Document Management Solution for Sage Accpac ERP

Transcription

1 VisionetixWhitepaper Document Management Solution for Sage Accpac ERP A White Paper prepared by Visionetix Software Inc Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 1

2 VisionetixWhitepaper Table of Contents: Introduction... 3 PaystreamSurveySays!... 3 DocumentManagementAutomation... 3 WhatisaDocumentManagementSolution?... 4 ComponentsoftheDMSUniverse... 4 InvoiceReceipt... 4 DocumentandDataCapture... 4 VendorPortal... 5 ContentManagement... 5 WorkflowManagement... 5 ReportingandAnalysis... 5 IInvoiceHandlingBestPractices... 5 InvoiceReceipt... 5 Centralizationisthewaytogo... 6 Takingitfurtherwithimagingande invoicing... 6 InvoiceRouting... 6 FormalizingtheProcess... 7 Takingitfurtherwithautomatedworkflow... 7 DMSandIntelligentDocumentRecognition... 7 Template BasedRecognition... 7 Free FormRecognition... 7 IntelligentDocumentRecognition... 8 VisionetixDocumentManagementSystem... 9 VisionetixBackground... 9 SageModulesthatworkwiththeDMS... 9 DocumentStorage... 9 WhichKeyDMSFunctionsareavailableNOWandwhichwillbeavailableinthe future... 9 DocumentManagementSystemTechnicalArchitecture...10 Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 2

3 VisionetixWhitepaper Introduction Doing more with less has become the mantra of the day. In the current recessionary economic environment, organizations are constantly being challenged get more done with fewer resources. Accounts Payable (AP) is no exception. AP departments now have to process more invoices and pay them faster, all with a smaller staff. And the biggest stumbling block to accomplishing this has been our continued reliance on paper-based invoices and people-based processes. We have put men on the moon and we might even colonize Mars some day, but removing paper from the finance department appears to be out of reach in the near future. Paystream Survey Says! PayStream Advisors conducted its IWA Adoption Survey in the last two quarters of 2008 to highlight the overall trends that are shaping the rapidly evolving AP automation space. The Adoption Survey throws light on the pain felt in the AP department. We asked respondents to rate the pain caused by certain AP processes, on a scale of one to five where five was the highest pain. Manual data entry, matching errors and exceptions and routing invoices for approval emerged as the most painful, in that order. These findings are very similar to the responses from earlier surveys conducted by PayStream, indicating that there is tremendous potential for improvement by automating the front-end of the AP process - namely invoice receipt, matching and approval workflow. Document Management Automation Until the corporate world goes completely paperless, we need a better way to manage the tons of paper that we receive every day. A significant shift is beginning to shake traditional AP operations, starting with the search for automation options that help them address the hassles inherent to people and paper-based activities. Our research indicates that Document Management System (DMS) solutions that streamline the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle have matured and become mainstream technology and are delivering tangible benefits in the invoice processing cycle. Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 3

4 VisionetixWhitepaper What is a Document Management Solution (DMS)? DMS solutions compress the invoice receipt-to-pay cycle by enabling organizations to convert paper documents into digital images, store them in a central repository for rapid retrieval, and extract data from them to enhance document matching, approval and posting. DMS solutions may provide document and data capture, workflow, or both, in order to create an end-to-end imaging and workflow solution that integrates with enterprise and line-of-business applications. Components of the DMS Universe The DMS universe can be defined as follows: Source Document This is the hands-on process that is necessary to prepare paper source documents for scanning and electronic access. Steps may include removing paper documents from envelopes, removing staples, and making photocopies of smaller items, if required. In some cases, invoices need to be manually sorted into different batches (by cost center, business unit, vendor type, etc.), whereas some solutions do this automatically. Sometimes blank separator pages need to be inserted between invoices and their attachments. In the context of the Sage ERP system documents can relate to accounts payable, general ledger, accounts receivable, order entry, inventory control and purchase orders. Document and Data Capture This is the process of converting paper invoices and other transaction-related documents (e.g., proofs of receipt) into digital images and index data. Document scanning and data extraction could be centralized or remote based on the organization s needs. Specific steps include scanning, image enhancement, data extraction based on bar codes, optical character recognition (OCR), and validation, most of which are handled automatically by the solution being used. In some cases manual data entry or review of extracted data is required. Figure 2. DMS Universe Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 2 4

5 VisionetixWhitepaper Vendor Portal Some DMS solutions come bundled with a vendor portal, which suppliers can use to submit invoices electronically. Suppliers have the option of selecting the method that best suits them from a range of electronic submission options; enter data manually in the portal, perform purchase-order flips (convert a PO into an invoice), or browse and add documents from accounting systems. The vendor portals are also configured with validation checks and buyerdefined tolerance levels to check invoices for missing information and exceptions. Suppliers are immediately notified about invoices that fail the validation criteria and are asked to correct the exceptions before the invoice is forwarded to the AP department. Content Management This refers to the delivery, storage, management, and disposition of electronic documents and index data. The Visionetix DMS solution comes bundled with a central repository that can store document images in the Microsoft SQL server database. The content management system integrates tightly with Sage Accpac ERP to enable seamless retrieval of documents from within Sage Accpac ERP to users with the appropriate access rights. Workflow Management The value of a DMS solution lies in its ability to route documents for review and approval. Workflow management capabilities handle the electronic approval of non-purchase-order-based invoices as well as the resolution of any exceptions related to PO-based invoices. Most solutions allow the creation and maintenance of workflows through a menu-driven, easy-to-use interface, which can be managed by business administrators, without the involvement of the IT department. Tasks and pending invoices can be routed to various individuals within the organization according to predefined business rules. Common features include automatic notifications to users when specific actions are required, reminder messages, and escalation procedures based on approval hierarchies. Reporting and Analysis Analyzing key invoice receipt-to-pay metrics and the ability to monitor individual users actions for quality control and load balancing is a key part of implementing a DMS solution. Typical reporting and analysis tools include the generation of standard and ad hoc reports detailing invoices pending approval, past due invoices, and average invoice processing time. Some solutions offer robust reporting capabilities bundled with the DMS solution. The Visionetix DMS allows reporting on document sizes, quantities and all documents can be reprinted at any time. IInvoice Handling Best Practices The key to successful Accounts Payable (AP) automation lies in the redesign of invoice and payment management processes and a strong strategy to leverage the available technology to meet each organization s specific business requirements. Invoice Receipt There is no doubt that paper invoices are the enemy of efficiency in the AP department. This challenge is further compounded by the fact that invoices are rarely sent directly to the AP department. In a lot of cases, suppliers send invoices to buyers in the purchasing department or field approvers. Sometimes the invoice is sitting on an approver s desk for two to three weeks, without even being entered into the accounting system. Worse, some companies don t even have a formal policy that specifies where invoices should be sent. This results in a number of problems. Senior management does not have visibility to all the company s outstanding liabilities when making investment and borrowing decisions. Suppliers Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 5

6 VisionetixWhitepaper could stop sending inventory or put your company on credit hold because invoices are not paid on time. This also increases the potential for duplicate invoices if the supplier sends a second invoice. Centralization is the way to go A formal policy mandating that all invoices should be sent to the AP department is the first step in addressing this issue. Respondents to PayStream s IWA Adoption Survey understand the value of centralization, with more than two-thirds (67 percent) of respondent companies receiving and paying their invoices from one central location). When placing an order itself, provide the supplier with the address where the invoice should be mailed. Once invoices are received, they can be entered into the accounting system, with visibility to all the relevant parties. Taking it further with imaging and e-invoicing Front-end imaging ensures that invoices enter the system quickly and are available to all the parties immediately, irrespective of where they are located. Combining imaging with automated data capture adds further benefits in terms of quicker entry of data and fewer errors. An electronic invoicing solution goes a step further in streamlining the invoice receipt process. All invoices are submitted via a central solution and go through stringent validation rules is the PO number valid, is the invoice number a duplicate, does the invoice have an approver name on it, etc. If any of the invoices fail to satisfy the validation criteria, the supplier is notified immediately and asked to correct the error on the invoices. In addition to increasing visibility and access to the invoices, this also ensures that only clean invoices come into the AP department for processing. Another advantage of this is that the clock on discounts starts ticking only after all the exceptions on the invoice have been rectified. Invoice Routing The AP department typically deals with two types of invoices purchase order (PO) based invoices and non-po invoices. PO invoices go through a two or three way match before they can be paid whereas non-po invoices need approval from the appropriate person in the organization. Sometimes even PO invoices might need to be reviewed by an approver if they fail the match process. Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 6

7 VisionetixWhitepaper What happens in most organizations is that invoices that could not be forwarded to the appropriate user for review and approval end up in an exception queue or red light area and these exceptions have to be manually resolved by the AP staff. It can take days or even weeks for some of these exceptions to be resolved, which significantly lengthens the invoice receipt-topay cycle. Formalizing the Process Identify all the people in the organization who can approve invoices. The approvers can be classified by the types of invoices they can approve invoices from a specific vendor, certain spend types, up to a dollar limit, for example. All AP employees who will route invoices for approval should have a copy of the list and be familiar with who should review what type of invoices. A similar list should be made identifying the appropriate persons who would be responsible for collaborating with the suppliers or buyers to resolve exception invoices. Make sure that these lists are updated periodically or when employees leave the organization and ensure that old lists are collected and destroyed when new lists are made. Taking it further with automated workflow Organizations can further streamline this process by leveraging an automated workflow solution. In this case, the approver list is maintained and updated in the automated workflow solution itself. Invoices, once entered in to the solution, will be routed to the required approver automatically, based on pre-defined business rules. The business logic is typically configured at the time of solution implementation and can be updated as needed. Employees who have invoices pending their approval receive notifications with links to specific invoices. Users have the option of either approving the invoice directly from the itself or they can log into the system to view more details about the invoice. Workflow solutions also come bundled with reminder and escalation features. If no action is taken on an invoice within a certain period of time, either a reminder can be sent to the employee or a message can be sent to the employee s manager. This ensures timely processing of invoices. DMS and Intelligent Document Recognition Tools and technologies that facilitate the extraction of information from scanned invoice images have had an interesting lifecycle, starting from template-based optical character recognition (OCR) to free-form recognition and more recently, intelligent document recognition (IDR). Template-Based Recognition Template-based OCR works by defining zones x and y coordinates or bounding boxes for each field that needs to be captured. The image snippet for each zone is then sent through OCR and the resulting data is used to populate the specific data field. Some template-based technologies also utilize text or image-based anchors that allow zones to float, which further improves accuracy as pages tend to shift slightly when being scanned. Template based recognition works well for structured forms, however for invoices it requires one template for each vendor s invoice layout. This is cumbersome and tedious as vendors also tend to change their document layout. Free-Form Recognition Free-form image technology relies on user-defined keywords, rather than search boundaries, to recognize and capture required data. Once a keyword is located, nearby data is examined until other keywords are found. For example, if purchase order number is the keyword phrase, the Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 7

8 VisionetixWhitepaper software searches data around those or similar words in the document to identify and populate the PO number field. Typically, free-form image recognition rules include directional clues as well. The directional rules instruct the software to search in a particular direction relative to the keyword(s) for other required data. Free-form recognition can be valuable when handling invoices that may not be captured as effectively using template-based recognition. Further, there is no set-up time involved, and the rules can be tuned as required. Intelligent Document Recognition The term Intelligent Document Recognition (IDR) denotes a collection of technologies aimed at extracting information from documents. Going beyond template and free-forms recognition it comprises sorting and classification technologies as well as automatic learning algorithms. All IDR systems extract information without the system having to learn the layout of the invoice. Rather the systems learn by reviewing a relatively small number of invoice samples. This helps them scale to large invoice volumes and widely varying document layouts without requiring a human operator to specify a template for each one, or explicitly create and tune an extensive library of keywords. Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 8

9 VisionetixWhitepaper Visionetix Document Management System Visionetix Background Visionetix Software is a software development company based in Sydney Australia. We specialise in developing business software solutions for Sage ERP and CRM. Visionetix also develops vertical market solutions for hospitals and the apparel industries. Formed in 2002, in response to a requirement from customers, to provide innovative, cost effective software solutions for Sage software. We utilise the latest Sage software development tools and methodologies, including the Sage development platform and Software Development Kit (SDK). Software is developed in Visual Studio and incorporates predominantly dot net technologies. Sage Modules that work with the DMS Visionetix has release a fully integrated SDK compliant document management solution for Sage Accpac ERP. Documents are scanned into electronic format and stored against Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Inventory Control, Purchase Orders and Order Entry. The module is fully compliant with Visionetix s Purchasing Approval system to provide an end to end electronic procurement solution. Document Storage Documents are scanned using any twain compliant scanner and converted into binary format and stored on the Document Server. The document server is defined as an intranet or extranet web server. As a result of the web based architecture, the document server may be a remote computer. All documents are tagged as relating to the transaction within Sage Accpac which makes retrieval of the document fast and relevant. Documents can be reprinted, resaved, converted to PDF, routed to other staff and backed up along with other Sage Accpac data. Which Key DMS Functions are available NOW and which will be available in the future At this stage the Visionetix DMS performs the functions of Content Management and Document Capture. Later releases will include OCR, a vendor portal, workflow management, reporting and analysis. For sales enquiries please call or info@visionetix.com Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 9

10 VisionetixWhitepaper Document Management System Technical Architecture Documents are stored in binary format in a Microsoft SQL server database on the web based document server. The SQL server may or may not be the same database server as Sage Accpac ERP. Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 10

11 VisionetixWhitepaper ENDOFDOCUMENT Visionetix marketing:whitepapers:visionetixwhitepaper.doc 11