC News Report On Outsourcing To India

A Thomas Friedman / Discovery Channel look at high tech outsourcing to India. To buy the DVD, please visit: shopping.discovery.com