Digital Employees in AP - Two Use Cases for RPA
Updated: January 25, 2023
In a previous blog post “SMBs – Think Robotics Process Automation (RPA) is Out of Reach? Think Again!” we discussed technology budgets in Small to Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs); why they couldn’t afford to not automate, as well as provide a cost-effective solution. Wilton White, CEO of Diversified Robotic was interviewed on the podcast for that blog and we learned how his company helped SMBs as the “Technology Equalizers”.
Wilton White is back with a 2nd interview to give some two scenarios where RPA is being used effectively in Accounts Payable/Finance operations, creating Digital Employees or bots.
Case Study #1: Connections – Accounting System/ERP and Your 3rd Party Provider Software
A client creates dealerships for automobiles and orders parts through an application called Fleetmatics. Fleetmatics creates the purchase orders and sometimes new vendors for new parts, and this information must be entered into their Sage accounting system. Unfortunately, Fleetmatics and Sage do not speak to each other. Prior to RPA, the information was keyed in manually.
Efficiencies gained using RPA
Increased Cycle Time - A bot was created to check every 15 minutes (did an employee do that?) to see if there are any new purchase orders created and if so, it added all the information into Sage.
Increasing Accuracy for Tax in Fleetmatics - When the purchase orders are generated in Fleetmatics the correct tax is not always added because Sage housed the correct tax information. The bot will compare the two tax fields and update the Fleetmatics if incorrect.
Automate the Match Process – When the vendor invoice is received, the bot reviews the transaction in Fleetmatics to confirm the part has been received then closes out the invoice in Sage.
Focus on Business Intelligence – The bot will reconcile between Fleetmatics and Sage and generate inventory and other business reports as well as capture more data. With the bot handling previously manual tasks, those employees previously need to manually key between the two systems, can level up and focus on reviewing the output to determine how to better control inventory or how to speed up the process.
Case Study #2: Simplifying Reporting Efforts When Every Dollar Counts
Every dollar counts in the construction industry. A big construction company in LA was very keen on getting reporting mechanisms clearly defined. They had a system where they were generating reports once a week and then having a big report due once a month. It was a lot of heavy lifting internally for two employees. Diversified Robotic built bots to go in pull from their crystal reporting, other information that was being used, as well as projected numbers that were provided by their project managers and combined that all together in a format for them for analysis. The purpose of the bot was to alleviate the data aggregation and compiling of reports and being able to grab from any domain and then go ahead and format it any way you want to be able to use that as business intelligence.
Efficiencies gained using RPA
Decreased Labor Hours – Manually each analyst spent 5+ hours per month preparing these reports. At least 10 hours are now available to analyze the reports.
Increased Accuracy – Combining reports from several sources has the potential for error. Not only during the process to combine reports, but speaking from experience, manually entered formulas, and manual formatting can cause errors that contribute to erroneous financial reporting.
Quick Consideration - Abandoned Bots
Remember all those Microsoft Access Databases that we loved to create back in the 90’s and early 2000s? When we left, IT was stuck with lots of databases to maintain, only they eventually chose not to, and that data was migrated to Microsoft Excel or another system (or lost if no one could gain access).
The same scenario can happen to bots. Also, bots must be maintained when passwords change, Accounting Systems/ERPs are upgraded, etc. So, consider the ongoing maintenance required if your team is approved to build a bot or when selecting a 3rd Party Provider to build one on your team’s behalf. Wilton White explains in the podcast that Diversified Robotics not only maintains bots that they develop for you 24/7, but also handle inherited bots.
Do you manage both Human and Digital Employees? Comment below.
Need a bot? Contact Diversified Robotic for an extended 3 week trial subscription – learn more at https://www.diversifiedrobotic.com/.
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Debra R Richardson, MBA, APM, APPM, CPRS is an accounts payable speaker, consultant, and trainer with over 20 years of experience in AP, AR, general ledger, and financial reporting for Fortune 500 companies including Verizon, General Motors, and Aramark.
Debra has experience with Global Vendor Maintenance activities and implemented a vendor self-registration portal for 140k+ global vendors across five Accounting Systems/ERPs. In her consultancy, she focuses on internal controls and authentication to prevent fraud in the vendor master file. Reach out via email: debra@debrarrichardson.com.