See what our team
can do for you!


Head Office:
Litco Systems Inc.

3780 14th Avenue, Suite 208

Markham, ON, L3R 9Y5

Canada.

Tel: (905) 470.6366

Fax: (905) 470.6394

eMail: info@litcosys.ca


 

 





 

Transform AP for Oracle E-Business Suite

 

A

Integrated Invoice Management Functionality Accelerates Payables Processing

A

Oracle for EBS short video

For too many organizations, Accounts Payable remains challenged by inefficient processes and a blizzard of paper-based invoices that limit the speed, accuracy and compliance controls critical to successful management of outgoing payables. Recent IOMA research* suggests that the average cost to process a single vendor payment, including invoice receipt and approval, now exceeds $12 and can take more than six days of equivalent staff time.

Given that most corporate AP functions have at their core the need to maintain and regularly interface with an ERP or other host accounting system for general ledger and budget management, the ideal solution would not simply deliver best-in-class invoice automation, but would also reflect the tightest possible systems integration without expensive customization and training, or the need to buy additional ERP user licenses.

A

 

Invoice Management that Supports Existing E-Business Suite Investments

 

Transform AP, Bottomline’s invoice processing solution for Oracle E-Business Suite, delivers against all of these requirements and more. With functionality for capturing incoming supplier invoice data, Transform AP links directly to E-Business Suite, enabling automated 2- and 3-way matching for PO-based invoices, as well as exception processing where a match cannot be found. In addition, non-PO based invoices are automatically routed to the appropriate personnel for G/L coding and approval. Throughout these processes, Transform AP allows for complete online review of all invoices as well as the ability to generate reports reflecting invoice status and productivity.

A

 

PO-based invoices can be processed by AP staff directly within Transform AP. Header level review of the data captured is verified and updated as necessary utilizing the split screen interface of the invoice image and standard E-Business Suite fields.

 

Transform AP has been uniquely designed for use with E-Business Suite, providing seamless integration and visibility for everyday accounts payable users, while providing the same view of relevant invoice data to non-finance approvers via a standard Web browser. This processing flexibility supports a company’s existing infrastructure investments and helps to maintain a lower cost of ownership by eliminating the need to purchase incremental ERP licenses for each coder and/or approver.


Organizations can also realize improved invoice visibility and accelerated processing cycles, as well as greater enforcement of financial and legal compliance regulations with a fully auditable record of each invoice, including the ability to view related documents both inside and outside Oracle.

 

Transform AP in Action


Transform AP streamlines the entire supplier invoice process,startingwith the electronic capture of incoming invoices. This can include document imaging via Bottomline’s integrated Transform™Scan Center solution, or alternative sources such as fax, email, installedA scanners or other multi-function devices.Key header datafrom the invoice (such as invoice number, date, amount, PO number and associated vendor number) is captured using optical characterrecognition technology. Following the capture of invoice documents and any associated meta data, the information is uploaded to the Transform AP Invoice Connector for Oracle E-Business Suite.


Based on business rules and customer configurations, PO-based invoices can be automatically matched against existing purchase orders (2-way) or goods received notices (3-way), resulting in invoice creation without manual intervention.

Invoices which fail to match are flagged with the appropriate status and placed in the Transform AP work queue. AP users can then open individual invoice transactions via a convenient “split screen” view containing the invoice image and header information for further exception processing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paper Remains an Integral Part of Business Processes

Organizations of all sizes have adopted Oracle EBS for managing mission-critical business data throughout their operations. But while Oracle excels at standardizing and improving visibility, efficiency, and control over data-driven business processes, it was not designed to handle the high volume of transactional documents that accompany these processes. Although XML and electronic data transfer play an essential role in Oracle EBS processes, paper documents are often an exception. Typically, such exceptions comprise 20% of processing volume, but require 80% of the processing effort.
As a result, organizations are faced with costly, time-consuming, and error-prone manual processes for data entry, storage, retrieval, routing, and distribution of paper documents. These manual tasks create bottlenecks in business processes, constrain business performance, and hinder regulatory compliance.

Given that documents will continue to remain part of business processes, enterprises using Oracle EBS to automate their business processes need to marry documents to their Oracle EBS applications and automated processes to eliminate operational inefficiencies and communication barriers.
One solution is to invest in additional technology to bolt onto Oracle EBS to incorporate inbound, outbound, and documents storage processes, an approach that requires new user training, a major business commitment, and the risk of inter-application integration. A second solution is to force suppliers to use pre-defined standards. This approach may work for large global corporations, but is unrealistic for most businesses. The third option is to put a Document Process Automation layer around the Oracle EBS solution to manage document flow. This option enables smooth paper or electronic communications while the Oracle EBS applications run the core business.

 

Requirements for Integrating Paper Documents with Oracle E-Business Suite Processes


Inbound document capture is necessary to allow enterprises to scan documents one at a time or using high-volume scanners, lift the data contained in those documents, and automatically enter it into Oracle EBS transactions. For example, it allows an enterprise to scan a vendor invoice, and then automatically enter the date, amount, and vendor, and so on into an Oracle EBS transaction. The goal is to remove manual data entry, potential human error, and location dependency – leading to faster supplier invoice processing and faster customer cash collection.

Document storage and retrieval is needed to provide Oracle EBS users with instant, anytime, anywhere self-service access to documents. These capabilities need to automatically store exact copies of document images and link them to the corresponding Oracle EBS transactions to enable users to access all documents from within Oracle EBS screens or over the Web. They also need to cross-index related documents so users can instantly access all related documents. The goal is to remove filing cabinets, “sneakernet,” and lost-in-the-mail documents through instant, self-service access to real-time information.


Outbound document generation and distribution is required to enable enterprises generating outbound documents from Oracle EBS to customize the look-and-feel of documents with graphics, charts, even bar coding to support branding efforts, then deliver them to end users in the most convenient format, such as fax, email, print, or XML, and automatically store copies of outbound documents for later reference. The goal is to eliminate paper and pre-printed forms to reduce costs as well as to reduce the time necessary to customize Oracle EBS output, provide the quality of documents that customers expect, and improve customer service.

 

Prepackaged processes based on best practices can enable organizations to automate and optimize all aspects of document processes to help achieve the greatest efficiencies. Vendors should offer consulting expertise, a fixed methodology, pre-packaged processes such as procurement, supplier invoice processing, customer billing and dispute resolution, customer self-service, and so on. The goal is predictable implementation with proven results, as well as an ROI consistently in less than six months.

 

 

 

 

 

Back to top