Transform AP for Oracle E-Business Suite

 

Integrated Invoice Management Functionality Accelerates Payables Processing

 

For too many organizations, Accounts Payable remains challenged by inefficient processes and a blizzard of paper-based invoices that limit the speed, accuracy and compliance controls critical to successful management of outgoing payables. Recent IOMA research* suggests that the average cost to process a single vendor payment, including invoice receipt and approval, now exceeds $12 and can take more than six days of equivalent staff time.

Given that most corporate AP functions have at their core the need to maintain and regularly interface with an ERP or other host accounting system for general ledger and budget management, the ideal solution would not simply deliver best-in-class invoice automation, but would also reflect the tightest possible systems integration without expensive customization and training, or the need to buy additional ERP user licenses.

 

Invoice Management that Supports Existing E-Business Suite Investments

 

Transform AP, Bottomline’s invoice processing solution for Oracle E-Business Suite, delivers against all of these requirements and more. With functionality for capturing incoming supplier invoice data, Transform AP links directly to E-Business Suite, enabling automated 2- and 3-way matching for PO-based invoices, as well as exception processing where a match cannot be found. In addition, non-PO based invoices are automatically routed to the appropriate personnel for G/L coding and approval. Throughout these processes, Transform AP allows for complete online review of all invoices as well as the ability to generate reports reflecting invoice status and productivity.

 

PO-based invoices can be processed by AP staff directly within Transform AP. Header level review of the data captured is verified and updated as necessary utilizing the split screen interface of the invoice image and standard E-Business Suite fields.

 

Transform AP has been uniquely designed for use with E-Business Suite, providing seamless integration and visibility for everyday accounts payable users, while providing the same view of relevant invoice data to non-finance approvers via a standard Web browser. This processing flexibility supports a company’s existing infrastructure investments and helps to maintain a lower cost of ownership by eliminating the need to purchase incremental ERP licenses for each coder and/or approver.

Organizations can also realize improved invoice visibility and accelerated processing cycles, as well as greater enforcement of financial and legal compliance regulations with a fully auditable record of each invoice, including the ability to view related documents both inside and outside Oracle.

 

Transform AP in Action

Transform AP streamlines the entire supplier invoice process,startingwith the electronic capture of incoming invoices. This can include document imaging via Bottomline’s integrated Transform™Scan Center solution, or alternative sources such as fax, email, installed scanners or other multi-function devices.Key header datafrom the invoice (such as invoice number, date, amount, PO number and associated vendor number) is captured using optical characterrecognition technology. Following the capture of invoice documents and any associated meta data, the information is uploaded to the Transform AP Invoice Connector for Oracle E-Business Suite.

Based on business rules and customer configurations, PO-based invoices can be automatically matched against existing purchase orders (2-way) or goods received notices (3-way), resulting in invoice creation without manual intervention.

Invoices which fail to match are flagged with the appropriate status and placed in the Transform AP work queue. AP users can then open individual invoice transactions via a convenient “split screen” view containing the invoice image and header information for further exception processing.