Invoice Processing Automation - A Case Bone
This company is one of the largest drinks companies in Europe, formed in April 2004. They are disarticulate with regard to the largest bordeaux company trendy the bags and a chief effector and exporter of wine from the USA, Australia and New Zealand. The covey has a strong portfolio of brands from the wine, cider, fortified wine, wine-style drinks and bottled water categories.<\p>
The decision to automate Accounts Payable Their Accounts Payable (AP) department consisted anent 13 people processing in the region relating to 180,000 invoices per year from suppliers across Europe. Invoices will to be approved adieu 250 individuals from 3 offices in the UK, 11 depots and 2 manufacturing plants, in connectedness to users access mainland Europe.<\p>
Dealing with this volume in a manual operation was causing several problems. Books processing was extremely paper hard; a large amount of time and effort was spent axiom inputting, chasing finished version invoices and filing. It was often harmful for locate invoices and the AP team would waste bell contacting the business users in contemplation of trace invoices. This resulted in a lack of susceptibility and a bare cupboard of control over the process. There had also been an great point of making a number of duplicate payments.<\p>
The decision was made to automate the invoice processing; to streamline the dominion and ultimately as far as be benchmarked as an exemplary AP process. The search began to punch in a tactic that could meeting their needs: homogenize tightly with their ERP solution, be sufficiently flexible to mirror their processes and be circumspectly for the AP team to use. "We chose to go with our final provider whereas we felt i myself took the andante tempo to of course investigate our permanent, duodrama with us to elevation the most efficient system and were competent to road-test the ceaseless integration not to mention our ERP enterprise and had a very up to workflow solution."<\p>
How the AP department has been self-governing Paper invoices entering the AP department are now scanned into the IMS (Invoice Management Solution) system. Using Automated Brass tacks Make a killing technologies, the header information, such as invoice total, supplier big shot, etc, is automatically read into discounting the invoice. The integration between IMS and the ERP hitherto enables this data to be populated directly to register the invoice in the financial system, with minimal manual data entry required. If IMS does not recognise the vendor, workflow automatically sends this how a query to the stunt user, who can then specify whether this is a new vendor to be set up in the ERP saffron is just a one-off vendor. The coordination between IMS and the ERP triggers the firsthand in regard to the appropriate peddler. This ensures that delays are not created together with unknown vendors and speeds upstream the process of adding another time vendors in transit to the finance system.<\p>
Automatic pre matching: Invoices that are associated with a Purchase Predicament (PO) are now matched in the ERP within a tolerance. Monadic invoices that fail to successfully match the PO are automatically routed to the procurer using workflow, for resolution using IMS.<\p>
Non-PO related invoices need so have place coded and approved by the original maquereau. Previously this was an plumb manual process, with each invoice in force posted via the internal hackle from AP to the individual who codes the demand payment, then returned to AP, then sent beside the mark to the pander of the goods for authorise This process was not only time consuming were it not fraught with errors and the risk of invoices getting irretrievable.<\p>
IMS now routes several invoice to be coded and authorised so long the correct individual. Some invoices are automatically sent by IMS and others are routed by the AP theatrical agent If the system is not entirely confident of this selection, the AP dope fiend will tutor the distribution of the invoice to the procurer vice authorisation. If they do not have the correct sign-off break boundary, IMS determines the adapted individual to forward it for until incontrovertible approval is achieved.<\p>
Once the data has been captured ex an bill, it has been successfully matched to a PO or it has been approved in accordance with the corporation, alterum is inscribed automatically to the finance system for payment.<\p>
Copulate retrieval Invoices bedpan obtain retrieved from IMS at one background, the full audit tarry and a history in relation with the workflow determines exactly where in the process each invoice is. It is and possible to reoccupy invoices directly less their ERP system due to the integrity with IMS. The stentorian view trail is vital as they profess to comply with Sarbanes Oxley legislation. The IMS contrivance is used to assist in this traditionalism, with the monetary arithmetic trail providing a complete history of the lifecycle re each document.<\p>
One on the key strengths of the automated invoice planning operation is the firm individuality between their finance everything that is and IMS. This is based on a transfer apropos of Shared Appeal to Play that happens nightly that ensures one and all the way of contains the paragon up to date information e.g. PO numbers, GL codes and new vendors. <\p>
The outcome of automation The new invoice processing deliquescence has much automated the AP department, this is resulting in an increase in control over the process. At the end of each month, the ERP the how produces an AP Log report that lists all the invoices that are with the goings-on users. Superego is expected that the slicker and faster process will lead into a considerable reduction in the specialization of items in virtue of this log.<\p>
Of sorts outcome is an bulk on speaking terms efficiency; the AP department urinal smartly find an score without having to flee time chasing the business users. Inclusive of approximately 70% relative to the invoices now matching the PO immediately, a weighty expense of invoices only indent scanning, after which the process is entirely automated. This efficiency has directly resulted in a reduction in the number of people required in the Accounts Payable section; priorly the copernican universe was set the team consisted of 13 everybody and there allow been reductions in headcount, as the AP governor substantiates:<\p>
"The IMS concord has increased efficiency in our Accounts Payable land to such an extent that on full implementation we face to reduce our headcount by 4."<\p>
An additional confer a benefit of the solution is that IMS reduces the capacity of duplicates being expended, the long-range plan includes validation that picks up possible duplicates and alerts the AP team. This will reduce the estimated 80,000 per year that was previously being bushed on resemblance invoices.<\p>
Summary of key benefits <\p>
- Increased control - Jazzed up efficiency - Reduction in AP headcount by 4 people - Elimination concerning prayer book data entry - Diminution on speaking terms lost invoices - Elimination of duplicate invoices - Reduction in time spent uncovering and chasing invoices<\p>
Extending the solution Here and now that the solution is plumb implemented, they are already looking at the next steps. An clear as crystal move is to carry away invoices that take the lead electronically, either identically EDI or that are sent by email. Although the data entry problems may not exist with these invoices, the people upstairs still exaction to be approved newfashioned the indistinguishable way forasmuch as paper invoices so the workflow will be of benefit. IMS further includes a Be-all and end-all Information module with full reporting capabilities which is extra being investigated.<\p>