Taking Accounts Payable to the Future: 5 Pillars of Automation

Transcription

1 Taking Accounts Payable to the Future: 5 Pillars of Automation Patrick Gahagan & Katie Welch July 19, 2018

2 Agenda Introductions Elire & ITC Before: Manual Entry & Duplicated Effort Mapping the Future Guiding Principles Solutions (5 Pillars) 1. Purchase Orders 2. Automated Workflow Approvals 3. Integrated Optical Character Recognition Software 4. Payment Request 5. Procurement Cards The Future Realized

3 Introductions

4 Presenters Patrick Gahagan Elire Managing Consultant Business Process Automation PeopleSoft Financials Katie Welch ITC Senior Accountant Lead Accounts Payable SME Lead for Continuous Delivery & Testing of all new AP Functionality

5 About ITC ITC Holdings Corp. is the nation's largest independent electricity transmission company Based in Novi, MI., ITC invests in the electric transmission grid to improve system reliability, expand access to markets, lower the overall cost of delivered energy and allow new generating resources to interconnect to its transmission systems ITC s regulated operating subsidiaries include ITC Transmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, ITC Midwest, and ITC Great Plains

6 About Elire Established in 2005, celebrating 13+ years of being a trusted advisor We help our clients succeed by partnering with them to efficiently implement, integrate, and upgrade their software investments We provide strategic guidance to assist with best practice core business process improvement and we specialize in helping unlock the potential of software investments A deep commitment to excellence and quality is one our Core Values Strategic ERP & HCM Services PeopleSoft ERP & HCM Implementations & Upgrades PeopleSoft 9.2 Continuous Delivery (CDM) Services PeopleSoft Testing Framework (PTF) Services Strategic Advisory Services IT Roadmaps Decision Point Analysis/Evaluation Business Process Improvement End User Adoption & Change Management 200+ Clients 40+ Fortune 500 Clients 15+ Financial Services Clients

7 Before Manual Entry & Duplicated Effort

8 Vouchering Manual Imaging of every invoice into Imaging Platform Manual Vouchering of every invoice into PeopleSoft Manual step to link the two systems Manual Workflow Decision Many invoices approved via paper signatures Approvals in Imaging System Two systems often out-of-sync No access to historical invoice or purchase order data

9 Check Request Business users completed a paper form Obtained paper signatures for approval Accounts Payable rekeyed as a manual voucher Vouchers intermingled with all others, no way to report/separate them No visibility to status of entry, approval or payment Can you tell, who s signature that is?

10 Credit (Procurement)Cards Cardholders were required to: Scan in paper receipts, complete a receipt packet, have managers physically sign off and re-upload to a share drive Complete manual transaction logging spreadsheets to code the transactions Accounts Payable were then required to: Manually reconcile receipts to the statement and individual logs Combine all the logging spreadsheets and then split them back up to create many different upload sheets, one for each BU No visibility to card usage throughout the month Also created challenges for Accruals Expected to turnaround receipts/logs within just a couple business days, to meet month-end close requirements

11 Purchase Orders Only used by 2 of the key departments (of 17) Even with the largest 2 using them, only 60% of invoices were PO invoices Users outside key departments relied heavily on AP to define proper account coding Limited visibility to manage their spend, budgets and vendors Invoices required much higher level of approval, because up-front approval was not achieved through POs

12 Mapping the Future Elire s Strategic Roadmap

13 Strategic Roadmap In the fall of 2016, ITC enlisted Elire to conduct an assessment of multiple software solutions, to identify which was the best fit for ITC. The assessment took into account 6 Key Criteria: 1. Fit/Gap of ITC Specific Future State Requirements 2. Risk of Implementation 3. Solution Cost 4. Interface Complexity/Needs 5. Impact to the Organization 6. Impact to Current Financial Systems

14 Project Goals & Guiding Principles Implement the Canon Accounts Payable Automation Solution to intake, scan and extract invoice data Identify opportunities for process improvement that supports the technology solution and improves user experience Develop Approval Workflows that leverage best practices, fit business needs and meet ITC compliance requirements Design reporting, dashboards and notifications to better serve both Accounts Payable and business approvers Communicate change and provide robust training and performance support to the ITC AP & invoice approver community

15 Solutions (5 Pillars) Implementing Targeted Solutions & Best Practices

16 Pillar 1: Purchase Orders We began by first doing a thorough review of non-po invoices, identifying opportunities to implement POs Met with each department and shared with them opportunities to leverage POs, explaining the advantages and process to them Drove buy-in through the Directors and VPs We went to each department, having reviewed their previous year s activity and presented to them what their future could look like. Focused on: Less Approvals on Vouchers Defined Approval Paths Defined Accounting Tying to Departmental Annual Budgets

17 PO Results Prior to implementation, PO Vouchers were 65%, after 85% Less approval needed for vouchers. On average a voucher required: Old System: 4 approvers New System: 2.2 approvers Better alignment to departmental budgets Reduction in accounting errors, less manual keying Proof that Software is not always the solution. Reviewing business processes and implementing best practices can be just as effective and help make future software investments more effective.

18 Pillar 2: Workflow define it! Employed a Best Practice Workflow Utilizing Purchase Order Requester or Departmental Routing Even exceptions are standardized Used Future State Mapping to collaboratively design workflow, building buy-in at each level of the organization Define & Enforce a standard methodology to Workflow If the routing is wrong, it s because the coding is wrong Make it flexible by utilizing roles instead of hard coding individuals

19 Streamlined Approval Page By leveraging the Related Content Framework inside PeopleSoft Financials, we were able to deliver the image of the invoice, right to the approval page Allows approvers to review the image at the same time as the Header, Line and Charge information, so they can make informed approval decisions This was a key request from our business users.

20 Workflow Results 100% of vouchers are automatically routed, no human intervention Great AP Time Savings a couple minutes on every voucher Faster approval time: 2.72 days Able to use delivered Proxy in PeopleSoft, eliminating reroutes No more dual entry Another big time savings no more dual entry, keeping in sync, much more confidence in the data By establishing defined routing paths, in a collaborative way, you can ensure your are enforcing policy and engaging the right users to validate expenses.

21 Pillar 3: Integrated Optical Character Recognition Software Implemented an OCR to: Minimize data entry and errors Elevate Accounts Payable team members to higher level analysis work, rather than keying vouchers all day Invoices received electronically and automatically swept into OCR for processing Implemented the Canon AP Automation Solution, which leveraged PeopleSoft s delivered Open Imaging Integration, with zero customization to PeopleSoft

22 Verify data instead of Keying it OCR automatically extracts the key invoice information AP Clerks Verify the data, instead of hand keying every field

23 OCR Results Turnaround time: 78% of invoices vouchered same day Reduction in errors the system learns as it goes Time savings generated by automatically identifying key data such as Vendor & PO, instead of having to look it up Implement an OCR that isn t template based and learns your invoices as it goes. This has allowed ITC to realize a lot of efficiencies.

24 Went Live Built Support By implementing the changes to Workflow, Purchase Orders and integrating the OCR technology, our project team was able to build buy-in, support and leverage the momentum to continue making improvements in the Accounts Payable space. We went on to: Expand OCR to reading property tax statements Implement Supplier Registration & Supplier Change Request Implement Payment Request functionality Implement Procurement Card All of these expanded areas were already owned by ITC and did not require any additional software purchases or licenses.

25 Pillar 4: Payment Request Delivered in PeopleSoft 9.2 PUM 8 - if you have AP you own it, you should use it Ad Hoc Payments Sponsorships, conferences, donations, etc. Eliminate paper and paper approvals Validate account coding at time of entry Route for AP review then Business Approval Business loves the visibility to status & supplier information Automatically voucher & pay

26 Payment Request Simple 4 step process to enter the request, provide documentation and enter coding.

27 Payment Request Results 1063 Requests in 2018 Workflow Approvals very fast: AP is approving in ~ 21 hours Business is approving in ~ 24 hours Generally going from entered to approved in less than 2 days No manual intervention to create payment afterwards Payment Requests, while originally met with some resistance have been very smooth for the past 6 months. We will be introducing new functionality to it next month, as PeopleSoft has release copy functionality, which users are very excited about.

28 Pillar 5: Procurement Card Remember this? Delivered back in PeopleSoft 8.9, if you own Purchasing you own it, you should use it! Load daily transaction file from bank Code them (or define coding rules) Verify them, attach a receipt Approvers approve right in the system Automatically build voucher (by cardholder or BU) Makes Accruals much easier

29 Screenshots of PCard

30 Procurement Card Results Two Business Working days spent compiling receipts, logs and verifying coding, before vouchering even began Many hours spent vouchering, which is practically a push of a button now (30-60 minutes) Initially having been met with resistance, the cardholders have given rave reviews of the simplicity and time savings they re experiencing.

31 The Future Realized

32 Taking your Accounts Payable Department to the Future Do a Roadmap understand where you want to go Bundle changes to create a holistic approach, leverage resources & buy-in Implement Business Process along with Technology Implement modules/functionality you already own Take advantage of new functionality delivered through PUM Image Updates

33 Questions?

34 Please complete a session evaluation Session ID: Contact Info: patrick.gahagan@elire.com - Tel: kwelch@itctransco.com

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