Companies are missing out on opportunities if they stop automating after successfully implementing and commissioning an invoice processing system. By thinking differently, companies can easily leverage existing systems further. By treating a expense claim as an invoice and including them in the invoice flow, companies eliminate the seemingly unmanageable flow of receipts and mileage reimbursements.
Virtually every larger enterprise now relies on digital processing of incoming invoices. Often these are scanned, coded or matched with purchase orders, handled through a workflow and then finally posted to the financial system.
Incomprehensible
To achieve this, the organization went through an intensive process that hooked up people from IT for the interface between the invoice system and the financial system.
The accounts payable manager determined how different types of invoices would be handled in the system and what authorization routes they should follow. Employees from the accounts payable department tested this and then the organization went live with the new digital system and the whole organization is benefiting from the many advantages it brings. Consequently, a successful project!
However, that these same organizations then stop automating there is incomprehensible to vendors of this type of invoice processing software. After all, there are plenty of other benefits to be gained at relatively low additional effort....
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Receipt flow
Take the expense report process. Traditionally, employees must fill out a form, often still on paper, to which they staple the receipts. Their manager(s) then initial the form, bring or send the expense claim to the administration who performs the necessary checks, transcribes values into a system, codes those values, files them and finally proceeds to payment from the financial system or through the HR system. And this process often repeats itself thousands of times a year....
I then wonder why the investment already made in digital invoice processing is not reused here. Just give employees an app that allows them to submit their expense claims or mileage reimbursements digitally "as invoices. Authorization can be done in the same app in which invoices are approved. Coding is 100 percent predictable in most cases and therefore can be added automatically.
By treating a expense claim as an invoice, the invoice archive contains all claims with the consequence that all reports on the invoice processing are then suddenly also valid for all claims.
Another added benefit is that employees can track the status of their expense claim (submitted, approved, paid out) and they immediately have their own claims archive.
Claim Management 2.0
Through clever integration of Google Maps, the miles traveled have already been checked, and these types of apps take certain values from the receipt by default, making retyping a thing of the past.
I feel comfortable calling this claims management 2.0, or modern and sustainable. Something I would expect from progressive organizations that have already highly automated their processes. After all, reusing is easier than inventing, right?
More information or respond?
Jeroen
Rozeboom
Digital transformation specialist
Digital transformation specialist Jeroen is a knowledge expert when it comes to electronic document exchange. From e-invoicing, document validation and continuous transaction control, Jeroen has an answer or advice.