In the process realm, Accounts Payable is the financial aspect of Purchase to Pay. The goal is timely payment of all invoices, avoiding payment for invalid/duplicate invoices or undelivered services/goods. Business volumes are significant, both in transaction numbers and monetary value.
The following documents and activities are often tracked in the analysis of Accounts Payable processes:
Incoming Invoices (either paper or electronic invoice)
- Creation / Edits / Approvals / Cash Discounts / Due dates / Clearings
Purchase Orders (PO)
- Creation of Purchase Orders (if there is a PO match) / Edits / Approvals / Goods Receipts
Bank Statements
- Transfers / Clearings
Each document has crucial attributes like materials, countries, vendors, quantities, and monetary values. These are essential for grasping the overall picture of the Accounts Payable process using process mining.
Gain a Holistic Understanding of the Accounts Payable Process
Process mining provides a clear view of your entire accounts payable process, helping identify delays, reasons, and misplaced invoices. This minimises outstanding receivables, reduces manual corrections, enhances cash flow, and demonstrates accountability to partners.Below, we discuss what makes these approaches risky.
Process mining helps you drive productivity and cut costs in Accounts Payable:
Metsä Board reduced the number of invoice corrections by 80 %
Piraeus Bank reduced process lead times by 86 %
EY UK got 100 % coverage of processes and could easily spot undetected errors
Watch the 2-minute demo video: Improve Accounts Payable with Process Mining
How to Improve AP Through QPR’s Process Mining Application
QPR offers a ready-made process mining app for Accounts Payable, compatible with various connectors (SAP, Oracle, Epicor, VIM, Ariba, Basware). This app provides essential KPIs and insights, driving financial process improvement and significant business benefits.
The webinar recording below demonstrates:
- How to use the AP Application to empower your organisation with all the process mining benefits – including harnessing cash discounts, shortening lead times, and driving high compliance.
- How the deployment and time-to-value are minimised.
Webinar Recording
Summary: Process Mining Benefits for the Accounts Payable Process
- Minimise manual labor in the Accounts Payable department for matching documents
- Save costs by processing invoices before missing substantial cash discount due dates
- Enhance compliance by reducing Maverick purchasing and increasing Purchase Order penetration
- Reduce lead times by identifying bottlenecks in each stage, including Approvals, Document Processing, and Goods Receipts.
Now is an opportune moment to explore Process Mining for your company. The capabilities and user-friendliness of Process Mining software are advancing swiftly, and the market is maturing, though there’s ongoing development.