Abstract
Dedicated funds for Open Access publishing have been a strategic instrument at German university libraries for many years. As the number of Open Access publications grows dynamically, the question arises as to whether the processes of handling article processing charges (APC) are being sustainably organised among libraries and publishers so as to enable a full transition to Open Access. Max Planck Digital Library processes about 600 invoices for Open Access articles per year centrally on behalf of Max Planck researchers. This paper contains a description of the individual steps required in order to assume charges centrally as well as the barriers emerging during this process. It is shown that the main desiderata for the establishment of smooth and scalable processes are the optimisation of article submission systems, better author identification and assignment, and improved reporting.