Many ERP solutions are so powerful and multifaceted that sometimes we forget they were not designed to do everything. These systems are great at streamlining information across an organization, but when it comes to automation and reporting—especially as part of the accounts payable workflow—most ERP solutions fall short.
AutoVouch: What it Is and How it Benefits Businesses
AutoVouch™ touchless invoice processing from DataServ is designed to do what ERP systems cannot. Using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), AutoVouch™ allows you to eliminate manual matching or “vouching” in your AP workflow and provides your team with more efficient and accurate results than your ERP alone.
Ultimately, by utilizing AutoVouch™, your team is able to focus on core competencies and knowledge work rather than tedious, manual keying and matching of invoices.
How AutoVouch Goes Above and Beyond Your ERP
We are heavily focused on continuous process improvement, which has historically not been a well-applied concept in accounts payable. However, with access to the right data and information, we’ve been able to create solutions like AutoVouch™ that truly improve processes. DataServ clients are achieving touchless invoice processing on over 80 percent of their PO invoices through AutoVouch™.
For example, one of our wholesale clients processed roughly 151,200 invoices annually. Of that amount, 80 percent (or 12,960 invoices) were completely zero-touch, with only 20 percent (or 30,240 invoices) requiring manual processing. While it’s impossible to reach 100 percent zero-touch due to exceptions out of your control, vastly shrinking the number that requires attention will save your team incredible amounts of time.
Any information that will match without anyone manually reviewing it goes automatically through AutoVouch™ into the ERP for processing. In the event of exceptions, these are handled by DataServ in a fluid, visible way, so your team still does not need to go through them, keeping them touchless for a seamless process. Our software’s exception handling is highly sophisticated and capable of creating a fully automated process, and you’ll get the visibility, reports, analytics, and data to understand what exceptions need greater focus from your team.
Here are some more specific ways AutoVouch™ works to streamline your AP processes above what the standard ERP can provide:
Artificial Intelligence
AI is ubiquitous these days, so it’s only right that it should be put to work on invoices. Automating the vouching process with AutoVouch™ creates truly touchless invoice processing. Even when exceptions are found, the AI uses what it has learned from processing your invoices to resolve the issue without you needing to touch it.
Exception Handling and Reporting
Most ERP solutions are reactionary to exceptions. They also don’t include a pre-built automated exception-handling workflow or the ability to escalate issues automatically. With AutoVouch™, AP processors no longer need to spend time tracking down exceptions. The technology uses an automated workflow to direct the exception to the party that can handle and resolve it. Your team receives proactive exception reports so every exception is handled promptly.
Continuous Improvement & Easy Changes
Often, teams find themselves having to run to the IT department every time they need a change. AutoVouch™ makes it easy to update tolerances, workflow rules, and business rules—all included right out of the box at no additional cost (unless you opt to customize).
Singular Process
It’s not uncommon to have multiple ERP systems that each perform different pieces of your workflow. Our AutoVouch™ solution can interface with all of them, providing a single process across your entire stack and a seamless front-end experience for your users.
Accuracy
AutoVouch™ pre-matches your invoices and performs exception handling, assuring you a 100 percent clean match in your ERP system. Deploying an automated vouching process to the front end of your ERP workflow allows you to receive the cleanest, best-matching results with the fewest touches.
Single User Interface for Workflow
AutoVouch™ exception handling uses the same user interface as our non-PO workflow. End users are already accustomed to this user interface, so there is no need for additional training or change management.
Additional Functionality
Compared to traditional ERP solutions, AutoVouch™ offers better visibility, easier search capabilities, and enhanced dashboarding – especially regarding vouching automation and exception handling.
Licensing
We use a concurrent licensing model based on the number of users accessing the system at any given time instead of licensing based on a per-seat or named-user basis. Therefore, there is no need to pay for extra seats for your non-finance professionals who only need access a few times a year.
Faster Deployment
Our solution can start and provide tangible results right away, and DataServ does all the heavy lifting—not your team.
Reduced Manual Matching
Many ERP solutions require manually keying in data by visually matching invoice fields to PO and receipts. AutoVouch™ eliminates that process by flowing all transactions that match within your set tolerances into your ERP system and scheduling them for payment with zero human touches.
Reports
Access the reports you need on demand, ready to display actionable information at a glance. You can use these reports to see which exceptions your team should focus on correcting so your touchless match rate steadily improves.
Fixed Pricing
Unlike other solutions that include additional IT time and resources that aren’t factored in upfront, our pricing is a fixed, one-time cost. You can rest assured knowing exactly what the cost will be right from the start.
An AutoVouch Success Story: The Nidec Motor Corporation
Our promise of seamless AP processes, accurate and efficient invoice processing, and employees focused on strategic tasks over manual data entry is not just a dream – we’ve worked hard to make it a reality, one that became true for the Nidec Motor Corporation.
The Nidec Motor Corporation is a global leader in motor manufacturing that was working with several acquisitions that created significant challenges within their AP processes. In 2005, they were manually keying in over 85 percent of their invoices across three different ERP systems and dealing with about 6,000 global suppliers. These manual efforts were time-consuming and prone to errors, making it difficult to maintain accurate vendor information and process invoices promptly.
When Nidec turned to DataServ, we implemented a robust solution that included AutoVouch™ to automate their AP processes. After implementation, their company experienced a significant transformation:
- Increased Efficiency: AutoVouch™ automated their matching or vouching process using advanced AI technology, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
- Faster Turnaround: With our Invoice Processing Machine, Nidec achieved an average one-day turnaround for each new invoice, improving payment punctuality.
- Higher Accuracy: Automating through DataServ led to a 99.9 percent accuracy rate in invoice data capture, virtually eliminating errors and significantly reducing invoice exceptions.
- Touchless Processing: Nearly 83 percent of Nidec’s invoices are now touchless, freeing up valuable time for their AP team.
AutoVouch™ has been incredibly useful for Nidec, providing them the scalability and control they need to manage their extensive operations. Despite numerous acquisitions and transitions, DataServ has remained a constant support, helping them standardize processes, increase compliance, and maintain high operational standards.
Success for Your Company Through AP Automation is What We Do at DataServ
Accounts payable is our life. It’s what we do, all day every day. Plus, we don’t just know what we’re doing, we truly love doing it. We’ve worked hard to bake automation best practices right into our software. AutoVouch™ is a tried-and-true process that relieves organizations of touching anywhere between 50 to 90 percent of their PO invoices, solving problems with backlog, duplicate invoices, late payments, heavy emergency payment volumes, and more. We take an iterative approach to continuous improvement because we want to increase your AutoVouch™ success rate alongside you.
When it comes to AP automation solutions, we know it, we live it, and we want to share it with you. Contact the DataServ team today to learn more about AutoVouch™ or request a demo online to see how we can help your AP team succeed.
