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Conventional approaches to digital transformation are often not capable of solving modern accounts payable challenges. What’s required today is an agile and intelligent method that combines best-of-breed technologies.

At rapidMATION, we specialise in developing individualised accounts payable solutions that bring automation tools and intelligent technologies together in a way that extends the value of existing software investments.

Below, we have outlined three case studies that highlight various benefits of our approach. All these clients are based in Australia.

Case study 1: An alternative route to costly custom software     

A construction company wanted to modernise its accounts payable (AP) systems, but its AP processes were reliant on a legacy platform that was expensive to update. A custom software upgrade would have cost the business in the region of half a million dollars. Beyond the financial impact, this would have been a long, drawn-out and disruptive project.

Seeking an alternative solution, the company looked for a suitable off-the-shelf software package. Unfortunately, they struggled to find one that could satisfy all their needs.

rapidMATION stepped in to solve these challenges. We combined three market-ready technologies into one intelligent automation platform:

All the new technologies integrate smoothly with the systems already in place, including SAP. As a result, our client has been able to optimise AP processes end-to-end – increasing efficiency and reducing risk without having to invest in a costly and time-consuming IT change project.

Case study 2: Reducing manual effort to cut risk

A company that specialises in temporary fencing and barrier products needed to move away from a slow and error-prone manual invoice processing system.

This organisation receives a large volume of invoices in multiple formats; and the AP team used to manage these invoices manually – opening the various documents, extracting information and keying this into the ERP system. This type of approach is not only labour-intensive but can also expose any organisation to data entry errors.

We helped to digitise and automate this process using ABBYY FlexiCapture technology. Now, the AP team is able to automatically process content from any invoice, regardless of its format. No matter whether these invoices are Word, Excel or PDF files that come in as email attachments, or physical documents that come in via fax or post – this solution can capture any invoice to create a digital copy and then automatically extract all the relevant information for processing.

We integrated this solution with our client’s existing ERP system, so they could reduce manual workloads while continuing to carry out their existing invoice approval and payment processes without disruption.

Case study 3: Augmenting the value of an RPA solution

An organisation in the property industry was already using a robotic process automation (RPA) solution from UiPath to automate key tasks within its accounts payable processes. However, the accounts payable team still had to manually extract invoice information and transfer this into their ERP system in an RPA-readable format.

This company was using UiPath to automate a three-way matching process within its SAP system. This technique – used to verify whether invoice details are genuine before approving payment – involves a three-way match between the information contained in the invoice, the associated purchase order and the relevant receiving documentation (which proves that the goods or services were indeed received, in line with contract terms). If the three-way match flags any discrepancies or information gaps, the invoice can be held back from the payment queue and routed to the relevant AP team member for further investigation.

Automating the three-way match is ideal for increasing the speed and accuracy of this critical AP process. However, in order to feed structured information into the RPA solution, the AP team had to manually extract invoice data and key this into the system. This manual effort was time-consuming and increased the risk of data entry errors before the three-way match took place.

In order to reduce effort and risk, rapidMATION integrated an intelligent content management solution into the invoice approval workflow. Embedding ABBYY’s intelligent document capture and optical character recognition solution into the environment provided our client with a solution that automatically picks up any invoice coming into the organisation, scans this document – regardless of its format or medium – and extracts the invoice data. This is then routed to the RPA solution in a standardised and machine-readable format for swift processing.

With this intelligent solution in place, our client is able to extend the value of its RPA investment while also minimising manual work, human error and process delays. This also enables the AP department to add more value to the business. Because staff are no longer devoting their time to manual data entry, they can focus on higher-skilled tasks, such as approving the three-way matches and investigating accounts that are flagged as inconsistent or incomplete.

With a robust three-way matching system in place, it’s easier for our client to mitigate fraudulent activity and keep AP processes running accurately and on time.

Ready to run accounts payable your way?

The accounts payable function is an area where organisations can gain great value for their technology investments. With the right digital capabilities in place, companies can automate manual tasks to save time and enhance risk controls, manage data more intelligently, and streamline process handoffs to improve the overall efficiency and performance of any accounts payable department.

rapidMATION’s intelligent automation solution can be customised to meet any organisation’s requirements. We are able to integrate leading, market-ready technologies with AI, RPA and digital process automation capabilities into any IT environment. Additionally. this intelligent automation blueprint is agile enough to evolve over time, as needs change and new digital capabilities emerge.

Our expertise and technology partnerships support an efficient, accurate and future-proof accounts payable processes in any enterprise.

Explore what intelligent automation can do for your business. Get in touch. 

We have a recorded webinar on our Intelligent Accounts Payable solution so please click here should you wish to view this.