Smart Invoice Processing for Large Midwestern State University
Taskmaster For Invoices Speeds AP Processing
A Midwestern university with a growing enrollment exceeding 50,000 annually has faced increasing challenges managing multiple accounts payable offices across its main and branch campuses. With a rapidly growing number of invoices to support the institution’s campus and community-based programs, A/P processing had become very complicated. They selected Datacap Taskmaster for Invoices, integrated with Oracle Financials and a DocFinity ECM system and dramatically reduced cost and streamlined operations.
The Challenge
Invoice processing for this Big Ten university’s diverse business units and campuses required extensive and costly data entry, including invoice amounts, purchase order numbers, payable numbers, due dates, and more. Different departments handled invoices from nine separate locations for the main campus, medical center, research, agricultural administration, and for the university’s branch campuses. Duplicate data entry and keying errors were inevitable. Too much time was being wasted in document handling, data verification, and error correction.
During peak processing times, significant overtime increased the overhead costs, and errors were made as employees worked under pressure to process large volumes of invoices quickly. The senior manager of document management services knew a solution was available if the university could find a cost-effective optical character recognition (OCR) provider. In addition to affordability, the provided solution would need to integrate seamlessly with Oracle® Financials, PeopleSoft, and the university’s document management software, DocFinity.
The Solution
After finding multiple OCR packages that were priced by the number of scanned images, and struggling to justify the cost since the university’s invoice volume approached 250,000 annually, the senior manager finally found an OCR provider that met his criteria. He selected Datacap, which offered a quality OCR solution, more than two decades of experience, and a pricing structure that fit the university’s needs. Having a track record of successful integrations with Optical Image Technology’s DocFinity software, as well as with Oracle Financials and PeopleSoft, only helped make the decision easier.
The stage had been set for an integrated solution several years before, when the university linked its financial accounting and reporting software system, Oracle Financials, with Optical Image Technology’s DocFinity suite. The university was already using DocFinity for document storage and processing in multiple areas within the university. The integration of DocFinity and Oracle Financials enabled all departments to access stored invoices online and to view them using the IntraVIEWER tools within the core DocFinity product. This was just the first step, however, since the manual data entry of incoming invoices, verification of compliance, and invoice processing work remained.
The university’s next goal was to eliminate redundancy and errors in the capture process. Management decided to scan all invoices into the university’s PeopleSoft system for efficient reporting and quicker processing. Datacap’s OCR was added to read and feed purchase order and accounts payable numbers, payments due, and other relevant data to the Oracle Financials system.
The payables departments at the university process a variety of document types, and incoming vouchers have to be sorted by document type before they can be processed. Bar codes were placed on vouchers as they were received to indicate the appropriate document type. Bar coded documents were run through a scanner and read using OCR, automatically indexing them for processing. Automated indexing eliminated manual data entry, duplication, and errors. In addition, accounts payable compliance forms (W-9s) were scanned and indexed, making it easier to demonstrate compliance without the frustration of manual search through files.
The Result
Accuracy, efficiency, good communication and prompt service are vital to the success of any business. As a high-profile educational institution dedicated to serving its students and the broader community, efficient payment processing and compliance measures help to ensure good use of money from both the public and private sector. Payments are made promptly, duplicate and late payments are avoided, accuracy increases, overhead decreases, and proof of compliance builds confidence in the institution.