Introduction

Managing vendor invoices is one of the most critical yet challenging tasks for large organizations. The advertising company in this case study, a global leader in its industry, was facing several issues with its accounts payable (AP) process. These included handling invoices submitted via multiple channels, tracking lost invoices and managing approvals across different locations. The company sought a solution that would streamline its invoice approval process, ensure better accountability and eliminate manual errors.

Challenges

The company encountered significant obstacles in managing its accounts payable operations:

• Multiple invoice submission methods: Invoices arrived via courier (hard copies), email and vendor portals, leading to a lack of uniformity in processing.

• Lost invoices and tracking issues: Invoices were often misplaced during transit or failed to be recorded properly, resulting in delays and inefficiencies.

• Person-dependent processes: The system heavily relied on the availability of specific individuals to move invoices through the approval chain.

• High overhead costs: Printing and circulating physical invoices for signatures led to excessive costs and time delays.

• Data flow management: Integrating invoice data from various systems, such as the media billing system and ERP, was cumbersome.

The Solution: DMS+ for Accounts Payable Automation

The company adopted DMS+ Accounts Payable Automation Solution to address these challenges. The solution provided an integrated approach to managing invoices, from receipt to approval, ensuring a smoother workflow and higher efficiency.

Key features of the solution included:

• Centralized invoice processing: A centralized mailroom was created where all incoming invoices—whether in hard copy or soft copy—were digitized and processed. Hard copy invoices were scanned, while email and portal invoices were directly uploaded into the system, providing an efficient centralized invoice processing approach.

• Robotic Process Automation (RPA): DMS+ RPA engine was implemented to auto-extract key invoice data and populate it into the necessary fields. This minimized manual data entry errors and expedited the approval process, demonstrating AI and ML in accounts payable.

• Automated workflows: The invoices were automatically routed based on the location of supply and delivery and approvals were managed via a customizable AP workflow automation system.

• DMS integration: All approved invoices were stored in Document Management System (DMS+) with strict access controls, ensuring security and easy retrieval. This integration emphasized document management for finance.

• Dashboard for visibility: A real-time dashboard allowed senior management to track the status of invoices, approvals and payments, providing full visibility into the AP process.

Benefits of DMS+ Accounts Payable Automation

By implementing DMS+ AP automation solution, the advertising company reaped several key benefits typical of accounts payable automation:

Increased Efficiency:

• Faster invoice processing: Automation significantly reduced the time needed to process, approve and store invoices. The RPA engine streamlined the capture of invoice data, reducing manual entry time.

• Automated workflows: Routing invoices based on predefined rules eliminated bottlenecks, ensuring quicker approvals.

Cost Reduction:

• Less paper usage: By digitizing invoices, the company reduced the need for printing, cutting overhead costs related to paper, printing and storage.

• Reduced manual effort: Automation reduced reliance on human intervention, allowing the finance team to focus on more strategic tasks rather than data entry.

Improved Accuracy:

• Error-free data extraction: The RPA engine auto-extracted invoice data, reducing the risk of human error during data entry, ensuring invoice processing automation accuracy.

• Compliance with validations: Automated checks ensured that invoices met validation criteria before being approved, reducing the chances of errors or discrepancies.

Enhanced Visibility:

• Real-time tracking: A dashboard provided management with real-time insights into the status of invoices, approvals and payments, enhancing transparency across the AP process.

• Audit trail: The system maintained a complete history of all invoice actions, improving accountability and simplifying audits.

Scalability:

• Handling high volumes: The AP automation solution was scalable, allowing the company to handle thousands of invoices from multiple vendors without overwhelming the finance team.

• Integration with existing systems: The system seamlessly integrated with the company's media billing system and ERP, streamlining data flows and reducing redundancies, highlighting automated invoice approval system capabilities.

Conclusion

With DMS+ Accounts Payable Automation Solution, the advertising company transformed its AP process, moving from a fragmented, manual system to an automated, efficient and error-free solution. By leveraging AI and RPA technologies, the company was able to increase processing speeds, reduce costs and improve overall accuracy. This set a benchmark for accounts payable automation in the advertising industry, offering a scalable, streamlined and reliable approach to managing complex invoice processing tasks.