Purchase to Pay - added value in procurement

At the DSAG Annual Congress, which will bring together German-speaking SAP users in October, digital change will remain the central theme. Under the motto "Business without borders - the architecture of the future" the meeting will discuss pioneering ideas for implementing a digitalization strategy.

These include questions about the right platform, the appropriate cloud scenario or the right ERP solution. These are all far-reaching decisions that companies will certainly not make ad hoc.

Prerequisite for digitization

Digitalization stands for the linking of independent systems so that processes can run automatically without human interaction. The prerequisite for such networking is the availability of machine-readable data.

The document is therefore an ideal introduction to digitization: The electronic capture and processing of receipts in purchasing, finance or customer service makes crucial business information easily accessible electronically and without media disruptions.

Subsequent processes are automated, throughput times are accelerated and errors are avoided. For most companies, invoice processing is the classic area in which the optimization potential of electronic document processes is recognized and digitization is tackled.

It has already been successfully mastered at Continental's ContiTech division, where incoming invoices are processed automatically using Tangro software.

Countercheck only

"Data no longer has to be entered manually, but only briefly cross-checked. At the same time, we have an overview of all invoices. We know where the documents are currently located for approval and can track the entire process," says Frank Sündermann, Head of IT Business Systems at ContiTech, explaining the benefits of digitalization.

The digital capture, post-processing, checking and archiving of receipts significantly reduces invoice processing costs. Direct cost savings are also achieved through improved discounting.

The University Hospital of Munich demonstrates how high the financial added value can be: The medical facility saves a six-figure euro amount per year because the automation of invoice verification means that discounts that were previously lost can now be used.

Even more effective, however, are digitalization projects that do not end with invoice processing, but also fully automate all previous purchasing activities: the management of procurement, the processing of order confirmations and the recording of delivery bills with the posting of goods receipts.

Consistent purchasing

In procurement, the necessary goods requirements are recorded electronically directly at the workstation and - if known - the cost center is already stored here.

All further steps are carried out electronically: checking and approval by the line manager as well as account assignment in the accounting department. All important facts are clarified in advance and the order can be created automatically.

Subsequent incoming order confirmations and delivery bills are processed more quickly because important document content - material number, price and quantity in the order confirmation or supplier and order number in the delivery bill - is automatically recognized and compared with the details in the order. This means that goods receipts are posted in the shortest possible time.

Final step: Invoice processing

Invoice processing as the final step is greatly simplified by prior automation because the required information is already stored.

The relevant content on the document is recognized by the system or transferred directly and compared with the order. All the necessary cost center and account assignment details are also already available.

A clerk only needs to intervene if there is a need for clarification. And even then, electronic processes speed up the process and make work easier: in this case, workflow processes that are started directly from the document, for example.

Quick completion by the recipient is ensured by simple and convenient handling. And tasks can be processed not only at the workplace, but also on the move - even by non-SAP users.

If the system does not detect any discrepancies, the invoice is posted directly in the background - if this is desired. Human intervention is then no longer required.

The same applies to electronic invoices that are received in a structured form, for example in ZUGFeRD format or via a mail system. These are then also transferred to the ERP system and posted directly there. The systems interlock seamlessly - just as the digitalization paradigm requires.

Customer project Continental

300,000 incoming invoices/year

Advantages of automation with Tangro software:

• Uniform, standardized solution approach
• Shared use of an infrastructure
• Easy handling
• Reduction of processing time to three minutes per document
• Improving transparency