Boosting operational efficiency with RPA in AP

Client background

Established in California and with over 2,000 dedicated employees, this consulting engineering company has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation and operational efficiency.

Like many organizations of its scale, the client faced challenges that came with growth and the increasing complexity of operations. One such challenge was in their AP department.

With a monthly influx of over 1,000 invoices, the AP process had become a significant bottleneck. The manual handling of these invoices, especially given that 40% of them were based on unique vendor templates, was a time-consuming endeavor. This manual process not only slowed down the overall processing speed but also introduced data errors, leading to additional rework and inefficiencies. The need for a transformative solution was evident and the client recognized that automation could be the key to unlocking efficiency and accuracy in their AP process.

The business challenge

The AP process at the client was multifaceted. The sheer volume of invoices, combined with the diversity in vendor templates, made manual processing a daunting task. Each invoice required meticulous attention to detail and the manual entry meant that human errors were inevitable. These errors, while seemingly minor at first glance, compounded over time, leading to significant rework and potential financial discrepancies.

Furthermore, the manual process was not scalable. As the client continued to grow, the number of invoices and the complexity of the AP process would only increase. The company was at a crossroads: continue with the manual process and face escalating challenges or seek a transformative solution that could streamline the AP process.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly proposed a comprehensive solution leveraging the power of robotic process automation (RPA). The solution was designed to:

• Automatically triage incoming emails containing invoices from Outlook.
• Utilize a machine learning/document understanding engine to scrape and interpret invoice data, regardless of the vendor template.
• Integrate with the Deltek Vision product to process payments seamlessly.

This automation solution was not just a temporary fix; it was future-proof. Plans were already in place to transition the automation to Vantagepoint in 2021, ensuring that the solution would remain relevant and effective as the client's systems evolved.

While RPA provided the foundation for automation, the true game-changer was the integration of machine learning. Given the diversity of vendor templates, a traditional rule-based approach to data extraction would have been limited. Machine learning, with its ability to learn and adapt, provided the flexibility needed to handle diverse invoices.

The machine learning/document understanding engine could interpret and process data from various vendor templates, ensuring accuracy in data extraction. This capability was pivotal in addressing the challenges posed by the 40% of unique vendor invoices.

Furthermore, the client is exploring the potential of machine learning to automate the general ledger (GL) coding process for each invoice. This task, currently done manually, represents another layer of complexity in the AP process. Automating this with machine learning promises to bring even greater efficiency gains in the near future.

The collaboration between Deltek, Baker Tilly and the client marked the beginning of a new era of efficiency in AP processing. The decision to choose Baker Tilly and UiPath over other solutions was validated by the tangible benefits realized.

With the new automation solution in place, the client saw a dramatic reduction in processing time, with an anticipated time-saving of over 35 hours per month for this single process. But the benefits were not just quantitative. The quality of the AP process improved, with fewer errors and a significant reduction in rework. The staff, freed from the repetitive task of manual invoice processing, could focus on more strategic and value-added activities.

The success of this project has set the stage for further automation initiatives. As one representative from the client aptly put it, "This is a start. The [Baker Tilly] team is doing wonderful work with us. Looking forward to many more bots to come."

The journey of the client, from grappling with a cumbersome AP process to embracing a state-of-the-art automation solution, serves as a testament to the transformative power of RPA and machine learning. This case study underscores the potential of technology to drive operational excellence, even in complex and traditionally manual processes.