Author: Marcin Orocz
Automation of the purchase invoice flow
SAP Invoice Management by OpenText (VIM) is a comprehensive solution that automates the flow of purchase invoices. It is dedicated to large enterprises and shared service centers in corporate groups where the number of financial documents processed reaches tens of thousands per month. The integration of the top SAP tools and solutions from OpenText is a guarantee of a comprehensive and transparent flow of invoices – from recording through posting to archiving. Key benefits include faster payment processing and lower operating costs of the process.
SAP Invoice Management by OpenText (VIM) is a comprehensive solution that automates the flow of purchase invoices. It is dedicated to large enterprises and shared service centers in corporate groups where the number of financial documents processed reaches tens of thousands per month. The integration of the top SAP tools and solutions from OpenText is a guarantee of a comprehensive and transparent flow of invoices – from recording through posting to archiving. Key benefits include faster payment processing and lower operating costs of the process.
As a result of the strategic partnership agreement between SAP and the largest provider of EIM (Enterprise Information Management) solutions, a Canadian company OpenText, the SAP offering has been expanded to include tools that complement the transactional ERP system with enterprise information management solutions.
SAP Invoice Management by OpenText
A flagship OpenText product offered by SAP is a solution for automating the handling of purchase invoices – SAP Invoice Management by OpenText (VIM).
A certified and fully integrated add-on to the SAP system supports channels of incoming invoices, ranging from faxes, scans, EDI, PI/XI to electronic filing offices (e-mail) and self-service systems, such as SAP SRM.
The implemented matrices for exception handling management help eliminate 99% of problems with handling incoming invoices, both those with and without reference to a purchase order.
The system is intended to accept an invoice and automatically post it unless it finds an exception at the stage of processing. At this point, it commences to analyze it in accordance with the configuration made on the basis of the company’s business processes by experienced SAP consultants.
The solution can be integrated with the SAP certified tools for archiving documents, as well as the most popular OCR tools and tools for data extraction from the scanned documents and PDF.
Based on SNP’s experience from the implementations carried out for customers, we recommend the following set of OpenText tools: SAP Document Access (ADA – a document archive) and SAP Business Capture Center (SNP – a platform for the extraction of data from OCR).
In the dedicated transactions, SAP Invoice Management by OpenText can be operated on ready-made (configurable) screens in SAP GUI, SAP Fiori and/or SAP Portal.
SAP Invoice Management by OpenText is a solution designed for large companies focused on running the core business and interested in shortening the time of processing of financial documents to the required minimum. It is also ideal for the shared service centers operating within corporate groups. It can be used to effectively settle purchase invoices – the SAP MM/SRM functionality ensures the full automation of invoice handling.
From recording to archiving
SAP Invoice Management by OpenText uses ready-made SAP Workflow mechanisms and is fully integrated with SAP SRM MM and FI/CO modules. It also interoperates with OCR systems and is integrated with the certified archives (compatible with SAP ArchiveLink).
Its main functions in the invoice flow process include:
- recording of financial documents,
- recording of a document in the process,
- automatic posting of documents with a purchase order.
Moreover, the solution supports as many as 88 defined exceptions in the process of handling invoices with and without a purchase order.
The prepared reporting tools provide access to a complete set of financial statements generated based on the data recorded in the system. In addition, there is a rich set of analytical reports on the handling processes and KPI (an added value for shared service centers SSC).
The extensive capabilities of the document archive management enable you, for example, to define the retention of documents for the period required by law (after a certain time a document will be automatically deleted).
The solution supports the acceptance of invoices in: SAP GUI, SAP Portal and SAP Fiori.
SAP VIM uses the SAP HANA platform to support processes and reports from the system, which positively affects the processing time and efficiency. The simplification of processes, particularly in the area of services for suppliers, has been achieved by including the SAP Ariba platform in the solution.
The solutions applied allow for a full audit of the system activities, and thus guarantee the transparency of the process from ordering to payment.
Faster, more efficiently, cheaper
Faster payment processing and reduced operating costs of the invoice flow process are the best measurable, but not the only benefits of implementing SAP VIM.
A higher level of efficiency of the invoice handling process is achieved through the elimination of the paper document flow and the automation of this process, along with support for exceptions that occur in the handling of invoices.
The establishment of and compliance with the rules of the flow of financial documents (workflow, escalations, substitutions, response times etc.) required by the system configuration contribute to the transparency of the process and help gain full control over the flow of financial documents in the company.
The provided analytics of the most common “bottlenecks" helps identify the most time-consuming invoices in the process.
The reorganization of the flow and approval of financial documents contributes to more efficient use of valuable accounting resources (relieving them from the labor-intensive task of entering the content of documents into the system manually) and eliminates payment bottlenecks caused by delayed posting of documents. The improvement of cooperation between the financial accounting department and the purchasing department as well as suppliers is equally important for the effectiveness of the company.
