Basware Invoice Processing

In total a few years ago manual processing of invoices for payment was typical for most the enterprises. And though it was followed by big labor costs, the companies preferred to gather additional personnel for accomplishment of this work, than to carry out any changes, in particular to implement these or those computer solutions. However the requirement of cost reduction caused by new economic conditions leads business to the fact that work of accountant officers requires increase in efficiency using new IT tools. The network of shopping centers "Stockmann" in Russia which implemented the project on the implementing solution Basware Invoice Processing which allows to automate all process of work with accounts — input in a system, filling, a statement and payment is among such companies. As a result the management and chief financial officers had an opportunity to control these procedures and to receive the broad picture about the forthcoming expenses in real time.

On the way to automation

As the business analyst Stockmann Sergey Ayzin told, earlier work with accounts in the company looked as follows. Documents for payment were transferred to accounting chaotically, occasionally it was even impossible to understand who sent them. If the accountant needed to clear some questions, he had to look for the manager, responsible for payment, independently. And it was for this purpose necessary to find its number in the phonebook, to phone that took certain time.

It should be noted that bills were paid in process of their receipt in accounting — to the day. And postings in an accounting system were created manually, and it also increased labor costs by processing of the account. At last, all these factors resulted in impossibility of drawing up the authentic forecast of the movement of cash.

It was clear that such approach is inefficient, and in September, 2008 the CEO Stockmann made the decision on a project startup on automation of processing of accounts.

As a basic product the Basware Invoice Processing system was selected, and such solution, according to Sergey Ayzin, was obvious: "As the main arguments for benefit of this product the fact that, first, it is used in our head company in Finland served, and secondly, there is a positive experience of its implementation in Russia".

For project implementation the command where consultants from Basware company who carried out all works on automation and also the IT specialists Stockmann performing mostly the supporting function (purchase of servers, the solution of technical issues) entered was created. Besides, the managers approving invoices for payment were involved in process of implementation.

Difficulties of pioneers

The main distinctive feature of the project, according to Sergey Ayzin, was that it was the first full-scale deployment of Basware Invoice Processing in Russia: earlier a system was implemented only in IKEA company, but the limited functionality is implemented there. "We wanted to go further and to provide registration not only of invoices for payment, but also the invoice and acts of the performed works" — Mr. Ayzin explained.

And here the project team had to face the first complexity connected with processing of advance documents. The matter is that at advance payment the accountant has only an account and there are no closing documents — the invoice and acts. These documents appear only at completion of work. And the Invoice Processing system is intended for approval of accounts and respectively assumes that the account transferred to an accounting system should be paid and no further actions with it should be.

In Russia the advance payment system is used more widely, than in other countries. In Finland where a system is developed, such task practically does not arise as there payment of account means that services were executed and at once costs are written off. Similar mismatch of processes also became the reason for which the project team had to spend a lot of time for accounting of the Russian specifics. In the program some completions which allowed to load the account into an accounting system twice were made.

Besides, integration of the accounting program Parus used in the company into the Invoice Processing system set the additional task for project team members. That in Parus there were all necessary postings, it was necessary to describe various options which can be in accounts — advance payment/post-payment, service/goods on implementation, there is an invoice / there is no invoice, etc. And it also meant big costs of time.

"As a result implementation of a new system took year that at first sight for the similar project there is a lot of — Sergey Ayzin told. — However it is very difficult, considering the Russian specifics, to execute the project for a short time. Experience of deployment of programs such in other countries makes three months. For Russia such terms are problematic".

Resistance to new process from the managers approving invoices for payment became the second factor which could prevent successful project implementation. Unlike them accountant officers well apprehended a new system in spite of the fact that it created for them a certain extra work (such as scanning of documents).

Earlier it was supposed that the account which came to accounting should be paid, and all. At the same time did not concern the manager, чтó he did not specify on what divisions it is necessary to carry the rendered services. For example, when purchasing a new computer hardware the accountant had most to find out what the equipment is and where it will be used. In Stockmann company as Sergey Ayzin specified, in addition to Russian there is also corporate accounting within which the computer hardware is subdivided into the PC, telecommunication devices, supplies, etc. that assumes more detailed write-off of costs. Therefore it turned out that to Invoice Processing system implementation the manager was in an advantageous position as from it refining of such information was not required. Moreover, if the bill was not paid in time, then the manager always had an occasion to tell that it very long time ago transferred the account to accounting where it has to be paid.

Automation of processing of accounts assumed very strong change of business process for managers of the company, however their main argument contra — that they increased the volume of the performed work — actually had under itself no reasons. Actually total amount of work did not increase, and was just redistributed in the company, having fallen to two people — the accountant and the manager. Now the entering account registered in the Invoice Processing system and scanned is transferred to the manager who should specify what the cost type is and on what divisions it should be carried. And if he does not make it, then will delay payment. And in a system it is always possible to see how many days he processes this or that account. Thanks to it a situation when the manager just signed the account and went on leave, it is already impossible. "Today managers should become more disciplined, and going on leave, to submit the cases to deputies. They should understand that for them this work will be done by nobody" — Mr. Ayzin emphasized.

Today and tomorrow project

Now in Stockmann company there are 160 users of a system: 30 people — in accounting and 130 — the managers approving accounts. As a result of project implementation the electronic archive of documents is created, payment process is standardized. And what is very important, now all bills are paid in time. In a system there is a function of a reminder, and a day before approach of term the responsible manager receives the corresponding message.

To Invoice Processing system implementation in the company there was a change of a number of processes, in particular the system of an approval of accounts assuming introduction of limits for managers was developed. If before people, having right to sign, could sign documents for any amount, then now employees accurately know the opportunities. For example, managers of the bottom level cannot approve accounts for the ten-thousand amounts now and if they for any reason make it, then the program will not miss the document in which the limit is exceeded.

According to Sergey Ayzin, exact calculations for assessment of cost efficiency of the project were not carried out to the companies as there are things which are difficult for counting. Nevertheless he noted a number of good points. First, the accounting staff Stockmann was not increased since 2010, despite opening of new shops in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. So she by the same forces copes with the increased work volume. Secondly, vysokvalifitsirovanny employees ceased to be engaged in routine transactions, transferring them to less qualified colleagues. Thanks to it economy of the wages fund became possible.

Sergey Ayzin considers the main result of system implementation of Invoice Processing ensuring complete transparency: "Now we can always trace at what stage there is an account. And thanks to electronic archive of documents we can provide quickly necessary scanned documents, for example, in tax authorities". If earlier for preparation of documents employees had to be delayed in the evenings, to come to work on the weekend and even to employ outsourcers, then now it becomes in the minimum terms. So, the last inspection which is carried out in the company showed that time for providing documents decreased by two-three times.

In plans for further development of the project first of all implementation of automatic recognition of incoming documents as now each entering paper document is scanned manually is supposed, and data from it are also manually entered into a system. Such procedure not only more labor-consuming, but also is a source of emergence of errors. One of the considered options — implementation of the program of ABBYY company which automatically recognizes data from the scanned document. Templates of all account types are stored in this program, and it just reads out necessary data from a certain place of the document.

Besides, it is going to purchase the Basware Contract Matching add-on module which will allow to accelerate processing of the repeating accounts, such as rent bills when the payment amount is known. The problem is that it is necessary not only to recognize data of the account, but also to distribute its amount according to corporate standards (on divisions, cost accounts of management accounting). Now this task is carried out manually, and using the module Contract Matching it will be also automated.

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