S U C C E S S S T O R Y

E N T E R P R I S E I N F O R M A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

INDUSTRY

Education

CUSTOMER

University of Los Andes

PARTNER

Projection Core Consulting

CHALLENGES

• High volume of invoices with manual processing

• Short lead time led to errors and delays• Supplier relationships suffered

SOLUTIONS

• OpenText Vendor Invoice Management for SAP Solutions

• OpenText Invoice Capture Center for SAP Solutions

BENEFITS

• Increased productivity• Improved supplier relationships• Reduced errors• Savings on paper-related costs

Leading University in Colombia Remodels Invoice ManagementThe University of Los Andes speeds invoice processing, enhances supplier relationships with OpenText Vendor Invoice Management for SAP® Solutions

Invoice bottleneckUniandes is a private research university, founded in 1954, now regarded as the leading university in Colombia and one of the highest ranking in Latin America. As a large institu-tion serving 13,000 students, Uniandes employs close to 4,000 faculty members and administrative professionals. Eight of those professionals work in the AP department processing 3,000 to 4,000 invoices per month.

When Claudia Johana Navarro stepped in as Chief Accountant of the university in 2012, she worked with the AP team to check processes and quickly found areas to address.

“We detected that more than 56 percent of the invoicing occurs in the last week of the month, causing a major bottleneck,” she explains. Invoices arrived at several locations for validation and accounting personnel spent time manually checking the loading of merchandise and reviewing deductions. Further investigation revealed that decentralized receipt, and a lack of automation, for invoice processing were resulting in inaccuracies and delays.

Lost documents. Missed duplicates. Late fees. “The operation was error-ridden,” Navarro notes. “Sometimes units did not release invoices to accounting, we made deductions that should not be applied, or we calculated things the wrong way. The amount of work we had and many long hours made us commit mistakes.”

Imagine receiving more than half of your work assignments during the last week of each month. Uneven tasking causing a scramble, leading to lost documents and frustrating delays. Such was the case for the Accounts Payable (AP) team at the University of Los Andes in Colombia (Uniandes), until it implemented OpenText Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) for SAP Solutions to centralize and automate its invoice processing operations.

E N T E R P R I S E I N F O R M A T I O N M A N A G E M E N T

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While the University recognized the need for change, some employees viewed modifications with worry. As detail-oriented accountants, they feared losing control of invoices if they were unable to hold physical documents in their hands. “We had another challenge, which was managing suppliers,” Navarro adds. While college departments consumed and spent as needed through-out the month, the AP team did not know when invoices would arrive. “We had no real cash flows and revenues simply because all invoicing and expenditure came in the last week of the month.”

Automated, centralized invoice managementUniandes implemented VIM to alleviate a logjam of invoices, then found additional benefits. “The bottleneck issue we had when the project began was the huge backlog in the accounts payable area. We could say we solved that,” Navarro mentions, then continues: “After that, we also solved other issues by improv-ing the organization of the AP process through centralizing invoice receipt.”

Uniandes now relies on the VIM solution for streamlining accounts payable operations along with OpenText Invoice Capture Center (ICC) for SAP Solutions, an option that fully integrates invoice data capture for extracting data automatically.

As long-term SAP users, the University first viewed the VIM solu-tion upon invitation. Attendees at the meeting included Uniandes’ chief financial officer, product manager and other executives.

“We saw no problems. They really convinced us in the first talk,” Navarro recalls. Integration and partnership with SAP grabbed the executives’ attention; OpenText experience and expertise sustained their interest.

While the team at Uniandes liked what they saw, there were small hurdles to maneuver. Navarro explains, “At the beginning we heard about standardization of processes to alleviate many burdens with the manual work. We saw it could be an interesting tool, yet we had to take into account the culture towards change within our organization.” Some accounting personnel felt uneasy about the shift from physical to electronic invoices. Navarro and her team discussed concerns and voiced questions to which OpenText responded. “They were kind enough to talk when request-ed,” Navarro says. “When we asked for more talks and another presentation to the entire team exclusively, OpenText did every-thing.” All participants were able to form a vision of how VIM and ICC would fit at Uniandes.

“The OpenText Vendor Invoice Management solution created an Accounts Payable process that is now more automated, leading to far fewer processing errors. The time involved for processing and approving invoices has greatly improved.”CLAUDIA JOHANA NAVARRO, CHIEF ACCOUNTANT, UNIVERSITY OF LOS ANDES

That view has now evolved into completion of the first phase of operation. For their implementation of VIM, Uniandes leveraged the OpenText partner, Projection Core Consulting. A Colombian-based company, Projection Core Consulting specializes in design, architecture, implementation and support of Vendor Invoice Management and other OpenText solutions. The implementation services offered by Projection Core Consulting focused on compli-ance and quality in terms of time, scope and cost. The company is staffed with certified professionals who bring years of experience and training in methodologies and international standards.

Timely and transparent implementation came as a pleasant surprise to university professionals. “At the beginning of the project we were told VIM could be installed in five months,” notes Navarro.

“Initially we said, ‘Great!’; however, within the university, we were in doubt.”

Five months later, she reports, equipment was incorporated and the controlled launch neared completion. The team released invoice management for the whole university, starting with pilot units. “It was not a traumatic launch, requiring stays until 3 in the morning,” Navarro says. “Our launch of VIM was smooth and transparent, without any major setbacks.”

Invoices are now received in a centralized location. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) functionality, within the ICC solu-tion, speeds data capture and requires less involvement from employees. Invoices are then automatically routed based on set rules and roles.

At this point, Uniandes contacted its suppliers with simplified submission requirements: “We would only have one window for receipt, which is the area of accounts payable. That will be enough to get started with the payment process,” Navarro says. AP profes-sionals would then perform automated validation to check for duplicates, the value of goods and other tax-related requirements. Throughout the process, invoices remain easy to search.

Enhanced productivity and relationshipsVIM and ICC improves invoice processing, according to Navarro and others within the Uniandes AP team: “The VIM solution created an invoice process that is now more automated, leading to fewer processing errors. The time involved for processing and approv-ing invoices has greatly improved.” Receipt is spread across the month since they are now submitted directly by suppliers.

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While ICC speeds data capture, VIM helps organizations of all sizes handle large volumes of invoices, with efficiency for excep-tions, instant responses to vendor inquiries, and even the ability to approve invoices remotely.

Increasing productivity and strategic focusMany VIM users at a variety of organizations report enhanced collaboration through a secure interface that results in higher output with less employee input. Uniandes joins this group: “Time spent in accounting is shortened. We indeed have an improvement in productivity,” Navarro notes. “Also, we’re doing nothing more apart from normal job responsibilities.” Unlike previous efforts to handle the bottleneck of invoices—a process that required over-time, but was not met with additional pay.

While fewer people are required for AP tasks, the reduction affects quality rather than overhead. Heightened productivity enables Uniandes AP professionals to shift attention to other strategic university efforts rather than search for new jobs. “In practice, we do not think about downsizing. What we did was reassign these employees to other, more fun things,” Navarro says.

Improving supplier relationshipsAP used to wait on units to submit invoices, then post within 30 days from that time. Now, invoices arrive directly from suppliers—the group of contacts who used to become angry about delayed payments are now informed and satisfied with payment timing. Navarro notes: “We are reporting the invoice payment date to suppliers. They are happy with this new process. It seems to unite efforts.”

Reducing errorsOnce implemented, the VIM solution allowed the team to uncover errors as well. “The results scared us a little,” Navarro admits. However, now the team catches invoice duplicates, tax discount mistakes or other errors within the balance sheet. “We once made a mistake in which we added an extra zero and so paid far more than intended and had to chase that particular student,” Navarro relates. More process transparency with the VIM solution helps Uniandes avoid such errors.

Saving paperInvoice management and OCR technology from OpenText replace paper-based invoicing, saving the equivalent of close to 40,000 pages or a few thousand dollars per year, as well as costs for toner and printer maintenance.

Valued serviceAlthough support requirements have been minimal, OpenText returns prompt, experienced assistance when needed, accord-ing to Navarro. “The support is excellent: quick to assess what is happening and provide a solution.”

Building on their successful implementation of invoice manage-ment, Uniandes plans to add a supplier portal as well as document management and retention solutions in the future.

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Projection Core Consulting is a Colombian based company that brings expertise in design, architecture, implementation and support of engineering solutions that contribute to achieving strategic objectives for organizations. With more than 13 years of experience implementing SAP and OpenText platforms, this company provides advice and technical support to large organizations in many countries. Projection Core Consulting achieved regional prestige and recognition based on customer satisfaction, and executing quality projects in terms of scope, time and cost.