SAP Accounts Payable Automation
SAP Accounts Payable Automation is the dream of most Accounts Payable (AP) departments. Processing invoices can be a very manual and tedious process. AP departments know the challenges: The enormous amount of time involved in manually keying invoices; researching exceptions; and waiting for approval to pay, file, and store. In addition to these challenges, AP departments have no visibility into the progression of the invoice until it is posted in SAP.
Have the Invoice Tracking Center PDF sent to you here Achieve SAP Accounts Payable Automation with the Verbella Invoice Tracking Center (ITC). Use with Tungsten (formerly Kofax) Capture and Tungsten Transformation (formerly Kofax Transformation Module or KTM) applications (or other OCR software) for classification and data extraction with a certified SAP ArchiveLink content repository for document storage.
Our solution provides invoice capture, starting with the initial receipt of the invoice, whether by mail (paper), electronically via email or fax, EDI or from vendor portals. The invoices are then processed with an OCR engine, such as Tungsten Automation’s software, that classifies the invoices and extracts the data. A SAP Certified Content Server stores the document image, and the meta data and a link to the image are passed directly to the ITC record inside of SAP. Once in the ITC, the documents are validated, run through a duplicate check, and then can be auto posted, or for non-PO invoices routed for coding and approval, and then posted.
When used with Tungsten Automation and an SAP Content Server, ITC delivers automated data entry, duplicate checking, audit functionality, non-PO approvals, PO exception handling, auto-posting, and visibility into the invoice process.
Custom Solutions for Maximum ROI
Verbella SAP Accounts Payable solutions range from basic document storage to fully automated solutions for SAP Accounts Payable. Our expert consultants maximize our customers’ prior investments in SAP and their ArchiveLink Document Management Solutions. Every company has unique AP processes, so no one-size-fits-all AP solution exists. Verbella offers multiple AP Solutions, from simple Data Extraction to Solutions featuring automated routing for approval and auto-posting of invoices. We also resell the Tungsten (formerly Kofax) Process Director Suite for SAP.
SAP Accounts Payable Automation – ITC Features
- Seamless integration into any SAP Certified Archivelink content Repository
- OCR integration with Tungsten Capture via the SAP Certified Verbella Export Connector
- ITC resides inside SAP and is delivered via SAP Transports or SAINT Package for easy configuration
- Embedded Document Imaging Viewer for quick and easy document reference
- Auto-posting for PO and non-PO invoices
- Process emails from a scanner or directly via email
Single Note and Complete Note thread available for each invoice
Complete Invoice History, know who did what and when
Customized duplicate check configurable based on ITC document type
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Approval and coding via email for non-SAP users
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Ad-hoc or automatic routing for approvals
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Original approval and coding emails are archived and link to the ITC Record
Open PO line-item data and Vendor Master data extraction programs that are used by Tungsten Automation’s included image data extraction
Additional ITC features:
- Upload Excel files for GL coding for large line-item invoices
- Original invoices linked to both the accounting document and the ITC record
- Mass printing and downloading of multiple documents at the same time
- Hyperlinks to Vendor master, PO, and accounting documents
- Simulate routing and re-routing of invoices
- Auto-posting of utility and logistic invoices available through the ITC auto-coding configuration
- Reporting on the number of AP touches, workflow duration, accruals, and dozens of reports possible
- Additional analytical reporting via Tungsten Analytics and Timeline PI
- Payment document updated for each record
- Automatic clearing of parked documents posted outside of ITC
- SAP authorization to control access, including company code
- Integration into the Taulia web portal for invoice submission and early payment discounts
Overcome limitations when processing vendor invoices in SAP
- No visibility into the status of the document until it is either parked or posted in SAP
- AP department has no idea how many or what invoices need to be processed before they are entered into SAP
- AP managers cannot track individual invoices until it is either posted or paid in SAP, so managers have no idea how long an invoice has been waiting for approval
- Cannot quickly process invoices if they are sent to the wrong approver
- No out-of-the-box linking of document images to the SAP transaction
- No email-based coding or approval
- Scanning and OCR software are not included with SAP
- Processing generally involves multiple SAP Screens and transactions
- No reporting on the invoice process
- SAP only lets you retrieve and print one document at a time
How does an Accounts Payable Automation solution from Verbella overcome these limitations?
- ITC offers complete cradle-to-grave visibility into the entire invoice processing
- AP departments can instantly know the status of each invoice before they are entered into SAP
- AP managers track and determine how long an invoice has been waiting for approval
- Invoices can be rerouted if rejected because the wrong approver was selected
- Duplicates determined before entry into SAP display images and accounting document of suspected duplicate invoices
- Identify offenders: Vendors who routinely submit duplicate or problematic invoices and approvers who must be reminded to approve invoices
- Determine how long it takes to process an average invoice and identify bottlenecks in the invoice process
- A single point of entry and a single screen to process all invoices
- Much faster invoice processing, less cost-per-invoice to process
- Fewer duplicate invoices and more time for processing invoice exceptions
- Quicker turnaround time on vendor calls and better relations with vendors