ABOUT
THE CUSTOMER
The customer is a back-office processing firm that offers essential business services such as accounting, taxes, insurance, benefits, HR & Payroll. Their clients get to have a single well-coordinated source taking care of all their back-office needs.
CHALLENGES FACED
One of the key operations for the customer is to process accounts payable for more
than
500
clients and 1500 vendors. All accounts payable activities were carried out manually
and
a
separate team has been deployed to handle a set of clients. They deployed around
100+
employees in carrying out the operation which was more error-prone and involved a
considerable amount of re-work.
Form bills and invoices, data identification and data entry into relevant systems,
lag
in
the approval process and disbursement of funds
at the right time, to losing track of invoices and delayed processing time, the
challenges
remained aplenty. The increased error rate, longer
processing time and manual workforce deployed were affecting their business
drastically.
Handling e-mail notifications was also challenging
as it had to be monitored manually every time to check if any emails are received
from
clients for the queries asked.
FINDING SOLUTION
Changepond carried out a detailed assessment to identify the exact root cause of pain areas and considered various options for resolution. There were areas for standardization, there were areas where automation was possible, and there were areas where automation was a challenge but a necessity. We came out with a comprehensive solution to make the whole process taut and efficient.
DETAILED SOLUTION
One of the significant need was to ensure an efficient AP Processing involving multiple accounting systems. Changepond developed a BOT that interacts with different accounting systems to pull invoices of various clients. Invoices obtained are sent through our Machine Learning model to extract key information like vendor details, client details, invoice amount, payment terms, due date, etc which is required for invoicing entry.
How RPA along with Machine Learning complements human work
With RPA plus Changepond in-house Machine Learning invoice extraction model, the client was able to easily capture and collate key information, besides dealing with multi-format invoices,text-based in different formats: PDF, JPG, MS Excel & MS Word, etc.
01
Identified & extracted mandatory and relevant information and fed it into the accounting system.
02
Exceptions and errors are captured at each stage, right from pulling up data from an invoice, capturing information in the accounting system, application-and network-related, etc.
Filling in the gaps
The Machine Learning model deals with various invoice formats and identifies the required key information.
01
Ability to handle changing formats and train the model.
02
An auto-generated detailed report with missing details notified for those formats to be put through constant training.
Beat iteration with automation
The client found that most current process behaviors were iterative; they also had to overcome manual errors or loss of information during data entry.
01
RPA tool standardized and streamlined workflows requiring high levels of human participation.
02
Exceptions and errors are captured at each stage, right from pulling up data from an invoice, capturing information in the accounting system, application-and network-related, etc.
Eliminate inconsistent approval process & pay-out delay
Delayed payment and approval process resulted in service interruption.
01
Automation of AP ensured seamless approval process with periodic follow-up and phase-by-phase delegation, thereby enhancing policy compliance.
02
Precise data retrieval and invoices readiness for disbursement improved client relations.
03
Approvals granted within the agreed timeframe with on-time vendor payments.
Efficient tracking of invoices and reduced processing time
Reducing errors or loss of information during data input proved challenging.
01
Invoices identified correctly, data extracted and fed into an accounting tool whereby it is shifted to a dedicated data store.
02
Automatic notification to vendors with a duplicate copy for processing.
03
Bills and invoices are further drilled down in a hierarchical form.
04
Data archiving and future indexing and reference rendered easy
05
Detailed report generated at the end of each execution
06
Dedicated dashboard to import key analytics including the number of invoices processed, invoices failed, new vendors added, etc.
Process Flow
Best Practice
-
Our configuration driven approach led to easy management and handling of BOTS with no rework or code change.
-
The Usage of API and Vendor Master enabled customer for quicker processing of invoices and mapping and identifying new vendors.
Result and ROI
Changepond’s solution of automating accounts payable propelled innovation while saving
substantial man-hours, improving staff and customer satisfaction, driving ROI within a
year,
and managing high transaction volumes from new and existing vendors. With improved SLA
the
company is pitching for a new business to achieve tremendous growth.
The customer was able to save up to 70% of operational costs through automation and was
able
to achieve a quick and complete solution for their AP challenges and woes with resource
savings from 100+ employees to just 20 employees.
Changepond’s automation solution drastically improved the accounts payable processing time up to 98%.
The migration and enhancements done as a part of the solution has made sure that the client now has a powerful, tailor-made approach to meet their business needs.
Future Impact
Changepond’s detailed solution has ensured flexibility and extendibility that would abundantly help the client’s business as they plan to accommodate more clients and Vendors. The customer can now achieve faster payments and processing of invoices with ease. The client can foresee a substantial increase in ROI and reduction in manual workforce and error for the upcoming years.
About Changepond
A global leader in Technology services, Engineering service and Digital
Transformation,
Changepond
is at the forefront of innovation to address the entire breadth of clients’
opportunities in
the
evolving world of managing the convergence of enterprise software, cloud, digital
and
New
Media
Solutions. Advent new generation technologies and Digital cognitive skills including
AI,
ML,
BPMN,
RPA, NLP, NLG, etc., have kick started the innovation bringing in new
opportunities.
Building on its strong 20-year heritage and deep industry-specific expertise,
Changepond
enables
organizations to realize their business ambitions through an array of services from
strategy
to
operations. Changepond is driven by its conviction to provide Lasting Solutions and
Creating
Trust.
The combination of pioneering technology experiences, strong engineering and finance
backgrounds
and
successful business minds make for a vibrant nucleus keeping us consistently ahead
of
the
curve.