Accounts Payable Automation for EBS or PeopleSoft withOracle WebCenter

Brian “Bex” HuffChief Software Architect

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Agenda

Common pain points and challenges

Solution: AP process automation

Software required for the solution

Which level of automation is cost effective?

Screenshots

Case study

Questions?

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AP Problem Overview

Common AP Pain Points• Too little staff for too many invoices• Invoices without associated purchase orders• Processing takes over 30 days, sometimes incurring penalties• Never get “early payment” discounts due to workload• Too many paper invoices, not enough digital• Lack of appropriate training for staff

Is there business value in automating accounts payable?• What are the tangible and quantifiable benefits?• What are the intangible benefits?

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Solution: AP Process Automation

Done!CONTENT MANAGEMENT

Provide additional information via

secure mark-ups & comments

Finalize review & processing via Application

Capture paper, electronic & fax documents via

integrated scan, import & data

extraction

Access imaged documents and tasks via EBS/ PeopleSoft

Process via workflow and automated notifications for

approval and exception handling tasks

Monitor processes and queue loads

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Key Challenges

Labor Effort to Process Physical

Documents

Processing Time for Invoices

Engagement with External Departments

• Invoices• Utilities• Lack of POs

• Manual routing process relies on individual knowledge of authorization levels

• Manual routing process relies on individuals to process invoices in a timely manner

• Education of other departments on AP Processes and Systems challenged

• Need feedback on process improvement

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Labor Effort to Process Physical Documents

Challenge:• Effort required to enter invoices into system• Number of line items on bills increases effort required over regular invoices• Bringing on extra FTEs to keep up with volume

Recommendation: • Require all invoices to be sent to AP directly• Deploy image recognition system to automate invoice capture• Deploy automated workflow solution with automated approval workflow for

invoices without issues• Frees up resources in all departments

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Processing Time for Invoices

Challenge:• Approvals require institutional knowledge of signing levels and department

managers• Routed invoices may sit on approval managers desk• Research on issues can take up to 72 hours• Missed opportunities for early payment refunds

Recommendation: • Increase the number of invoices delivered digitally• Deploy automated approval system with time based notifications

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Engagement with External Departments

Challenge:• Lack of training on systems and process introduces challenges

• No POs, or incorrect POs

• Challenged to understand needs of new departments• Challenged to adapt to new priorities• Invoices without purchase orders can require 3 to 4 additional touch points

Recommendation:• Engage input from other departments through workflows• Automate capture of invoices, and automatic routing• Implement process consistency to reduce inefficiencies

Manual Process

Department

Invoice

Accounts Payable

Approval

TransmittalPacket

Audit Payment Specialist

Automated Process

Department

Invoice

Accounts Payable

Approval

Audit Payment Specialist

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AP Automation: Three Main Areas

Capture: digitizes documents & extracts data• Paper, Faxes, Print Streams, etc.• Pulls key data from documents to decrease manual entry

Imaging: stores, retrieves & manages documents• Provides a centralized repository with lifecycle management• Enables seamless search and access from within application Uis

BPM: capabilities accelerate document-driven processes• Workflow enables faster and complex routing of documents• Monitoring provides insight into key performance metrics

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AP Automation: What Software do I Need?

Capture: digitizes documents & extracts data• WebCenter Enterprise Capture• Oracle Forms Recognition

Imaging: stores, retrieves & manages documents• WebCenter Content / Imaging• WebCenter Application Adapters for EBS and PeopleSoft

BPM: capabilities accelerate document-driven processes• Oracle Business Process Management Suite• Financials Image Processing Solution Accelerator

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AP Automation: When is it Cost Effective?

LOW: <1,000 invoices / month• Back-end capture and archive at process completion• Accessed via searches on image indexes

MID: 5,000 invoices / month• Front-end Capture and Data Entry• Invoices scanned centrally or remotely upon receipt • Routed to ERP for data entry (Key From Image)

HIGH: >10,000 invoices / month• Front-end intelligent capture & workflow• Invoices scanned upon receipt• Automated extraction of PO number, vendor, and price• Human intervention only required for exceptions

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Enterprise Capture

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Oracle Forms Recognition

Import• Docs as multi-page TIFFs• Metadata parsed from file names

OCR• 'Read' all text on all pages

Classify• Identify the document type

Extract Data• Based on document type

Verify• Manually correct extracted data

Export• Images and data

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WebCenter Content/Imaging

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SOA/BPEL Connectors to EBS/PSFT

External processes can pass metadata fields into payloads

The UI maps between BPEL and metadata fields and can support in-line values:• http://host:port/imaging/faces/Pages/UrlTools.jspx?

ToolName=ExecuteSearch&SearchName=[Claims]&ClaimNum=[CNum]

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Financials Image Processing Solution Accelerator

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Solution Accelerator with EBS

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Simplified Process Flow

Scanning System(ODC, Kofax)

Drag-n-Drop

OFR Input Folder

OFR(Classify & Extract)

To BeCorrected Batches

OFR Verifier(Corrections)

ImagingMonitored

Folder

WebCenter Content Imaging

EBS/Workflow

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Oracle Document Capture

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Oracle Forms Recognition

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Forms Recognition Line Pairing

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WebCenter Content: Imaging

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WebCenter Content: Imaging

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Full Automation with SOA/BPM

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Exception Handling Task Viewer

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PeopleSoft Worklist and Approval

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PeopleSoft Adapter

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EBS Adapter

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Case Study: AP Automation for Energy Utility

Centralize AP receiving

Require invoices to have POs

Deploy automated forms recognition solution

Deploy automated AP Workflow solution

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Case Study: AP Automation for Energy Utility

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Business Case: Tangible Benefits

Reduction in transactional labor activities• Redirect to higher level activities

Reduction in paper, storage, and handling

Reduction in audit and compliance costs• Automation of document lifecycle and retention

Capture of incremental early payment refunds• Early payments that can be captured today

Capture of potential early payment refunds• Early payments that can’t be captured today

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Business Case: Intangible Benefits

Improved relationships with vendors and suppliers

Increased interaction with departments outside of AP• Less time spent tracking down POs and contracts for AP

Improved financial controls, security and auditability • Document access, viewing, changes, printing, version control

Increased employee job satisfaction• More time for higher value activities• Are we getting the best deal from our vendors?

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AP Automation Benefits for Energy Utility

Automation Benefits Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Capture 40% 60% 80% 100%

Invoice Processing $82,740 $124,110 $165,480 $206,850

AP Producitivity $72,900 $109,350 $145,800 $182,250

Department Productivity $150,000 $225,000 $300,000 $375,000 Incremental Annual

Refunds $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000

Potential Annual Refunds $104,000 $156,000 $208,000 $260,000

Total Benefits $449,640 $674,460 $899,280 $1,124,100

Breakeven is typically achieved in 2 years

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My Company: http://bezzotech.com

My Blog: http://bexhuff.com

My Self: bex@bezzotech.com

Questions?