Tim described the positive impact that invoice processing automation has had on the business, after implementing the Readsoft Package from Kofax. The company receives 1500 invoices a day and wanted to increase the speed and accuracy of processing.
“At HSS, we receive 90% of our invoices via email; AP clerks only touch approximately 150 invoices per day to scan into software” says Tim. Scanned paper invoices and emails enter the Readsoft system before being processed into the company’s ERP system. The automated system from Readsoft reads the document, identifying suppliers and determining if it’s an invoice or credit note. All invoice fields are completed automatically for a large number of invoices to effectively process the documents before being passed to HSS Hire’s Adest and Open Accounts ERP for auto-matching
“This process allows us to receive invoices and with little to no human input, we can have invoices ready to pay within 24 hours of receipt” enthuses Tim.
The automated system has had an enormous impact on the morale and capability of the Accounts Payable team and it has been easy for the users to adopt.
“Once set up, the software is easily run by the users and requires very little additional support. I have not had to log any support calls for over 7 months”.
The team of 10 clerks process their annual total of nearly 400k invoices with minimal intervention. Users scan invoices, unless they are received via email, verify the invoice and simply click ‘ok’. This has made a huge difference to the processing time and resource required in Accounts Payable.
Prior to implementing the Readsoft solution, Accounts Payable clerks at HSS would process around 150 invoices each per day, taking 5 hours. Each invoice would typically take 2 minutes and the repetitive work increased the risk of errors. The length of time it took to process invoices and the mundane tasks they were performing, reduced the team’s morale and motivation.
Now the system auto-approves 40% of invoices and each clerk processes 90 invoices per day in less than an hour, freeing the team to engage in other work that adds value. It takes just 11 minutes for an invoice to be transferred through the Readsoft process into Open Accounts ready for 3 way match. Tim comments on the changes “We inherited a challenging AP Process; by focusing on our usage of Readsoft we have reduced our team from 20 to 10, original team members have progressed, and unallocated cash on ledger has reduced by 95%. 24% of all invoices received by HSS are processed end to end without interacting with a single person, achieving full automation.”
Looking ahead to the future, the team aim to continue improving their performance with 3 main areas of focus: Readsoft Identification to heighten the capture of key information, improved supplier relations to ensure PO compliance and an increase in the number of invoices being received electronically, and increasing the auto-match capability within Open Accounts, all of which will lead to an increase in touchless processing and complete automation.
