Lockbox Automation Using Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Mike Mumford Senior Director, Business Technology, Finance SYSCO Vikram Gollakota Client Solutions Director
Agenda About Sysco Receivables Processing at Sysco Challenges and Considerations Solution: Sysco and Artificial Intelligence About HighRadius Summary-Sysco
About Sysco
65,000 Associates 300 Distribution Facilities 500,000 Customer $55,000,000,000 Sales Generated Global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments Products also include equipment and supplies for foodservice and hospitality
Receivables Processing at Sysco
Receivables Processing at Sysco Payment Types Cash Electronic Payments o ACH pull o ACH push o Wire o Credit Cards Checks o NET deposits Customer sends checks Imaging Associate team scans checks and shares with Bank and A/R team o Remote deposits Marketing associates deposits to the bank Remittance Remittance information not used for cash application Cash application done based on pre-defined rules and algorithms
Check Processing ( NET Deposit)
Challenges in Check Deposits Bank Customer sends checks Imaging Associate scans checks multiple times A/R team AR batches created Auto-Cash Algorithms used to close invoices Unmatched invoices flagged Exception Handling Cash Posted
Challenges in Check Deposits Bank Customer sends checks Imaging Associate scans checks multiple times Low cash application hit-rate A/R team 30-40% AR batches Auto-Cash created Check and remittance scanned separately Algorithms used to close invoices Remittance information not used algorithms resulted in misapplication Customers had to send separate payments for each operating companies Unmatched invoices flagged Exception Handling Cash Posted
Remote Deposits
Challenges in Remote Deposits Bank generates Remote Deposit Reports Customer Marketing Associate Scans checks using bank s mobile Application Bank starts processing the check Downloaded Enters remittance data into Sysco Account Manager Application Converted to Email Remittance format Treasury generates Treasury Report A/R Team Cash Posted Exception Handling Auto-Cash Algorithms used to match payments and remittances Converted and Uploaded in ERP (SUS) Match for any returned checks/ wrong payments
Challenges in Remote Deposits Bank generates Remote Deposit Reports Customer A/R Team Marketing Associate Enters remittance data into Sysco Account Manager Application Scans checks using bank s mobile Application Bank starts processing the check Remittance information not used for cash application Multiple payments for different operating companies increased the complexity Treasury generates Treasury Report Converted to Payments from multiple banks Email Remittance format Additional time and effort by sales team to process payments Downloaded Cash Posted Exception Handling Auto-Cash Algorithms used to match payments and remittances Converted and Uploaded in ERP (SUS) Match for any returned checks/ wrong payments
Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Deposits Processing
Challenges in EFT Processing Customer ACH/Wire Bank Bank generates Deposits Remote Deposit Reports Treasury generates Treasury Report Email EDI Portals Remittance Create Payment line items in ERP Cash Posted Identify & Download Remittances for each payment Download and Identify all ACH/Wire Payments A/R Team
Challenges in EFT Processing Customer ACH/Wire Bank Bank generates Deposits Remote Deposit Reports Treasury generates Treasury Report High volume of manual work for processing electronic payments Manually Remittance create payment line items Email EDI Portals Aggregation of remittance information multiple sources for records/repository Create Payment line items in ERP Cash Posted Identify & Download Remittances for each payment Download and Identify all ACH/Wire Payments A/R Team
Challenges and Considerations
Key Challenges No centralized cash application process Remittance information not used - low cash application hit rate (30%-40%) Customers pay for each operating company separately- limited visibility into receivables status at an organization level Multiple bank accounts across operating companies Checks and remittances scanned separately multiple times Manual processing of ACH payments
Considerations Centralized cash application with decentralized scanning Scale to volumes of Sysco s payments and remittances Effectively process remittances across all formats Allow one payment across 72 operating companies Process checks and remittances in one go
Sysco & Artificial Intelligence
Remittance Advice Payment Cash Application Cloud SYSCO INTERNET/CLOUD Cash Application Cloud CUSTOMERS Bank BAI 2 or EDI 823 AR Matching Data Aggregation Checks EFT v ERP Open A/R Invoice Matching Web Aggregation OCR v EDI v Customers Review and Clear Exceptions X Email Parsing v Email Deduction Management EDI v Customer Portals
Value Addition Centralized Cash Application Processing o Uniform cash application process across all operating companies o Reduce need for individual bank accounts One Check o Customers can pay using one check for obligations across operating companies o To apply cash seamlessly 85%+ Cash Application Accuracy o Use customer remittance to improve cash application accuracy and efficiency Check Scanning Efficiency o Scan the checks and remittance backups only once o Use the same scanned images for bank deposits and remittance extraction purposes.
Results
For the very first time in our history, we are using remittance information for cash application!
Results with Artificial Intelligence Checks EFTs Remote Deposits 85% Straight-through payment processing Cash Application Cloud Productivity increase for the A/R team 1 Payment across multiple operating companies Accurate cash application using remittance information
About HighRadius
HighRadius at a Glance FinTech cloud-based software company. Founded in 2006. HQ in Houston, Texas Integrated Receivables Platform for the entire credit-to-cash cycle Integrated Receivables Platform Representative Customers List 300+ Clients. 125 in last 2 years. #1 in Fortune1000 market $500 Billion of Receivables processed annually 650+ employees globally
Integrated Receivables Platform AR+AP Network Credit Cloud EIPP Cloud Cash App Cloud Deductions Cloud Collections Cloud.... AI for AR
Summary: Sysco Past Present Future Decentralized cash application process Multiple payments for different operating companies Remittance information not used for cash application Separate scanning of checks and remittance E-payments and checks processed easily without error Centralized cash application across all operating companies One check across multiple 72 operating companies Single process for scanning checks and remittance Mobile application for marketing associates for faster cash application