SAP Solution in Detail SAP eRP

SAP InvoIce MAnAgeMent APPlIcAtIon by oPen text

OPTIMIzINg AccOUNTS PAYAble

Your business operations are running smoothly, and your SAP software is supporting your business as needed. Now its time to look for efficiencies to improve business operations even further. For many organizations, the best course of action is to tackle projects that produce fast return on investment and have high visibility throughout the organization. One of the key places where you can find such opportunities is in accounts payable. Using the SAP Invoice Management application by Open Text goes a long way toward helping you to achieve this objective.

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The Opportunity to Optimize Accounts Payable SAP Invoice Management by Open Text The challenge Other Problems How SAP Invoice Management Works centralization and consolidation electronic Documents Optical character Recognition Automatic Processing Routing Resolution Architecture and Integration Features The Only Invoice Management Solution from Your eRP Vendor Support for Shared-Services centers Sarbanes-Oxley compliance Automation

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Realizing Benefits cost Savings gaining efficiency, Redeploying Staff eliminating Duplicate Payments Moving Operations Offshore Improving Use of Vendor Discounts eliminating late Payments beyond Increased efficiencies Approvers buyers coders Vendors centralized Services continuous Optimization Immediate Response leveraging of SAP Software captured expertise compliance and Accountability better Management Visibility clarified Outstanding liabilities Assessment of Invoice Problems Discount efficiency Processing efficiency Improved Reputation with Vendors Why SAP Invoice Management? Find Out More Quick Facts

the oPPortunIty to oPtIMIze AccountS PAyAble

UNlOckINg eFFIcIeNcIeS IN YOUR bUSINeSS OPeRATIONS

The dust has settled on your implementation of SAP software, and now its time to optimize business processes. but how do you pick the processes that merit your focus and attention? One way is to choose quick-hit projects that can produce a fast return on investment and have high visibility throughout the organization for example, projects involving accounts payable (AP) processes. The way a company handles vendor invoices directly impacts the efficiency of not only AP but also purchasing, receiving, and operations. Poor process design and lack of automation can increase: The cost per invoice The percentage of late payments Missed early-payment discounts Resistance from suppliers to negotiate better terms and pricing The percentage of duplicate invoices and payments Overall supplier dissatisfaction The risk of noncompliance with regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Miscommunication between the AP unit and other groups The probability of a supplier refusing to deliver goods or services because of nonpayment

As a result of inefficiency, invoice processing costs in AP are often higher than desired, especially as transaction volume grows. However, AP costs are not the only factors affecting efficiency. Procurement leverage, internal controls, reporting, audit capabilities, and productivity impact other areas as well. eliminating inefficiencies can result in significant benefits for the entire company, particularly for the AP, procurement, and receiving departments, as well as for all approvers and coders. benefits like headcount cost reductions, better on-time payment performance, improved vendor relations, better negotiating leverage, and reduced duplicate-invoice payments are possible when this process is optimized. Additional AP improvements can include lower cost per invoice, more invoices processed per person, reduced percentage of problem invoices, and more. In some instances, corporate credit ratings may be improved through on-time invoice payment. And on-time payment helps ensure that the delivery of goods and services will not be delayed.

For companies using SAP software, one way to reduce the costs of invoice-to-pay cycle time is to intelligently route invoices throughout the organization in the most efficient manner.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

SAP InvoIce MAnAgeMent by oPen text

leADINg THe WAY TOWARD bUSINeSS PROceSS OPTIMIzATION

The SAP Invoice Management application by Open Text helps you integrate AP, procurement, and receiving processes throughout all areas of the company. When invoices must travel outside of AP before posting and payment, SAP Invoice Management takes over to help streamline this process. The application routes problem invoices to the appropriate individuals for resolution and approval. It includes functionality for Web-based approval, via access through the SAP NetWeaver Portal component or other portal, for internal users who do not log in to the SAP software system regularly. by making AP information more accessible, SAP Invoice Management encourages increased user adoption of SAP software, which helps maximize ROI. SAP Invoice Management uses digital imaging, workflow, and best-practice design to increase efficiency. POs, goods receipts, invoice transaction screens, invoice images, and transaction notes all are linked in one place to promote timely problem resolution with minimal effort. SAP Invoice Management benefits not only companies that have a single AP processing center but also those with multiple AP processing centers. With the application, you can link multiple AP shops and facilitate local invoice resolution in the field while maintaining centralized control over the process. SAP Invoice Management can help you to realize the vision of regional or global shared-services centers.

SAP Invoice Management supports companies in the next wave of corporate focus business process optimization. The application reflects an extensive set of best-practice concepts in process design for optimization. Several years experience and knowledge have been coalesced into 47 intelligent rules and workflows that are configurable and come standard with this application. Organizations that implement SAP software for financial transactions can achieve significant efficiency and cost advantages with SAP Invoice Management. Major companies in industries such as consumer products, energy, pharmaceutical and life sciences, and telecommunications are enjoying the benefits of optimized, automated invoice-handling processes supported by SAP Invoice Management. These companies have improved efficiencies in invoice processing and enjoy benefits such as lower costs per invoice, improved on-time payment performance, more captured discounts, and reduced duplicate invoices and payments. Also, they have achieved compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a better reputation with suppliers, and more leverage for terms and price negotiation. For companies using SAP software, one way to reduce the costs of invoiceto-pay cycle time is to intelligently route invoices throughout the organization in the most efficient manner. In fact, by optimizing the invoice process with digital imaging, e-invoicing, workflows,

optical character recognition (OcR), and intelligent document recognition, some of our customers have reduced costs by more than 50%.

The Challenge
A typical list of problems faced by those working with invoices includes the following. From a management perspective: cost per invoice is too high. better reports are needed to improve the problem-invoice process. Discounts are regularly missed. Duplicate invoices are a problem. Individual AP production needs to improve, as invoices-per-month targets are not met. Manual processes are time consuming. A negative credit rating can result from late payment. From the buyers perspective: Resolving problem invoices is not a core part of the job. Running a report on the blocked invoice is difficult. Resolving invoice issues is not high on the priority list. Manual, labor-intensive, nonautomated processes are cumbersome. Resolving problem invoices can be time consuming. Solving invoice problems is not considered a value-adding, worthwhile activity. Negotiating with suppliers is more useful than solving invoice problems.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

From APs perspective: Manual keying of invoice data into SAP software is required. Resolving problem invoices takes too much time. Other departments often blame AP for late payments or lost invoices. Spending time on problems reduces productivity output. Root cause analyses are not performed, due to lack of time. Manual, labor-intensive, nonautomated processes are cumbersome. Passing around paper and trying to follow up is frustrating. From the suppliers perspective: Resolving disputes is time consuming. customers often cant provide accurate, timely information for the invoice resolution process. late payments affect cash flow. customers dont pay on time when theres a problem invoice. From ITs perspective, you need to consider: choosing an individual point solution or an enterprise business software solution choosing customized or standard software Having a heterogeneous or a homogeneous hardware infrastructure Finding future-proof software from a reliable supplier with reliable technology and functionality Integrating sporadic users into the system Finding a solution that does not require lengthy training

Having operational know-how Acquiring support with implementation, help desk, new features, and so on Integrating the software into the existing IT infrastructure Other Problems A variety of other problems can affect AP processes. For example, vendors and partners often are unaware of invoice status, when to expect payment, whether action is required on their part before payment can be made, and so on. To find out the status, they call AP, buyers, or the requester. In some situations, they may need to contact several persons within the organization for status, which can entail more work for them and those they contact. Manual processes are problematic. Manual routing often breaks down due to the absence of key process participants, long waits for responses from remote parties, loss of documents in transit, and delayed communication. Associated transaction documents and other elements may be stored remotely even if AP processing is centralized. These elements may be in varying forms, including e-mail, voice mail, fax, paper documents, attachments, and so on. Management often is unaware of the types of bottlenecks that exist or where they exist in the process. Managers can have difficulty tracking the causes of problem invoices and the reasons why certain vendors submit

problem invoices. Also, management might not be using cost per invoice as a key performance metric. There may be no tools in place to facilitate monitoring and drive down cost per invoice. Finally, liability reporting may be inaccurate when non-PO invoices have not been entered into the SAP eRP application. budgets may be off due to nonPO invoices sitting on the approvers desk longer than the reporting period. AP managers face mounting pressure to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and eliminate errors. However, they find roadblocks when trying to improve the manual process. SAP Invoice Management helps you streamline, automate, simplify, and optimize the invoicehandling process. AP personnel are freed from the repetitive, mundane research associated with problem invoices, so they can focus on more productive activities. Since the application lets you optimize the handling of vendor invoices, AP associates and managers can see the accurate status of transactions, liability, and cash positions. And they can manage working capital to maximize financial leverage strategically.

How SAP Invoice Management Works

SAP Invoice Management resides inside the SAP software environment. It uses industry-standard technologies to provide distributed access to information contained in SAP eRP (see Figure 1). The application supports the

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

OCR* option for SAP Invoice Management Scanning Recognize characters Analyze extract Normalize Verify Archive server Other components

Invoice cockpit Process all incoming invoices Automatically post invoices Process exceptions clear exceptions Make comments Analyze invoicing processes Resolve exceptions Automatically post invoices

SAP ERP

Payment

SAP Invoice Management functionality

*Optical character recognition

Figure 1: Comprehensive Solution for Accounts Payable Optimization

use of electronic data interchange, electronic invoices, scanned document images, and automated message communication. This enables you to notify the appropriate individuals and securely share all relevant information for a specific transaction, tracking the resolution process and escalating issues when necessary. The information is accessible and can be viewed by any stakeholders in the process who are interested in the specifics of a transaction. SAP Invoice Management uses the SAP business Workflow tool to run predefined invoice workflow processes. Using a companys own business rules, the application systematically manages the resolution process based on the specific reason identified.

Depending on the problem, SAP Invoice Management presents users with unique action buttons based on role. buyers who need to change a PO are shown a button for doing so, while receivers who need to update a goods receipt are shown a button for doing this. With the application, you can monitor deadlines to help ensure progress and notify responsible parties and management if desired. by implementing SAP Invoice Management, a company can optimize the entire invoice-handling process through automation. SAP Invoice Management keeps an electronic, historical log of everything that occurs related to each process step. The combination of original and supporting documentation, comments and notes, routing histories, and historical logs of internal and external actions increases transaction visibility for every stakeholder in the process. These logs are available during the process and

for audit purposes once the process is complete (see Figure 2). The application lets you monitor the invoice process from start to finish, beginning with the initial receipt of invoices (whether paper or electronic) and working through the process to resolution, posting, and payment. key process improvement steps include the following. centralization and consolidation Multiple AP groups can be consolidated, and all transaction processing can be centralized to a single location. A central site or shared-services center can collect and control invoices from geographically dispersed locations around the world.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

Figure 2: Processing Example Select Electronic Information and Invoice Document

electronic Documents best practices suggest getting rid of paper immediately. If possible, a company should send invoices electronically, stopping the paper flow at the source. However, there still will be paper invoices flowing into the organization. Optical character Recognition Using imaging technology, all paper documents can be digitized. Imaging and OcR add even more value by taking away manual data entry and autopopulating transaction fields for further processing. When you use the OcR option for SAP Invoice Management, even for paper invoices, you can perform straight-through processing with-

out intervention from invoice receipt to posting, assuming there are no exceptions. electronic invoices can be transformed to a standard, viewable format for user reference. AP associates can view scanned or electronic images side by side with input screens to transfer information quickly and accurately. Image documents are linked to transactions in SAP software using SAP Archivelink software. Automatic Processing Initially, invoice metadata is validated to help ensure that it is complete and applicable. After validation, the data is processed according to a series of client-specific configured business rules. After validation and execution of the

business rules, an attempt should be made to post the invoice automatically. The application includes 47 configurable rules for validation and processexception handling. The rules include requirements for processing invoices in selected countries. Metadata can be revised, if required, during validation. If the implementation of a selected business rule fails for example, if the PO shown on the invoice is not released for posting then the metadata resolution screen is created and routed for review. After initial posting, the software may block the invoice from payment due to price or quantity discrepancies. This payment block triggers SAP Invoice Management to resolve these issues.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

Routing Depending on the exception reason, the transaction information is routed automatically to an appropriate person for resolution. A work item appears in that persons in-box, telling him or her that the invoice needs to be resolved. Work items are routed based on established roles, not individuals, and SAP Invoice Management intelligently determines which person within a particular role is responsible for resolving the problem. Roles are maintained using security-profile and authorization functions in SAP software, helping ensure that information is visible only to appropriate personnel. Routing options include buyers, receivers, coders, AP exception handlers, and others. In the case of approvals, the application automatically validates approval limits and continues sending the work item up the hierarchical chain to reach the person with the appropriate spending-level authorization. The routing process also is logged and monitored, and you can associate schedules with each activity and generate reminders if actions are not taken within a specified time frame. Resolution When resolution is accomplished by the proper person, the invoice is posted. If it had been posted and blocked, appropriate action can be taken to change the transactional data, such as the PO or goods receipt. You can cancel the invoice, short pay the invoice, or pay the invoice as is. comments are noted and a comprehensive record of activities is attached, including pertinent information such as who worked on it, when that work took place, and

all of the supporting details. All individuals working on the transaction have a dashboard of information available with the header line item and full detail accessible with one click. Architecture and Integration SAP Invoice Management resides entirely inside the SAP software environment and works with SAP business Workflow. The application was developed in the AbAP programming language with native SAP technology, including a development workbench, dialog programs, function groups, business objects, workflow definitions, roles, customizing tables, reports, and so on. None of the software in SAP Invoice Management modifies core code in SAP software, and all code associated with the application exists in a separate name space or as a z prefix. because SAP Invoice Management is built within the SAP environment, upgrading SAP software does not break the application or alter its functionality. The application does not cause any performance drain in the SAP environment, and it does not require any new hardware or porting. Features The SAP Invoice Management application includes many features that are derived from years of experience in optimizing AP processes for the worlds leading companies. These include the following. OCR Option The available OcR option for SAP Invoice Management virtually eliminates manual data entry. Only when

For many companies, dealing with problem invoices is still largely a labor-intensive, manual process. While many purchases and payments are recorded in SAP software, the coordination, verification, research, matching, coding, approval, and linking of all commonly associated transaction elements is handled manually, outside the software. These tasks misuse employee time that could be applied more effectively to knowledge-based work.

you deploy this option is full straightthrough processing enabled for paper invoices (see Figure 3). The OcR option captures the following basic data from invoices by default: Vendor name and ID company code Invoice date Invoice number PO number Net amount, gross amount, currency, tax rates, and tax amounts Invoice line items

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

All of this basic data is validated against plausibility rules and SAP software master data. For specific countries, additional data is captured. For example, tax identification numbers for the european Union or an eSR number for Switzerland is captured. (eSR stands for einzahlungsschein mit referenznummer, which means a pay slip with a reference number.) The ability to support the needs of a corporation that operates internationally is a key advantage of invoice recognition in SAP software. You can extract and use additional data to enhance invoice workflows or adhere to extended compliance requirements without adding a burden to data entry personnel. For example, you can extract a requesters e-mail address from an invoice for the purpose of forwarding the invoice during the approval workflow. capturing freight or handling charges would allow for more in-depth business rules to be defined. The OcR software uses a built-in knowledge base that understands how invoices are structured and where to find relevant information on them. The knowledge base was created using samples of thousands of invoices from all over the world. With the proven technology of the OcR option and its knowledge base, you can extract most invoice data automatically. You can further extend the knowledge base using a learning component. The patented adaptive read technology allows for the software to be trained on specific invoice types by clicking on the data that needs to be captured. Once trained, the software will find the corresponding data on similar invoices in the future.

Automated reconciliation and posting

Recognize characters
Clerk: 12
DATe ShippeD OrDer DATe

Analyze
Clerk: 12
DATe ShippeD OrDer DATe

extract
Clerk: 12
DATe ShippeD OrDer DATe

Normalize
10/24/10

Verify
24.10.2010

10/30/10
COver CODe

10/24/10
pA

10/30/10
COver CODe

10/24/10
pA

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pA

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Clerk: 12 DATe ShippeD OrDer DATe 10/30/10 10/24/10 COver CODe pA Date Word Number OrDer DATe = 10/24/10

Format (US) Day = 24 Month = Oct Year = 2010

Valid period? yes no

Export Manual keying

24.10.2010

Turn pixels into characters with optical character recognition

Find meaningful entities, and tag them

Find the correct date among all detected alternatives

Decompose string into subunits, and reformat as required

check against business and plausibility rules

Figure 3: How Data Is Extracted from Invoices with Intelligent Document Recognition

If any data is missed by the automatic extraction, you can key it in using the accompanying validation client. The validation client is a dedicated application that is designed for fast and ergonomic manual data entry. Users can type or use the patented single-click entry technology that lets a user enter data by clicking on the image. Predefined Workflows Predefined workflows accommodate a comprehensive set of invoice situations and let you automatically route information to the appropriate parties for resolution (see Figure 4). Non-PO Approval Screens Non-PO approval screens accommodate users who are typically outside of the SAP environment. coding and approval functions are accessible through either

Accounts payable exception handler

buyer

Receiver Accounts payable processor

Figure 4: Preconfigured Process Workflows for Routing and Approvals

the SAP software user interface or through the Web, with or without the SAP NetWeaver Portal component.

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SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

Image captured

Invoice data captured automatically

Document created in SAP solution

Document posted in SAP solution

Scan paper invoices Import electronic images

capture invoice data (OcR option)

Validate invoice data

Duplicate check

Apply business rules

Post for payment

Archive image (archive server) SAP Archiving application by Open Text

Figure 5: End-to-End Process Analytics

exception handling

exception handling

exception handling

exception handling

Application functions

Duplicate-Invoice Checking The software automatically lets you analyze and detect the presence of duplicate invoices and eliminate duplicate payments. Discount Calculation The software allows you to automate the monitoring and capture of possible discounts, helping management optimize capital. Not only are current discounts captured, but also the solution enables procurement to negotiate early-payment discounts. End-to-End Process Analytics The invoice process can be monitored from start to finish so that nothing falls through the cracks. SAP Invoice Management enables you to monitor bottlenecks, cycle time, first-pass yield, and liability accuracy (see Figure 5).

Centralized Visibility All information relevant to a transaction is visible on one screen. Scanned images, links to transactions (POs, goods receipts, invoices, and so on), comments, history, and other communications are consolidated in one location with links to more details. The Only Invoice Management Solution from Your eRP Vendor Integration of non-SAP invoice management solutions leaves you with some unpredictability. You may find the need to prove to two vendors which application causes an issue. The invoice management vendor may not support integration with a newer SAP software release or enhancement package for SAP eRP when SAP releases it. Integration may get weaker in the longer term as SAP continuously improves its eRP software. You can opt for peace of mind obtaining SAP Invoice Management from the same vendor as your application.

Support for Shared-Services centers challenges in shared services include transaction volume and distribution or invoice origination, reconciliation, and approval. Shared services benefit from implementing SAP Invoice Management. You can post large volumes of invoices without human intervention using OcR. exception-handling intelligence, paperless documents, and distributed access all enhance a shared-services center by creating a virtual, centralized monitoring and tracking solution that is accessible by any authorized party from any location.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

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For shared-services centers that post invoices to multiple back-end production instances, the solution provides a single consolidated view for your AP department to process invoices. From process control through reporting, your personnel can now work from a centralized instance. Self-service is one of the best practices to improve communication between shared-services centers and vendors. SAP Invoice Management integrates smoothly with the SAP biller Direct application on the buyer side, allowing vendors to track invoice status, credit, and payment in real time. Vendors can download scanned invoices stored in the buyers archiving system and

interact with shared-services centers to resolve inquiries. (See Figure 6.) Sarbanes-Oxley compliance Today, both public and private companies are under more pressure by shareholders, legal authorities, and credit institutions to provide accurate financial information. SAP Invoice Management helps make Sarbanes-Oxley compliance much easier. The regulation requires certification of financial reports by corporate officers, internal audit functions, and additional disclosure. At any time, financial officers can determine status, liabilities, trends, and other statistics that aid in verifying and certifying financial reports. In addi-

tion, all AP information is available for internal or external auditing with a level of detail that leaves nothing undisclosed. Using SAP Invoice Management, you need no manual handoffs of information or tasks. With defined workflows based on an organizations standard operating procedure, the application helps you enforce business rules and ensure that procedures are executed as designed. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that companies have their financial processes under control. SAP Invoice Management enables both process control and process visibility. Automation What is the key to efficient AP processing? Its experience having seasoned personnel who know how to handle every type of problem quickly. but what if those valuable experts suddenly are not available? Illness, accidents, job changes, promotions all of these can put AP organizational effectiveness in jeopardy in a matter of hours. With SAP Invoice Management, you can mitigate the risk of lost expertise significantly by capturing process logic and intelligence in automated processes. The application lets you automate responses to problem situations, initiate actions based on existing conditions, route workflow with deadlines and follow-up, and automate the process of AP problem resolution. In simple terms, the expertise of your most valuable AP processing person is transferred to the AP solution where it remains available for use even if skilled AP processing personnel are not available.

Figure 6: SAP Biller Direct Showing List of Open Bills

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SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

reAlIzIng benefItS

INcReASeD SAVINgS, eFFIcIeNcIeS, AND cOMPlIANce

SAP Invoice Management can help companies realize benefits in several main areas.

actual cost of duplicate payments as well as costs associated with employee time and administration. Moving Operations Offshore SAP Invoice Management lets organizations locate AP departments anywhere in the world. All information is centralized but accessible from any location via the Internet. You can cut costs by relocating to regions with educated workforces but lower costs of living. Improving Use of Vendor Discounts With more predictable cycle times for payments to vendors, the use of vendor cash discounts can be balanced against the impact of early payment on cash position. eliminating late Payments better management of the vendor invoice process lets organizations take advantage of more early-payment cash discounts. An automated solution means that you can take all legitimate discounts and avoid late payments.

Cost Savings
Resolving problem invoices can be time consuming, with effort typically expended in making phone calls, sending e-mails, researching, waiting for responses, and following up while the problem is being investigated. Often, there is no electronic tracking solution showing where a problem invoice resides and why it has not yet been resolved. Vendors may call regularly, wondering about payment, while AP lacks an efficient way to track and respond to these inquiries quickly. According to customer data, SAP Invoice Management reduces the effort to resolve problem invoices from an average of 20 minutes to 5 to 8 minutes. In addition, the number of vendor inquiries decreases due to more ontime payments. And because the status is tracked electronically, it can be recalled almost instantly while the vendor is still on the phone. As a result, the average time our customers spend dealing with vendor inquiries on problem invoices typically drops from 10 to 15 minutes per status call to 5 to 7 minutes per status call. gaining efficiency, Redeploying Staff Many of our customers have seen significant efficiency gains, which have led to staff redeployments. eliminating Duplicate Payments by automatically checking for duplicate invoices, you can eliminate the cost of duplicate payments. This includes the

Approvers Approvers are freed up considerably from making copies, researching receipt of goods or services, filing invoices, and forwarding documents for next-level approvals. Our customers report that time spent on non-PO and service-invoice approvals is typically cut from an average of 10 minutes to an average of 3 to 4 minutes per invoice. buyers less time shepherding transactions leads to more time available for managing vendor relationships and proactive partnering. This can result in higherquality relationships and more leverage in price negotiations. coders The mundane task of coding transactions for cost-center allocation and vendor specification is automated through electronic invoice presentment and OcR, or made more efficient with input screens linked to scanned documents. With SAP Invoice Management, costcenter coding on non-PO invoices is validated within the SAP software environment in real time to help ensure proper account assignment. Search help is provided to help ensure that the correct coding is entered the first time. Vendors Through the use of analytics in the application, supplier inquiries can be researched from a single source to provide a rapid, accurate response.

Beyond Increased Efficiencies

cost savings are definitely related to increased efficiencies, but there are also unquantifiable results that come from an optimized invoice process. Most notably, an improved reputation for on-time payment can have a significant impact on vendor relations, making the job of the procurement department much easier. This way, suppliers dont threaten to put a hold on shipments or provide negative information to credit bureaus. The following are areas where organizations using SAP Invoice Management have experienced additional benefits.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

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centralized Services For organizations that do not have centralized or shared services, SAP Invoice Management provides the means to put these operations in place without extensive overhaul or retrofitting. With the virtual consolidation of documents, you can control all transactions centrally, even when elements of the transaction occur in different geographic locations. continuous Optimization A constant window makes the process visible to all authorized parties and helps you drive inefficiencies out of your processes over time. SAP Invoice Management lets you see bottlenecks in routing and highlights areas where internal associates, vendors, or processes need revision, so that processes can be improved continuously. Immediate Response Your ability to see all related information quickly and to reply to a problem online allows for immediate response and quick resolution. leveraging of SAP Software Your organizations investment in SAP offerings, including SAP eRP, is maintained and leveraged for new uses. There is no need for training on a new system or additional applications. SAP Invoice Management helps you leverage your SAP applications and extend their use to a much wider audience.

captured expertise knowledge in AP is gained through experience in solving invoice problems. This knowledge resides with key individuals who know how to handle these issues. SAP Invoice Management allows organizations to capture this expertise and retain it for ongoing process optimization. This way, you can solve problems consistently and standardize processes.

Discount efficiency The application lets you determine what percentage of available discounts is taken currently and how that percentage is improving over time. Processing efficiency With the application, you know how many invoices are processed per month per AP associate. You can calculate the actual cost per invoice at your organization and compare it to benchmark data. Functionality to manage aging reports automatically groups invoices according to the number of days the invoices have been in process. Improved Reputation with Vendors SAP Invoice Management lets you build a better reputation with your vendors a significant benefit. With timely payments and increased visibility into the payment process, vendors are more likely to continue business relationships and to work to enhance them. In markets with tight supplies and changing prices, being known as a consistent and reputable buyer can help establish your company as a preferred long-term business partner. This will enable you to negotiate better cash discounts on future purchases.

Compliance and Accountability

With the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, there is increasing pressure for both public and private companies to tighten internal controls and ensure accurate reporting of outstanding liabilities. Here are a few of the elements that SAP Invoice Management helps you control and manage. better Management Visibility Using standard reporting provided with the solution, senior management can see the status of all transactions in AP. Advanced reporting functionality provides critical key performance indicators. clarified Outstanding liabilities With SAP Invoice Management, you know at any given time what the organizations liabilities are, even with non-PO invoices. Assessment of Invoice Problems You can see precisely what percentage of invoices have problems. SAP Invoice Management shows you how long it takes to resolve problem invoices, with metrics at every step in the resolution process. The advanced reporting functionality aggregates exceptions for review.

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SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

Why SAP InvoIce MAnAgeMent?

OPTIMIzATION AND VAlUe

SAP Invoice Management is more than just technology. While it is based on state-of-the-art development techniques to optimize your SAP software, it offers another critical benefit a depth of best-practice knowledge and concepts compiled over the past decade and codified as business content. This content has been obtained by creating and refining invoice-process solutions for the worlds leading companies. This stockpile of predefined scenarios, workflows, tips, and best practices from forward-thinking FORTUNe 500 companies enables you to take advantage of years of top-notch experience.

One could say that automating a bad process merely results in a faster bad process. The key to success is not automation alone but optimization first, followed by automation of an optimal design. SAP Invoice Management was designed with this principle in mind. With an optimal design, technical consultants can deploy SAP Invoice Management rapidly with preconfigured workflow solutions. Our customers have reported that implementation from design to going live is completed in two to three months, and ROI is usually fully realized in less than one year.

Find Out More

To learn more about SAP Invoice Management, call your SAP representative or visit us on the Web at www.sap.com/solutions /solutionextensions/index.epx.

cost savings are definitely related to increased efficiencies, but there are also unquantifiable results that come from an optimized invoice process. Most notably, the improved reputation of paying on time has a significant impact on vendor relations, making the job of the procurement department much easier.

The key to success is not automation alone but optimization first, followed by automation of an optimal design. SAP Invoice Management was designed with this principle in mind.

SAP Solution in Detail SAP Invoice Management Application by Open Text

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QuIck fActS

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Summary The SAP Invoice Management application by Open Text helps you streamline accounts payable (AP) processes through automation, workflows, and support for best practices. The application helps you eliminate manual AP processes to free up staff for more productive activities. Business Challenges lower the cost of processing per invoice Automate data entry using optical character recognition Reduce errors resulting from duplicates and other problem invoices Reduce manual processing to optimize staff activity Improve vendor relations and payment terms Key Features Comprehensive invoice processing Process invoices with the integrated OcR option controlled directly from within the SAP software Centralized architecture Manage invoice processing from a centralized solution with single or multiple back-end SAP software instances Automated processing Manage accounts payable processes automatically using 47 configurable business rules, from invoice validation through posting Country-specific processing Help ensure all legally required metadata and process steps are handled on the basis of country-specific business rules End-to-end process analytics Monitor the invoice process from start to finish with a clear view of bottlenecks, cycle time, first-pass yield, liability, and productivity Business Benefits Cost savings through reduced headcount, elimination of duplicate and late payments, and offshoring of operations Improved vendor relations through on-time payments and the ability to provide accurate, current information Enhanced compliance and accountability with key regulations, such as the SarbanesOxley Act, due to tighter internal controls and accurate reporting Continued knowledge gathering through software that captures experts experience and makes it available even when the experts are offline For More Information call your SAP representative, or visit us online at www.sap.com/solutions/solutionextensions/index.epx.

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