SABMiller, the brewer has purchased BasWare's electronic invoicing processing tool to improve the efficiency, visibility and quality of management information within the accounts payable department. BasWare is an SAP certified vendor and uses optical character recognition, to pick up key data from the invoice. Using a workflow tool, the invoice status can be tracked and employees have the information at their fingertips when a customer or supplier calls.
SABMiller inherited an SAP system from the main trading company in South Africa . SAP is more suited to payment for goods and tangible products, and the UK-based accounts payable department is primarily involved in making payments for professional and consultancy services. The lack of an appropriate tool created a number of problems for the accounts payable department.
Stephanie Videlo, Plc Finance Manager at SABMiller, says: "The accounts processing department frequently received phone calls from suppliers asking where payment was, but our staff had no visibility of the invoice status or if there was a dispute."
The lack of automation in financial processes also created inefficiency. By not entering the invoice into the system as soon as it was received, accounts clerks had to contact cost centre managers to assess the value of outstanding commitments. This information then need to be relayed back to the supplier. A major concern was the company appeared unprofessional.
Videlo says: "We chose the BasWare solution because we felt they had a significant amount of experience in delivering on similar projects. However, the most important factor for us was the integration with SAP."
Videlo comments: "The visibility the BasWare solution provides has been invaluable. For instance, during a recent bout of sickness at SABMiller, the workflow tool gave the remaining staff complete visibility of the status of invoices, and the level of accruals required. This level of knowledge had been previously unattainable using the manual processes. As a result, management information has improved."
