Accounts Payable Department
 In perhaps no other department of a company can the
benefits of document imaging be applied with such
productivity gains and rapid payback as in the Accounts
Payable department. Quick access to accurate information
is the key to successful cost containment in any
department, but particularly so in Accounts Payable.
Accurate, on-time information allows supplier discounts
to be taken, eliminates duplicate payments to vendors,
and significantly reduces the amount of time required to
answer questions both from in-house personnel and from
vendors.
With document imaging and COLD, all A/P documents
created in-house, including purchase orders, receivers,
checks, and reports, can be captured, indexed, and made
available for instant retrieval. In addition, all of the
outside documents such as receivers, packing lists, and
vendor invoices can be scanned into the imaging system
and matched up with the appropriate purchase order.
Rather than spending time searching through mountains of
paper files for the supporting documents needed to
resolve a problem, the exact pages can be called up
instantly, right at the clerk's desk.
Need a hard copy of a page? No problem! Any image in the
system can be printed on a laser printer. Need to send a
copy to a vendor? No problem! Any image in the system
can be sent out directly as a fax, without ever being
printed.
Imaging's advantages include the ability to take
advantage of supplier discounts and avoid interest and
late payment charges, reduction of storage space,
improved document control, faster resolution of
disputes, broader availability of documents, and better
cash flow management.
The first step in the A/P process is to generate a
purchase order. This is done by your existing accounting
software. When the paper PO prints, the software sends a
duplicate electronic copy to the imaging system
automatically. The imaging server captures each purchase
order, extracts the appropriate index fields such as PO
number, date, vendor number, and vendor name, and then
stores the image. As soon as the paper copies of the
purchase orders have been printed, there is also an
electronic copy of each page, already organized,
indexed, and stored in the imaging system.
Next, the vendor delivers the items to your warehouse.
When the goods are delivered, warehouse personnel
validate what has been received and make notations of
any discrepancies or variances on the receiver document.
Since the receivers are external documents, they cannot
be captured electronically. And, since the vendor
controls the format and layout of the receiver, it is
unlikely that there will be a bar code on it that could
be used for indexing. The receivers will have to be
scanned and indexed manually. The receivers need only be
indexed with the PO number.
The third step is for the vendor to submit an invoice
for the delivered goods. The invoice must be compared
with the original purchase order and with the receiver
to ensure that it is correct. Some companies use the
paper copies of the documents to do this. Other
companies now use the electronic copies of the purchase
order and the receiver to complete this process. At some
point, the vendor invoice needs to be scanned. Like the
receiver, it will have to be manually scanned and
indexed.
The final step is to print the payables checks. These
are created by your existing accounting software. As the
checks are printed, a copy of each check is sent to the
imaging server electronically. The imaging server
extracts the appropriate index information, check number
check date, payee, and the invoice numbers and purchase
order numbers that are being paid by that check.
At the end of this process, there will be four items in
each purchase order batch. There will be the original
purchase order, which was captured electronically, the
receiver, which was manually scanned, the vendor
invoice, which was manually scanned, and the payables
check, which was captured electronically. When a
question is raised about any part of this transaction,
all of the relevant documentation is instantly
accessible, right on your screen. Any page can be
printed, sent out as a fax, or emailed directly from the
imaging system.
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"I can't believe how easy the software is to use. It was really the only software I have used that was ready
right out of the box. It has never been easier to look up invoices or pick tickets, no more looking through stuffed file cabinets for an
invoice only to discover it is not there. With the document imaging software, the invoice is always there when we need it."
--
A. H.
Bennett Company, Minneapolis, MN |
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