Case Study: Automating Finance Operations for a Global Luxury Apparel Manufacturer Using Intelligent Document Processing and RPA

Overview

The Client is a healthcare provider that looks for incoming referrals from multiple web portals. Incoming referrals serves as major business intake and immediate response to such referrals is must for a healthy growth.

Challenge

The client faced several challenges within their finance and accounting operations:

  • Time-Consuming Material Ledger Closing: Monthly reconciliation and adjustments of material-related financial postings were manual and error-prone, impacting inventory valuation and financial reporting.

 

  • Manual Invoice Processing: Managing large volumes of invoices for accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) required extensive manual input and review.

 

  • Complex General Ledger Reconciliation: Ensuring accurate reconciliation of accounts required consistent manual efforts and validations.

 

  • Resource-Intensive Month-End and Year-End Closures: Completing all financial adjustments and reporting under tight deadlines put pressure on the finance team.

 

  • Manual Handling of Asset Accounting and Payroll Processing: Calculating depreciation and managing payroll manually added compliance risks and inefficiencies.

 

  • Accurate and Timely Financial Reporting: Generating financial statements and ensuring accuracy was resource-intensive.

Solution

  • Auxiliobits delivered an integrated automation solution using Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to transform these processes, ensuring seamless integration with the client’s SAP ERP system.

    Automated Processes

    1. Material Ledger Closing Process: Automated the reconciliation and closing of the material ledger to consolidate material-related financial postings and adjust inventory values. This process was automated with RPA and IDP to ensure accuracy and timely closure.
    2. Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR) Management:
      • Automated invoice processing and payments using IDP to extract and validate key information from invoices, and RPA bots to post transactions in SAP.
      • Automated receivables tracking and customer follow-ups for overdue accounts.
    3. General Ledger Reconciliation: Implemented RPA bots to automate general ledger reconciliations by extracting and comparing SAP records, flagging discrepancies, and making necessary adjustments.
    4. Month-End and Year-End Closing: Automated key financial transactions and adjustments, reducing manual efforts and ensuring compliance with SAP accounting standards.
    5. Asset Accounting: Automated the calculation and posting of asset depreciation, acquisitions, and disposals, improving compliance and reducing manual intervention.
    6. Payroll Processing: Streamlined payroll calculations, tax deductions, and bank transfers using RPA bots, reducing payroll processing time.

    Financial Reporting and Analysis: Automated the extraction, consolidation, and analysis of financial data for reporting. IDP helped extract key financial metrics, while RPA bots validated the data and generated accurate reports.

Benefits and Impact

The implementation of Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) resulted in significant benefits for the client:

Objective Benefits:

  • 50% Reduction in Processing Time: Automated workflows halved the processing time for AP/AR management, asset accounting, and payroll processing.
  • 80% Reduction in Manual Effort: Automation reduced manual effort substantially, allowing employees to focus on value-driven tasks.
  • Up to 40% Cost Savings: Achieved through reduced manual interventions, increased accuracy, and efficient resource allocation.
  • 30% Faster Month-End and Year-End Closures: Automated processes allowed for quicker financial adjustments and reporting.

 

Subjective Benefits:

  • Improved Efficiency and Accuracy: Near-zero error rates in financial data due to automated validations and reconciliations.
  • Enhanced Compliance and Risk Management: Automated checks and balances ensured compliance with regulatory requirements and internal guidelines.
  • Scalability and Standardization: Standardized automated workflows ensured consistency in financial operations across multiple geographies and business units.

 

Greater Focus on Strategic Tasks: Finance teams could now focus on higher-value activities like analysis, forecasting, and decision-making.

Technical Implementation

Auxiliobits leveraged its expertise in SAP integration, RPA, and Intelligent Document Processing to deliver the automation solution. Key technical aspects included:

  • Integration with SAP ERP: Seamless integration of RPA bots with SAP ERP to automate processes like ledger reconciliations, invoice management, and reporting.
  • Intelligent Document Processing (IDP): Implemented IDP to extract relevant data from invoices, financial documents, and reports, reducing manual data entry and validation.
  • RPA Bots for Repetitive Tasks: Deployed RPA bots to handle repetitive workflows like payment processing, account reconciliations, and data entry.

 

Automated Reporting: Consolidated financial data from SAP to generate timely and accurate reports for financial analysis and compliance.

Conclusion

The collaboration with Auxiliobits enabled the client to achieve significant improvements in their finance and accounting operations through automation. By integrating Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the client was able to optimize critical processes like Material Ledger Closing, Accounts Payable/Receivable Management, General Ledger Reconciliation, and Financial Reporting.

The automated solution not only improved efficiency and accuracy but also ensured compliance, cost savings, and scalability across their global operations. With the successful deployment of automation, the client is now equipped to manage their finance operations seamlessly and focus on strategic initiatives that drive growth and innovation.

Healthcare Portals

Secure patient information exchange.

Cost and ease of implementation

Tracking to Ensure Referral Success

Tell us about your Operational Challenges!