Our insights and experiences on invoice automation
It's important to periodically evaluate whether your current invoice processing solution is meeting your needs and if it's time to upgrade or replace it.
Is it ever too early to look for another solution?
Looking into alternative options & upgrading early on can ensure your processes stay efficient
The master data is used to drive the procure-to-pay process and is key to the success of invoice automation. Without it, it is difficult for any level of supply chain automation to be implemented.
The use of master data helps to ensure that the procure-to-pay process is accurate and up to date. This includes verifying the accuracy of the data extracted from the invoice and ensuring that the process is compliant and without delays.
Master data helps to streamline the invoicing process by eliminating manual data entry and ensuring that the correct payment process is followed.
Are you considering invoice automation but don’t want to limit your options for going from E-Business Suite to Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP down the road? Conversely, if the decision has already been made to make that shift to the cloud, what are the next steps when it comes to invoicing automation? Does your current solution integrate with Fusion Cloud? If so, is that integration certified?
Do you want to take this opportunity to upgrade or replace your existing invoice automation solution? What have you considered in terms of process change?
When it comes to Tax engines, organisations commonly use alternative solutions or when it comes to reporting there are again 3rd party solutions that might have functionality that meet your requirements better.
Why is invoice processing any different, the simple answer it isn’t.
We have implemented many invoice automation solutions for customers, but one question that always comes up is “how do we handle tax and what is the best approach?”. Whilst it used to be a requirement that invoice automation should handle tax, the current approach should be to answer “No, what tax engine are you or have you implemented?”. Taxation is a key part of invoice processing, however, the ability to identify and process the correct amount of tax needs to be considered as part of your Source to Settle process, not just invoice automation.
Having a competitive edge is crucial right now. Many businesses are looking at procurement to gain efficiencies. If a Business has inefficient Procurement and Accounts Payable processes, software systems like ‘ Procure to Pay ’ (P2P) and ‘Source to Settle’ (S2S) can bring about notable gains. They can boost efficiency, provide cost savings and tighten compliance across the whole business.
“No PO No Pay” is a simple concept: If an invoice is received from a supplier with No PO associated with it, the invoice will not get paid. The overriding objective is to improve efficiencies in your business’ procurement processes – making it easier to track expenditure through the purchase order history and it promotes best practices in channelling company expenditure through a formalised procurement process.
Change is hard. When implementing new technology, whether it’s Oracle ERP Cloud, EBusiness Suite or something else, you have to remember that, even if it is going to enhance the way people do their job, careful consideration needs to be given to how that change is going to be implemented.
People don’t like change. Changing long-established ways of working is hard, learning new software is hard. After seeing first-hand what it takes to successfully implement new accounts payable software, here are our top tips to getting your users on board with the new processes.