Is COVID19 driving Invoice Automation

I received this email from one of our customers last week highlighting the change in organisational behavior as an example of where COVID19 is driving digital transformation.

There are 6 aspects of paper invoicing that need to be addressed by those organisations still receiving paper in relation to COVID19:

• COVID19 can reside on cardboard and paper-based products for 24 Hours
• Postal transportation takes time and has multiple contact and touchpoints
• Paper Invoices need to be sent, processed, scanned and indexed by hand
• A single primary mailing address is still required to be delivered to
• Staff have to be located at the primary address to receive and process Invoices
• Physical mail costs more money, wastes paper, postage, effort and is not green

As the email shows, organisations are already having to adapt to a Post-Covid19 world order where workers and staff are distributed across a geographical area and traditional manual processes turn to digital enablement to deliver the required business function and outcome.

Physically Constrained becomes Digitally Liberated

If invoices are no longer physical and do not require a static location to be posted to, this free's an organisation to pursue a wide range of benefits within their accounts payable function by automating their invoice process. Automated Invoicing can be combined with Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for accurate delivery and automated, rules-based process management.

Flexible, Multi-Functional, Value Working

Invoice processing staff can then be allocated to performing tasks that require emotional intelligence and delivering services that require empathy and a range of human skills like relationship building, dealing with complex, multifaceted functions like relationship management, discussing accounts payable issues. This can include extending credit lines, offering early payment discounts or understanding issues and then proposing a range of solutions.

The Digital Dividend

Automated Invoicing can deliver a range of benefits and is usually the start point for organisations embarking on digital transformation and improving supplier service and engagement.

The traditional Post Room can be transformed into a digital converter and gateway where all post, invoices, applications, inter-organisational documents, credit notes, delivery docs etc can be scanned, indexed. They can then be electronically distributed internally and externally with a captured audit trial whether staff are now based in the office, at home or at a remote working location.

Automated Invoicing is 15x faster, 15x cheaper and more accurate

Invoice processing at a higher throughput rate can deliver significant advantages for Finance executives who want to control the accounts payable function and deliver value. Typical throughput velocity is 15 times the physical process rate and average invoice processing costs come down from ￡15 to less than ￡1.

The invoice can be matched and allocated to a published PO number and then checked automatically against spending thresholds. This means that mistakes are reduced and throughput increased. Valuable financial management time is then applied to value creation such as defining strategy, identifying operational efficiencies and human involvement is required only in authorising much 'higher value' invoice payments or exception handling.

As data input is automatic it gets into the finance or ERP system faster. Therefore reporting is more accurate, up to date sooner and decisions can be taken based on objective rather than subjective information. This enables the finance department to make informed decisions quickly and react to opportunities or threats sooner.

Free 30 Days Pilot License to show how Invoice Automation can add value.

If you would like to know more about how Automated Invoicing can start or complement your digital journey and transform your organisation and finance team's operations please contact ONQU Automation for further information.

Selected organisations will be given a free 30-Day Trial using ABBYY the market-leading Invoice Process Automation enterprise software. All that is required is an invoice set of a few hundred example invoices and the software can typically capture 90% of the invoice data on the first parse.

Invoice Process Cost Calculator

For an indicative idea of what your manual invoice process is currently costing you please visit the ONQU Website where the Invoice Process Cost and ROI Calculator can show you more.

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