Building a Document Management Plan Part III

Building a Document Management Plan Part III By Ray Griffiths Accounts Payable, Workflow and Data Extraction Despite the availability of EDI, 96% of all corporate invoices are still received as paper documents, costing companies on average $10.15 to process each one. With advances in software technology that allow for invoice processing and data extraction to take place without need for predefined templates, the time is right for automating Accounts Payable. Scanning and capturing semi-structured data significantly reduces data entry costs and speeds up productivity. As organizations look to drive down costs and improve efficiency, manual and time-consuming processes in accounts payable (A/P) are an ideal place to start. A/P processes are sometimes distributive in nature, may require approval on many levels, and generate huge volumes of paper and electronic documents that are difficult to effectively manage. Document imaging systems enable companies to achieve process efficiencies and cost saving in three key areas: 1. Capture, storage and retrieval of data and documents 2. Automation of critical business processes to drive efficiency 3. Sharing of information and extension of processes to internal and external resources Integration with ERP and LOB applications allow companies to seamlessly enable a single interface to all payables transaction content, and extend automated processes into these applications. Integration will significantly improve response times, eliminate time-consuming duplicate data entry, reduce errors, increase processing efficiencies and enhance levels of service. Implementing document management/imaging technology helps managers and employees identify, classify, track and manage all forms of A/P information, from inception through the end of the content lifecycle. The technology manages all types of corporate records regardless of whether the record is in the form of a physical document, an email with attachments, or an electronic spreadsheet. The solution allows users to establish retention periods, organize and retain these documents and other assets for legally required amounts of time, and provide quick, on demand access to them. In Part II of this series we talked about six problem areas in accounts payable that could be addressed with an entry level document imaging system.