Every supplier invoice was typed into SAP by hand. Now they go in automatically with 100% accuracy.
A grounds and landscape services group, formed from five merged businesses, typed every supplier invoice into SAP by hand: about 100,000 a year. Within four weeks, 62% of them are read, coded and posted into SAP automatically, with 100% accuracy so far. That is worth about $1m a year, with line of sight to $1.5m as more invoices go straight through.
- Client
- Grounds and landscape services group
- Size
- A$300m+ revenue, 1,000+ staff
- Systems
- SAP S/4HANA, Outlook
- Timeline
- Live within 4 weeks
Result
- 62% of 100,000 invoices a year processed into SAP automatically
- 100% accuracy on the invoices processed so far
- ~$1m a year in savings, with line of sight to $1.5m
The trail
-
Source
Supplier invoices arriving in the accounts inbox, in five formats
-
Definition
Matched to the job and the contracted rate
-
Ledger/P&L
Coded to the right GL account and posted into SAP
-
Owner/Action
Exceptions routed to the approver with the reason attached
What was wrong
Every supplier invoice was typed into SAP by hand. Five merged businesses sent invoices in their own formats, with their own coding habits and approval routes, so each one needed a person to read it, find the job and key it in. At 100,000 invoices a year, that was a team's worth of work with no group-level view of cost.
What we built
Invoices are read as they arrive in the accounts inbox, matched to the job and contracted rate, coded to the GL and posted into SAP. Anything that does not match goes to the approver with the reason attached, so the team only handles the invoices that need judgement.
62% of invoices go straight through today. The goal is 95%.